For our weekly “In It for the Money” feature, we’ll be introducing you to the kick-ass Knock Knockers who make everything go, from creative to sales to logistics to . . . everything! Note—everybody answers the first five questions. After that, they have about fifteen wild-card questions from which to choose.
It's just a typical day in the life of Brad. I'm enjoying the exquisite works of artist Edward Ruscha in the Knock Knock lobby.
1. Name and title? Brad, senior designer.
2. Originally from? Wisconsin: land o’ cheese and beer.
3. What the hell do you do all day? As a senior designer, I do the same thing as the rest of the designers here, except that I do it with my turn signal on for the last half-hour. Designer stuff includes the following, which I do at different stages for the handful of projects I’m working on at any given time:
- Thinking up a bunch of visual directions for the new products we come up with and grumbling like a prima donna when anyone suggests even the teensiest minor change.
- Finessing and tweaking and refining and adjusting and applying the visual look to all aspects of the product.
- Reviewing production samples and occasionally noticing that the manufacturer has substituted its own colors and/or fonts in place of the ones we used.
4. Favorite thing about working at KK? I was a Knock Knock fan before getting hired, so I gotta go with having a hand in creating products I absolutely love.
5. Favorite hobbies outside work? Watching movies and select television series, listening to music, reading comic books. I guess you could say I live a pretty active lifestyle.
Okay, you caught me. But I'm still enjoying exquisite works nonetheless.
6. Did your professional life exist before Knock Knock? Yep. I worked at a few design studio–advertising agency–marketing group types of places. Although there are projects I’m very proud of from that time in my career, I’m really glad to be out of an industry in which we have to hype other businesses’ products or services regardless of whether they are jewels or junk.
7. Pet peeves? There isn’t enough space on the Internet to answer this question.
8. If you were a superhero, what would your name and superpowers be? Captain Express—possessing the uncanny ability to correctly predict the fastest-moving line of traffic or store queue. My arch-nemesis, of course, is the sweet ol’ Madame Granny! Duh-duh-DUH!
9. What’s currently in your music rotation right now? Go take a listen (hint: try the “Preview All” button at the bottom of the playlist).
10. If you were granted one wish, what would it be? It’s a tie—for the diverse peoples of the world to coexist peacefully and free of aggression or dominion, valuing knowledge over ideology, seeking to build rather than destroy . . . or a bazillion dollars.
11. Song you would pick as your theme song? “Frolic” by Luciano Michelini.
