Since opening Substance, with business partner David Lowe-Rogstad, Stephen Landau's primary job is making sure he challenges himself, the company, and their clients on a daily basis. Well, that, and a bunch of other stuff...creative direction, designing, project management, strategy and development.

02.14.07

We're as disappointed as you are

What site do you look at every day? I've become addicted to blogs. I check Russell Davies' blog at least once a day. (From a project standpoint, I'm a bit obsessed with writing my own.)

What's the subject/topic of it? Pretty much everything. Russell shares his insights on advertising, ideas, things he sees, and bacon. (I tend to write about inspiration, experiences, and coffee.)

What's so great about it? The content. Blogs constantly make me think about ideas, problems and challenges and how to approach them in new ways.

What makes it technically compelling? Simply the ability to easily post content and make it accessible to people around the world. The ideas are much more compelling than the technology, which is really the way it should be.

How would you improve it? Or would you? Realizing that design is the business of presenting content in visually engaging ways, I think most blogs could benefit from more attention to visual communication. Every blogger (including me) has this long page of text, and maybe some photos and graphics. We should be redesigning the blog to speak conceptually to the content, instead of using the blog as a glorified Web-publishing, word processor. Guess that'll be my next project.

What's your job? Having recently started Substance, a digital brand strategy and creative experiences studio in Portland, Oregon, with my business partner, David Lowe-Rogstad, we're both pretty much co-everything—creative directors, designers, project managers, strategists, developers...

If you have a degree in what field is it? I have a BS in Mass Communication/Video Production, with a minor in Creative Writing, and post-graduate work in Visual Communication Design.

How did you get involved in this industry? I was working as a freelance copywriter in Cleveland, Ohio and thought the designers were having all the fun. So, I went back to school, picked up some theory and practical skills and went to work for a small design studio doing brand and print design. My first experience with interactive was using Director 5 for a CD-ROM project.

What's your biggest Web (design) turn-off? Following convention. It's rare for companies to make the first groundbreaking step. Instead, they follow what others are doing, even if there might be a better way to do it, or a smarter way to execute the idea. You can't lead by following.

Who, in this industry (or not), has been your biggest inspiration? I'll go old school with Paul Rand. He was a visionary. I can only imagine what he would do in the industry today. But most of my inspiration comes from related fields and people who are thinking about and sharing what's next, like Russell Davies, Seth Godin, Adam Morgan, Frank Gehry, Malcolm Gladwell and Guy Kawasaki. Also, my business partner, David Lowe-Rogstad, for going on this incredible adventure with me. And my wife; she's the one who convinced me I should do this with my life.

What's the weirdest thing you've bought online? I hardly ever shop online... and certainly not for anything weird. Don't you know they track everything you do online? Anyway, my kids bring weird stuff home for free.

What do you do in your spare time? Spend time with my wife and two girls, work on endless home improvement projects, read, snowboard, and enjoy a good cup of coffee. Sometimes more than one of these at the same time.

What music are you listening to right now? Viva Voce, the Stevenson Ranch Davidians, the Beatles, Lyrics Born and the Black Keys.

What product/gadget can you not live without? It's been said so many times before, but I have to go with my iPod. I take it everywhere. Close runner-ups would be the dishwasher, my soft-shell jacket, and high-speed quad chairlifts.

What's your dream computer set-up? The one that makes it affordable for everyone to have one. What an incredible opportunity to discover, share and unite. Until that happens, I'll take one that turns on the dishwasher before I go to bed.