Since Ken’s freelancing days, the basics of design haven’t changed. Composition, typography, and color theory still rule the design world. Inspiration still comes from many places for Ken—anywhere from music and performance to a museum or even a landscape he happens upon. 

“Concepts come from the content, mostly. It’s there—you just have to keep looking,” Ken says. 

While the basics have stayed consistent, technology has steadily transformed the design process. Ken recalls the “old days” when the publication process was anything but instantaneous. This included specifying the type and sending it to “typehouses” to produce metal type characters. Ken would wax, smooth, and cut galleys of text to be pasted down. Ironically, this method was called “paste-up.” 

Pasting up was only one part of the process. Ken worked at a light table that allowed him to see through multiple layers of paper. He hand-cut rubylith overlays to position photos and artwork on their layouts and used rapidograph pens to ink in designs. Any corrections were patched onto the original pasteboard. Many studios even had a photostat darkroom with developing chemicals that needed changing.  

“A publication resulted in a stack of pasteboards that had to be picked up by the printer and later sent via courier,” Ken recalls.  

Fast forward and enter Adobe Suite. What was once a meticulous process has been reduced to sitting at a computer. 

“The analog cycle was generous; the digital boom tradeoff for the creative cycle was compression,” Ken says. “Being able to control everything up to the inking of press rollers is a wonderful thing. Then, of course, there is digital publishing, instantaneous and endlessly mutable.” 

To differentiate graphic design and art direction, Ken uses an analogy rooted in nature (no pun intended). “Graphic design is the trees. Art direction is the forest. That’s an oversimplification, sure,” Ken says. “The ability to direct art occurs gradually. Reviewing your own work informs your sensibilities.”  

Ken believes you can somewhat direct your art in real-time, but he prefers his secret weapon: Monday morning eyes. “It’s that bit of distance that can sometimes make clear something you had been staring at all day before,” he says. 

Although Ken misses the organic quality of the office, he still sees the BonoTom Studio culture as a collaborative one. The team reviews each other’s projects daily and exchanges workflow hacks to improve output. “The studio in the cloud is the new normal, and we adapt as necessary.” 

Time flies when you’re having fun, but Ken’s contributions to BonoTom Studio are no cliché. Although the world of design has greatly evolved, he reminds us to never forget about the big picture.