Q&A: SEAN ADAMS INTERVIEWS CHRISTOPHER HUELSHORST OF BUNGALOW CREATIVE

Step Inside Design, Mar/Apr 2008 by Adams, Sean

SA: Christopher, you've worked in many cities-New York; 'Washington, D. C; Atlanta-and you ended up settling in Kansas City. What is it about Kansas City that made you decide to stay?

CH: I was in Atlanta and not really thinking about leaving, and Hallmark called. I'm originally from Omaha, and it seemed right to come back home. I'd done the big cities and was ready for something a bit simpler. I thought I'd sit back and eventually retire from Hallmark. That didn't happen. I worked with some superamazing, talented people, but I decided I could do things differently. I left, and Bungalow was born.

SA: What are the benefits of working and living in Kansas City, as opposed to New York or Chicago? And what would be the biggest downside?

CH: The downside is we are not a big city, and the upside is we're not a big city. I know you've just said great design is not just segregated to the coasts. It's happening everywhere. We have several clients in Seattle, and they love that we are from Kansas City. It's like they have a secret, and they love our approach to business and design. We are small, so our clients always know who's involved. We pride ourselves on "creative sells creative"-no sales or account execs. We try to take the approach of doing business on a handshake. Of course we have more than a handshake, but it's the underlying feeling. I don't think that's happening in many places.

SA: There are firms whose mission statements talk about "high-powered strategy andaggressive positioning and marketing."'Bungalow's philosophy is very different from that. So what's the deal? How would you describe your mission?

CH: We created an agency with a soul. We do work that is important to us, products that make a difference in the community. So we work with businesses and people that enhance lives and communities. Our mission is, admittedly, self-indulgent. We want the fun stuff, and we want to feel good about what we do each day. We want clients that need our help and appreciate us. We enjoy our clients personally and professionally. And we need to believe in the clients to take them on as accounts.

SA: That's brave. I think it's a mistake to look at design with one pair of glasses only. Someone in Atlanta is going to make something that is different than someone in San Diego. If design is a reflection of our time and place, how is your work affected by not only Kansas City, but the Midwest?

CH: In a way it's the bootstrap thing and good old work ethics. The symbol of a bungalow is certainly about Kansas City and the Midwest. I also think the cross-pollination of people from different parts of the country settling in different places has led to less localization of design. That said, I think my environment, and specifically the client's environment, gives design a local flavor. We're designing a wine label for Precept Brands in Seattle, and it has a Northwestern theme to it... by no means Midwestern.

The Midwestern attitude influences our work; it's generally positive. It's never meaningless and is always about promoting goodness. That sounds so saccharine, and I walk around with a bluebird on my shoulder. Actually, it's nice to be putting more "happy" into the world.

SA: I was talking with a great friend, oho in Kansas City, Ann Willoughby. She mentioned that the design business there is dominated by advertising agencies. Is that true? How has that affected your business and work?

CH: Thank god for Ann! Willoughby Design led the way so we could exist here. They put the word creative before advertising and made it possible to compete against the big Wal-Mart-esque ad agencies. And I think we all coexist in Kansas City pretty well. I don't want their accounts, and they don't want my clients. Whether to choose a unique creative solution or-how did you put it?-a "high-powered strategy, aggressive positioning and marketing"? I know what I'd choose.

SA: I first noticed your work when I was judging a competition for AIGA Kansas City. You had submitted the Bungalow stationery system and book. We loved mat they bad a strong relationship to letterpress and silkscreen processes. This shows up in other pieces of yours. Why that process and look?

CH: At the time it was really cheap. True story: We started Bungalow in my dining room, and I gave my team a Siooo budget to print the identity. It set such a great tone for what we were about to begin. We love a good fiscal challenge. Sometimes the hardest constraints make for the most inventive solutions.

SA: Bungalow seems to traverse several mediums fairly effortlessly. You handle identity and print, web and environmental. You bave a broad range of interests and media. Do you think specialization in design is a good thing or not?

CH: We work hard not to have a specialty. It's not interesting to me to do one project after another in the same format or medium. We never stop learning, and if you're always trying something new, you can learn about who you are as a designer and as a person. Change keeps you from getting caught up in the rules. We are often free to follow a solution down the rabbit hole. If design is about solving problems, then we don't want to say that the solution is always a postcard. It might be a message in a bottle.