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Muses of a Midwestern Maker - an interview with Mike Perry

By Ziggy Nixon

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Mike Perry works in Brooklyn, New York as an illustrator, designer, and typographer. He stays very busy making books, magazines, newspapers, clothing, drawings, paintings, illustrations and teaching whenever possible.

We recently caught up with this bright and very hard-working young "multi-tasker" …

Let us know a bit about Mike Perry: his background, influences and, really, why you think we should be interviewing him, I mean, you?

I'm not totally sure that you should be (laughs). In terms of my background, I was born in Missouri, grew up on both sides of Kansas City - which of course stretches across both Missouri and Kansas - and kind of moved around in that general area. At age 14, we officially moved to Kansas. Where we moved was suburban, but still very rural. We had cows across the street and horses in the back, and lived on 33 acres.

In terms of art, I had always drawn. My grandfather – who's a bit eccentric – also played a big role in my development. I always thought of him as “the mad scientist”, albeit in a really good, loving kind of way. He built machines, collected all kinds of junk for his projects, and was always working on a 6-story house that's he's been building himself for what seemed like forever and ever. Importantly for me, he had painted his entire life.

At about age 14, or 15, my grandfather gave me a tackle box full of oil paints and I really fell in love immediately. Again, I had always drawn and I always knew that I wanted to be making things, but when I was given that box of oil paints everything seemed to snap into place for me. I really became obsessed and that first year alone I think I did about 300 paintings. I just couldn't stop, as the interest in painting just kind of blew my mind. I had a picture of my future and it said to me: "this is it".

"The Universe At Its Best" © Mike Perry

How about your formal training or education?

A few years later I enrolled in the Minneapolis College of Art and Design in Minnesota, which was very small and had only about 600 students in all. I was in the painting department and at first I was really into it, but suddenly I found that I had hit a wall. I had begun to realize that all we did was paint still lifes, or something similar, and that my art wasn't progressing per se. I was getting technically better but wasn't pushing my ideas as much as I wanted to or knew I needed to.

Interestingly though, the school made everyone take a kind of interactive design course. I was lucky because my teacher was really inspiring. The course approached the subject of interactivity and design and even worked with computers in a really rich way. This kind of hit me in a similar way like when I got the box of paints.

I said: "Wow, this is a new thing, I'm really excited! I'm going to progress what I'm thinking and my art and try to discover new things." So I decided to abandon pure painting only and try out designing.

Tee-shirt "Sailing" © Mike Perry

How did this transition in college work for you?

My first year in the design program, I had a course where I literally pretended I couldn't draw. I used a lot of vector art and made a lot of really bad design work. For me it was like I literally began my education again. I threw out all I'd learned about painting and started from scratch. It was a great experience, as I made lots of mistakes up front but finally things clicked into place.

Slowly but surely I started figuring out what I wanted to do within design. Again, I also had a lot of great professors along the way. They allowed me the freedom to approach and define design as the ability to make anything, that is, whatever was necessary for the angle.

And after college?

After college I was very fortunate to get a job with a company called Urban Outfitters in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The company had a real rich visual language. I also had a great "mentor" boss who allowed me to push myself and do things in the creative directions I was interested in pursuing. I really looked at it as almost more educational than my college experience and I had a lot of time to figure out my "process". I worked there for about 3-4 years then moved to New York – well, to be honest I met a girl on a photo shoot and we dated long distance for a little while. Then I left Urban and moved to New York.

“Skull Forest” and “The Letter G” © Mike Perry

Once there I got a job at a little design studio and was planning on being there for a few years. I didn't really have much anticipation of starting or moving out on my own. When I moved to New York, I didn't really "advertise" myself and didn't let folks know I was there per se. But all of a sudden the phone started ringing and the work was pouring in. As it turned out, I found I had enough work to leave the job and go out on my own. That was then about 2½ years ago.

Sounds like a pretty lucky run there.

I feel very fortunate very often. I fully embrace the kind of "cosmic path" that I've been fortunate enough to be traveling on.

Self-designed “tape” for mailing packages, etc. © Mike Perry

Since you are at a relatively early stage in your career, what advice would you give designers starting out, or especially coming out of college?

I really think it’s: just keep working and making stuff and keep exposing yourself. In this world you can't make stuff and hide it. You've got to get things out there. Whenever I talk to people I ask them: "what are you doing standing here, go now and get your work on the web". I think getting a website is a very important part of this world we live in. I owe a lot of my success to the Internet, where I've been running my web-site 7 or 8 years. If I had launched it last year, I honestly think I wouldn't be where I am.

And, of course, you've got to keep pushing yourself, constantly make stuff and really put in the man-hours. For me, it’s like exercise: the more you run, the better runner you are, the better shape you're in. For me, the more you make, the stronger a “maker” you are. I'm not a runner, but I am a maker.

As described, you seem to wear many hats in terms of your work. What should we call you, or, better said, how would you like to be described?

I've decided my title should be "maker". Yes, it’s a kind of funny, cheesy word but it’s easiest for me to sum up what I do.

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