Michael Freimuth

Michael Freimuth is a tireless art director, designer, and illustrator appropriately living in The City That Never Sleeps. Before migrating East full-time, he spent several years in his native Windy City after graduating from Rhode Island School of Design, working corporate design by day and running independent design and publishing projects by night. Still young (ahem, an official ADC Young Gun), Michael’s impassioned work ethic has spread his minimalist whimsy across projects as diverse as his interests – from campaigns for Converse and interactive initiatives for Nokia, to illustrations for the New York Times and identities for Brooklyn-based eateries. Get a glimpse into what sparks Michael’s creative firepower in his 10 ANSWERS below.

1. How would you describe your work in three words?
Diverse. Evolving. Slightly-Verbose.

2. Who is your creative role model?
There are quite a few, both friends and colleagues. Several that immediately come to mind are Kyle Poff, prolific and hilarious; Tim Goodman, rennaissance man; Dean DiSimone, brilliant thinker; and lately Stefan Sagmeister, genuinely and inspiringly positive.

3. If you had an extra hour each day what would you do with it?
Spend it with my girlfriend, family and friends.

4. What place in the world most inspires you and why?
The Westchester Country Club, East Golf Course. I didn’t grow up near there, but I used to go running on the back nine – which is apparently frowned upon – late in the afternoon it would become incredibly peaceful and a pleasure to simply run and think.

5. If you could do a different job for a day what would it be and why?
I’m going to go with something that would scare me, or at least push me – with the hope that it would be rewarding for that same reason. Public speaking being something I’m not entirely comfortable with, I’ll take television anchorman with a whirlwind tour of live and on-air speeches – all in one day.

6. What is your favorite homemade gift to give?
I’d love to be able to say some kind of food-related gift, but after last night’s homemade dinner fiasco and the fact that I’m not much of a cook, its probably just not a tremendously exciting gift to receive from me. That said, I actually like to give people Gift Certificates – which is not a cop-out, honestly – they’re typically for things from the completely mundane to the absolutely bizarre. The key is for people to actually redeem them.

7. What is your favorite object in your home?
Our kitchen table and bench. We had it made by a gentleman in the East Village who uses reclaimed wood and metal fixtures from barns and mills in upstate New York to build incredibly beautiful furniture.

8. What is the best advice you’ve ever received?
Relax.

9. What websites do you use for inspiration?
I really don’t use the web for that much inspiration – I tend to intentionally avoid design-related sites as they seems pretty incestuous. But a brief list could be The New York Times (T Magazine), Subtraction.com and if I’m being completely honest,

10. When do you consider a piece of your work complete?
I don’t think there’s a definitive “done” moment for every project – its really dependent on the piece. With a Times Op-Ed illustration I’m pretty sure its ‘complete’ when I see it in the paper the next day – whereas I picked up an older project recently I would’ve thought was finished – and its been surprisingly satisfying to revisit it.