Designers are editors, too
Scott Thares, founder and creative director of Wink Studio in Minneapolis, gives insight into the birth of his design firm, describes what his job entails and digs into some philosophy about creative output.
by SIERRA SMITH | Writer
Scott Thares grew up in Rapids City, S.D., and went on to earn his B.F.A. in graphic design at Minnesota State University in Moorhead. He has worked as a design director at John Ryan Company, as well as a senior designer for Design Guys, a treasurer at AIGA Minnesota, and now at Wink, Inc. Thares never felt at home in his previous jobs and so became the founder and creative director of his own company, Wink Studio in Minneapolis. Wink focuses on branding and packaging, but is capable of much more. Some clients include Nike, Target, Thymes, Medtronic and The New York Times. The company’s motto is, “Strategic design thinking, cleverly expressed.”
Can you tell me your path from high school to where you are now?
“I lived in a small little town in South Dakota. My senior year of high school I took a lot of art classes. During my introduction to graphic design class it dawned on me that I could maybe do this in college and better yet maybe even make some money doing it, unlike just doing fine art. I started out as an illustration major, and after sophomore year I realized my illustration skills were just fine. That’s when I switched my major to graphic design, and later graduated from Minnesota State University in Moorhead with a B.F.A..”
“It’s not something that I graduated college knowing I would be doing, it’s something I’ve grown into the longer I’ve been here at Wink.”
What does a week in your job and life look like?
“Every day is different, I typically spend my mornings answering emails and questions since I do a lot of client interaction and I’m the lead contact here. There’s a lot more I have to do with clients than I used to. Then I meet with my design staff and go over projects and see where they’re at, and if things need designing I may hop in. After that I pay bills, and it sounds kind of boring but I still get to do day-to-day design. There’s just now more administration and management that needs to occur. You know, it comes with a territory. It’s not something that I graduated college knowing I would be doing, it’s something I’ve grown into the longer I’ve been here at Wink.”
“My dad was dying from brain cancer. When I went back home for the funeral I realized the company I was at was just not a good fit for me. After the funeral I came back and quit my job, and Wink was more or less started the next day.”
Can you tell me about starting this company? Tell me a story from that time that stuck out to you.
“Yeah, I started this company 17 years ago. At the time it was me and another business partner but he stepped away about five years ago. So, I was working at another design firm in town, and I’m originally from the Black Hills so it’s not a close drive or easy flight from there to Minneapolis. My dad was dying from brain cancer. When I went back home for the funeral, I realized the company I was at was just not a good fit for me. I came back and quit my job, and Wink was more or less started the next day. I had no clients, I had a tiny little house and no kids, so I thought, ‘Well, hey, if I can’t make a go of it, at least I can still cover my mortgage and my bills.’ Within a couple months we started picking up projects from Target and then word got around and we started getting projects from all these smaller start up companies that needed some branding, and that’s how we started. The money we made from our first big project is essentially the money we used to start up Wink.
“After that it was all word of mouth. There was no Instagram or Facebook, and so we won awards in magazines and got 8 pieces in Print and that exposure is what got our name out there. But now with Facebook, Instagram, Dribbble and Behance, it’s easy to get exposure without being in a publication. But in 2000, there was none of that. In fact, there was hardly any designer websites. We had a splash page with no content for the first five years of our company. It was just our name and that was it. Now it’s all how many Instagram and Twitter followers you have.”
“Honestly that’s probably what gets me more excited than doing design day to day. I really do like helping people succeed. What excites you the most about what you do?”
“I’m still excited every day I come in. I know that sounds so cliche but I think the basis of Wink is that we’ve always tried to make every project as creative of an opportunity as we can, and the fact that I’m still creating is what gets me excited. I guess the older I get, I’ve realized that when I get great feedback from a client saying, ‘Oh my goodness, what you just did for us made our sales go through the roof,’ or ‘We got new customers and exposure.’ Honestly, that’s probably what gets me more excited than doing design day to day. I really do like helping people succeed, whether it’s a start up company or a bigger company, I like to know that design can still make an impact.”
How do you balance your work and stress with your social life? How much of your job do you take home with you?
“I run or work out as much as I can. That’s probably the biggest thing for me is trying to find exercise. Otherwise, I try to take trips to unwind and deprogram from work. It’s probably no different from how anyone else deals with stress. It’s really no secret. What I have also realized is that the longer I’ve been in this profession, the more I have learned not to take things personally. It’s not that I don’t care, it’s just kind of water off a duck’s back. It’s so that I don’t pity things. I’m not that concerned with some of the things I used to be concerned with as a younger person.
“I think as a creative, we’re always creating. I don’t think that the minute we walk in the door we’re now creative, and the minute we leave we’re no longer creative. I think even as a student I was always thinking and generating ideas in the back of my head. I think that’s the good thing, or maybe the bad thing, that I don’t know if it ever really shuts off. You’re constantly out seeing things and being inspired, some things you save for later or take a photo of to refer back to. I don’t really ever shut off.”
Tell us about your mentor or someone who influenced you on your journey.
“One person comes to mind as a mentor because she went to the same college as me, just a few years older, Sharon Werner. I was the first person she interviewed when she launched her company, Werner Design Werks, in the early 90s. I was still a student at the time. She was one who I have always had similar sensibilities to as to how she approaches projects and clients. Her company is as small as Wink, but she still does design day to day. To see that as a student and that she had been doing it for way longer than me — that inspired me. She still has as great of a creative output as she did when she started the company.”
“There’s always things you wish you had done differently but in the end I don’t really view failures as bad, I’d like to say I take any criticism as a badge of honor.”
What is one failure or success story that stands out to you?
“It depends on what you view as failure, financially or in design. It’s hard to quantify that. As a project goes through I might be unhappy with the direction it’s going but I wouldn’t say it’s a failure, just that I may be more passionate about a different option. In a monetary sense, I think we have learned to not spend too much time on smaller projects so that it doesn’t become a time and energy suck, but I think every creative project is worth giving your all. When you have more staff you have to be more aware of profitability and margins of time. There’s always things you wish you had done differently but in the end I don’t really view failures as bad.
“I’d like to say I take any criticism as a badge of honor. I like criticism. In fact, that’s one thing I think you have to be open to and not take it so personally. Ultimately it’s better for the project and the creative output to have a little bit of disagreement. There should be different viewpoints in art. It shouldn’t just be my way or the highway. I don’t know if I really answered that question. Sorry.”
“Ultimately design is as much about expressing your ideas as it is about creating.”
What do you wish you had known when you entered the job market?
“I’d have to say that this is still a glaring weakness among students. I think they’ve got a poor ability to express their ideas. So one thing I would say is either take a journalism class where you’re forced to write out your ideas or a speech class so you’re comfortable talking in front of people, because ultimately design is as much about expressing your ideas as it is about creating. A lot of times that expression of ideas is what you’ve got to sell to get your peer or client on board. That’s one thing I think was lacking in my education, is some of that skill set in having constructive dialogue. Some people coming through here have had journalism minors, which is helpful in presenting their ideas to clients and articulating structure and a timeline. That’s helpful to convey your idea to someone who may not be that well versed in that composition or aesthetic, betters the chance of your idea to be sold.”
How would you correlate graphic design to editing?
“We’re always editing. On any typical project, I would say there’s a lot of ideas that just don’t make it to the presentation. And it’s not just me saying this is good or bad — it’s really the team. Once we talk about or negotiate what the objectives are for the project, you realize this may not be fitting the criteria. You don’t want to overwhelm the client with a million ideas, sometimes I think narrowing the focus down to a handful is better than showing a dozen ideas. Keep it to three, you can focus your attention with the client a lot better then.”
What area of design are you most focused on at Wink? Would you prefer one of those areas to another?
“We started out as mostly branding. It feels like now we’re more maybe packaging-oriented, but it’s branding in a grander sense, whether it be in a catalog or an identity system or a package. We do some website stuff, too, which filters into another vehicle to get the message out.
“I think I like solving problems, whichever format they show up in. I guess if I had to pick one I would probably choose packaging. It’s a 3D and tangible thing, it sits on a shelf, and I like that.”
How do you balance listening to the desires of the client with what you think would be more effective or of better quality?
“I think a lot of times what we bring to the table are ideas or concepts that clients might not have considered. We’ll bring that idea early on as a thought to get it on their radar for the project. We still take what they ask for into consideration but it may spin off into other areas. If they’re narrowing the playing field, I look at that as a sandbox getting smaller and smaller. A lot of people look at that as a closed door and say they’re unable to create from that, but I always look at that as a challenge to find the opportunity within that sandbox. How can we get the best we can out of that small space instead of throwing in the towel?”
What would be your absolute dream job?
“I guess maybe something in manufacturing, where I’m actually creating a brand that I’d solely be connected to whether it be an initiative or something to do with outdoor life or the environment. Something that if it’s going to be in the world as a product that it has a sense of good will to it. Something that would make a difference. I think there’s so much crap in the world that just ends up in landfills or unused and retail has such a throw away factor. It would be nice if there was a product or something that would be a little more ongoing, but I don’t know what the product is, I just like the idea of that.”
Talking with Scott gave me hope that going out into the world of graphic design and putting yourself and your creative flair out there can work. Just being yourself and doing good work will draw people in. Coming up with new and fresh ideas while sticking to what you know can get you really far. He also taught me that editing is everywhere, even in the design world. I really appreciated his comments about being able to express your ideas well by learning to talk to people. It made me feel good about being in a journalism class — principles of editing — in the first place and taught me to take ownership of my skills instead of feeling out of place here. He also reminded me that this job really never ends. You’re constantly working and thinking — you can’t shut it off or turn it on. It just happens, and I really related to that.
Scott Thares spun his work in the design field to be something that can make a difference to others, which is something I valued hearing. Working for other companies in branding and packaging can help a business succeed. It’s amazing that even as an art major, as graphic designers, we can have an impact on people with the work that we do.
This interview has been edited and condensed.
