Eddie Opara Pentagram

0:02Um right it's time now for our fourth and final speaker of the evening eddie aparra is a multifaceted designer and educator and a partner of pentagram in new york his projects encompass strategy design and technology and he's worked over the years for cultural institutions like the cooper hewitt and the smithsonian design museum as well as for brands including santander and morgan stanley the uk board of designer is also a senior critic at the yale university school of art and has previously taught in several other american institutions eddie it's a pleasure to have you joining us and please turn on your audio and video so we can say hello yeah.

0:34I think it's on right yeah we can see you hi how's it going not too bad not too bad it's a bit rainy here upstate new york is that right. That's right westchester just just north of the city very nice okay well listen I think everyone's very excited to see your your presentation.

0:53So I'll leave you to it and leave you to share your screen but yeah as before everyone else please if you have any questions for any pop them in the pop them in the chat and we'll get around to them afterwards great that looks wonderful hi everybody really really great to to be here the all the speakers have been absolutely fantastic I've been writing down a veritable amount of of things.

1:20So I wanted to sort of start off this presentation in regards to understanding you know where I come from what I do and sort of in principle you know pretty multi-faceted as matt has basically stated you know working in sort of different mediums but you know aspects of technology confidential graphics well you know the aspects of robots connecting with you know digital clocks all kinds of structures but I also deal with a plethora of brands and you know redesigning oppo's using identity work and dealing with the strategy structure on that developing stuff for lululemon their new range of sort of self-care products you know everybody's talked about nike I don't really get those really cool nike jobs in regards to you know campaigns and we developed the the overall side agent headquarters in nike recently doing airline in africa which is really going to be quite interesting so you know there's a there's a plethora of things that that I I sort of produce and design with my team of about seven to eight persons that's I'm going to do a shout out uh donna frankietza ken jack pedro raul who'll be coming up shortly as well mary kate and reuben hi if you're if you're watching I you know I came to the united states in 1995 I didn't think I was going to stay and you know I I sort of was exceptionally scared at first I'd never come to this country before I didn't know what was you know you know what was up and what was down I was going to deal with you know my masters at yale and and the aspects of my identity there. And in here right.

3:38Now is exceptionally important today I've tried very you know really hard to actually sort of keep my accent and also my attitude in regards to being black british to specific things I think it's exceptionally important and you know growing up. And then.

3:56This is me as a really old photographer I think from you know mid-90s I think I was at uh lcp my undergrad at the time where you know I sort of grew up in a in a really wonderful you know family the background was was great I'm nigerian descent you could say I'm like first generation and that that aspect of the culture I think a lot of people or speakers have been bringing this in has been exceptionally important to me and the way that I was also brought up. And I'm sort of going back in time. Actually in this particular presentation where you know.

4:42I was born into a a country at pretty much you know sort of tearing itself apart. And we get aspects of understanding what identity is without understanding the importance of my migrants in in britain and the importance of diversity and there was a lot of sort of backlash from that in you know especially in the heyday of the national front in the in the early early 70s and all all the way through the decade and I sort of grew up with that sort of flowing into the 80s there. And it wasn't it wasn't great you know it wasn't great at all it was really quite quite terrible you know you'd ask questions about why you know you you know people were saying you know you walk and in other derogatory terms on the street to you to to family to friends you know trying to my sister actually sort of saved me from a fight in a station when I was a kid somebody tried to beat me up and you know we you don't know why that was actually you know what the reaction was but basically when you're a child it's because you are black and and you're seen as a threat and and and things I don't know really things have really changed if you really think about what's being occurring right. Now it's just boiling back up and but the sense of change is is a lot stronger and with that said you know it's really also about the conditions and you know I look at design not so much about solving problems but looking at conditions that can be adjusted and and so milton glazer you know who just recently passed said these words was really really poignant you know design is the process of going from an existing condition to a preferred one I don't fully believe that it's all about the aspects of solving problems and so because if you solve the problem why the hell does it come back each and every time.

6:49So in a sense you know that that is a question in itself so I wanted to get on to the one project that I wanted to focus on today. And it's about these these amazing women and that are part of the us women's soccer team and they're they're my clients and they're tobin heath megan klingenberg kristin press and megan rupino and they came to they came to us and came to me in regards to a new way of thinking and and creation and the idea of reimagining what was actually possible and I just want to look at the aspects of the backstory for them you know one of the things that they've been you know fighting for for an exceptionally long time is the idea of of equal pay but it's not only that it's not only the aspect of equality here it's also the aspects of equity and and being an egalitarian in itself and I feel as though that that is an exceptionally important factor and they had this idea this concept of setting up a company called reincorporated that would allow you to embrace the idea of being an individual have a self sense of self expression have a sense of of being of being different but from a gender-neutral and non-binary sort of standpoint but you also have to look at it from the aspects of diversity as well and one of the the things about megan rupino is that she's exceptionally outspoken and rightly so within the conditions that she's actually had to and her teammates and you know other other females have had to deal with within sports and actually in business and here is here she is kneeling in regards to the aspects of black lives matter but also for for um colin kaepernick the former nfl and civil rights activist and she really she really portrays a a different way of life and also being being gay herself and so one of the things that that we did for for re was and we worked pretty much the team worked pretty much at night on these particular jobs basically because of the the the difference in in time for for tobin and megan megan and and kristen to practice and so it was a lot of fun sort of developing new new ways new ways of thinking in regards to what we're actually re is first we were thinking about how to establish a sort of diverse set of reads so each and every time it. Actually sort of changes is interchangeable that it's never never one system and but has many sort of purposes but we actually landed on this particular design and in in a sense it's it's all about the idea of of what we call the the reverse e the master element and one of the things that it sort of identifies is the this is distinction in regards to being a visual sort of antithesis of of the norm and that's what they are they want to be the antithesis of the norm changing the ideas of the status quo and how to actually sort of achieve that and you know re is really much a not only a fashion brand but it's also about sort of health and wellness and also connecting to aspects of technology so they're going to be bringing out different things with different partners over the course of time and they've just sort of started and so this this backward e was really important basically also because e is the most common glyph within the latin alphabet and and anytime you sort of write type out anything e is pretty much going to be in either the majority of the the sentence or passage that you're actually sort of relaying and that was really very very strong it really sort of relays the whole idea that this particular market is exceedingly ubiquitous. And that's a really strong thing when coming down to coming to brand identity and so how do we sort of play off this well how do we sort of keep the idea of the e consistent and you know here comes back uh one of my designers raul gotschling who also is working on this continually working on this project with with with three and and raul had a con a pre-existing typeface he just that he had actually developed called a nord and so what we did is is plugged in the sort of backward e into into place and there is a backward if every anybody knows type there is a backward e system that is exceptionally interesting to find in a whole glyph library that you can actually utilize and sort of type out at any time which is really fantastic but a majority of typefaces and and so what basically happens here is as you can see the back cody starts to sort of take over and that you start to see in a simple phrase or sentence this ubiquitous element that really changes the idea of you seeing specific things.

13:02So we are anything but regular is a is a very poignant sort of statement to actually have and also having that e to sort of reinforce it.

13:14This is the same with we start with the art of the possible and and and that those particular factors but we also don't rest all our laurels on the idea that the backwood is going to be everything for re no we invest the idea that we can create sort of variances so type typefaces that are just entirely different and carry a lot more a distinction as well and and so the whole idea is the prefix holds a variety of words that just tiller of sy partners who dealt with the strategy work on this and there's also a continual partner with re but it came up with the idea of restarting resist redefine revolt renew revolt re reimagine and so each and every time we can actually sort of play off these particular things and produce anything that we actually feel like it. And so there's an open sort of attitude and behavior that can actually occur with the the the visual elements that we're we're producing this is the package that a lot of the street wears actually comes in and we want they wanted that to be extremely sort of recognizable each and every time I've got a few of these packages I'm always really.

14:51Actually super excited when it. Actually comes and so it's not this sort of standard you know gray box or or just a plastic bag that you that things are contained in we wanted to have it just a little bit more expressive and and also express the attitude of of the type that.

15:09This is anything but regular again this is a little video of of that we put together at the beginning of the sort of introduction to re and the the women christine megan and megan and tobin are basically talking about the aspects of reimagining the overarching status quo and having a lot of fun about that when it was launched a really interesting thing. Actually happened the people.

15:48Actually started typing out the backward ease so that sense of being reactive was actually fantastic you know I don't know again we don't know any sort of any any sort of brand identity that's really done that this in this particular way that any you know people can actually sort of play with this. And this was all by accident and it's lovely to actually see that that is that has occurred and it's constantly occurring this is the the first non-binary streetwear that they came up with and this is just before the the 2019 world cup had started and it's a play in france and it's a play on the sort of french motto you know and and the the whole element of that being liberte galate fraternite but having sort of a little play on that element of defense and you know the sense of like you defend you you you protect your your yourself this sense of be being an individual and and it worked really well it's sold exceptionally quickly then they've they've gone into so many other things.

17:02This is examples of the hoodie this is not the outside of the hood it's actually inside of the hoodie that you're sort of you know you're crowned by their statements and that statement is sort of laid upon your head so you would never.

17:16Actually sort of forget it and that sort of attitude and that sort of thinking is really really really really fantastic this summer we produced for them a a sort of summer collection called the popsicle collection. And it sort of is based upon you know past I you know years when you're a kid and you're you know really hot summer and you your mom and dad give you popsicles and the different shapes that they actually sort of had and and sort of reminds you that sort of reminiscing of the elements of summer and so to a certain degree you know very fun and interesting themes can actually also start to marry themselves to this particular initiative and and how the the forms of the of these popsicle heads can be utilized in in patent structures and then used for all types of different products and so you know here we sort of started to create you know on the right hand side different types of t-shirts different levels of t-shirts but then you also had this enormous towel sort of a quick dry towel that that they sort of produced it's it's great for just like you know picnics or just laying or just wrapping yourself up and also a skateboard as well and again when they were produced it was just sold out I think within a day this is actually tobin I think putting her skateboard together.

19:02So the idea of just having and enjoying for you know having a joyous time is sort of exceptional and that's really important factor to to who they are and the well-being for their the members of re and and lovers of their of their work and just after summer we were we were asked to to put you know to to design different wares and different graphics for michelle obama's initiative when we all vote and that that was really.

19:42That's really important if nobody knows about it I mean you know wwav is really about registering to vote pledging that you're gonna vote checking your status that you can vote because that's really important and you know requesting a ballot right.

20:04Now there's a lot of you know you know a large push in regards to the aspects of of voting based on the limit the the challenges because of covid and also what has happened with the republican sort of quelling the different communities of voting and so the idea of early voting is exceptionally important if you are in the united states and you are listening to my words will you please go and vote as soon as possible do not wait all right if you have to take the day off take the day off if you have to take the day off and get fired take the day off and still vote and get fired you get enough you know.

20:49So it's super important this particular factor you know and the importance of that is is great because you know this this type of finger head is you know is exceptionally important for the united states and also for you know the aspects of global elements of equality and equities especially in voting and just being a aspect of being a human and that is all about the imagining of a better future and so I wanted to sort of leave you with a picture of of of megan you know you know being exceptionally proud of of the fact that she is wearing the the re voting top but you know if it wasn't for this type of woman you know we really really really would be stupid at this moment in time we need to all speak up. And this is our this is our moment to do that if we push ourselves down and keep quiet then we're no better than the people who are actually attacking all of us.

22:09So I just wanted to end on that I don't know if that was too long or too short that was perfect thank you eddie thanks so much and thanks for that message at the end I completely agree I mean sitting in britain not sure how much I can influence things but no absolutely right you can actually stop sharing I've got just one question for you to finish things up I guess I'm really curious about this you know this branding project you've obviously worked with much bigger brands some bigger corporate brands as well how different was it working with a smaller team was it a bit more agile than less kind of people I guess yeah getting stuck in and changing things yes you know to a certain degree yes it is but the way that we work at pentagram it's actually quite interesting where we always try to because we work with in very small teams even though we're considered exceptionally large as a company we don't like to get into the sort of messes of of account managers and senior account managers and all this stuff we'd like to sort of cut through that and get to the immediate person whether it's the ceo or founder we've done that for you know for 48 years.

23:21And I think that's really exceptionally important because they're they're the people that are going to make the decisions the executives so we like to just go for the jugular in that particular regard but yeah you know with this we you know you know kristin press is the ceo and she's sexually you know fastidious in regards to you know work and exceptionally organized these are really intelligent women exceedingly amazing because they are they do two things they are professional soccer players world-renowned ones you know and and on the other side there there's there they've got this amazing company that they're running and you know. And that's really.

24:11That's really important how they sort of balance that and there's just one other thing I wanted to say and I totally forgot that they they were they normally with players such as this you know they want to champion you know you know the aspects of equity and creativity and art and the originality but they don't plaster their names right across the products like others have and I think that's very impressive and that's why we really like we really love them that they're really sort of down to earth yeah final question has just come through sorry from olivia are there any particular routines you go through to generate your ideas or kind of kick start yeah I guess you're thinking of like brainstorming sessions or that kind of thing yeah there's there's different there's different methods sort of you know the idea that you know we all worked on this the whole team and you know you sort of like really filter out ideas but each idea has to have a rationale like you know it's like oh that looks good why was that the case and why will that.

25:21Actually proliferate into something bigger how can you take a and we call it the route how can you take that route and branch it and make it bigger so it has legs it has a sense of longevity and that's a really important thing to remember when you're dealing with any type of concept it might be it might sound really great right now.

25:45But this thing needs to have a lot of legs and so you have to start thinking about the future the different types of scenarios that it's going to go through run it through the ringer and and it will you know if it comes out the the end really well. That's fantastic but it.

26:02But it also needs to be distinct at the same time. So it needs to keep certain certain elements it needs to be distinct it needs to be different if you if you think about it you need to be essentially clever at it and yeah. So you know that. That's an important factor yeah fantastic well.

26:24This is eddie thanks so much for joining us tonight I really appreciate it or this afternoon for you I guess yeah thanks so much I'm gonna have to leave it there.

26:31But yeah thank you for for joining us and you know thanks everybody for coming on yeah it's been great that's wonderful excellent everyone else I'm afraid that that brings us to the end of tonight's nice tuesdays online you