A Couple of Questions

For February, we interviewed creative couples who work together.  We sent out a questionnaire to designers and artists whose work we loved and were overwhelmed by the response that we received.  As a married couple who runs our own design / print studio, we felt compelled to answer these questions ourselves.  Here is the first installment of the punnily named “A Couple of Questions” segment that will run throughout the month.

us!

How did you meet and and how long have you been together?
Dennis (D): We met in college. Christina was an Honors student, and I was an Honors program dropout. We were good friends for several years before we started dating. We’ve been a couple for six years, and married for just over one.

Chicken or egg: did you become romantically involved first and then start working together, or was it the other way around?

Prior to meeting Christina, I had very little interest in art or design. Christina was always creative and I feel that she was the biggest influence on my passion for art and design today. Christina and I became interested in lowbrow / pop surrealism art during our final couple years of college (neither of our degrees are art related). From there we took a few design classes at the College for Creative Studies here in Detroit. We formed our own design / print studio in 2008.

Christina (C): I had dabbled in art throughout childhood, but didn’t think I was talented enough for art school (which I regret.) Dennis never had any inhibitions about putting his work out there, and he’s pushed me to do the same. I never thought that anyone would see my creative output until Dennis and I started collaborating.

If you had to start all over and work together in some other occupation, what would you choose?

D: I think it’d we’d both like to work with our hands. I always thought it’d be amazing to own a vineyard or microbrewery.

C: Combination record shop/laundromat. Catchphrase: “Go to the mall, dirtball!”

In what ways do your individual talents lend themselves to your collaborative projects?

D: I think that I may be the stronger illustrator, while Christina has a love of typography. When we work on a project we sit down and throw ideas off of each other. Once settled on an idea we sketch out a basic design and then break it down into which part each of us will work on. Then we often fine tune the final design together.

What is your favorite piece of work that you’ve done together?

D: I think my favorite project we have worked on to date is our gigposter for The Juliets. It was truly a collaborative piece. I Illustrated the peacock, and Christina hand drew the typography.


C: My favorite is definitely the Detroit Urban Craft Fair poster. I had gone to that event for years and it was truly a dream come true to participate, let alone design the poster.


Any advice for couples who work together in a creative field?

We have found it difficult not to take criticism from each other work personally. This is something that we have gotten better about with experience, but it does still happen. Secondly, and I think more more importantly is to consciously make time to enjoy each others company away from work. When you work together, it’s very easy to let the work consume you 24/7.

And finally, what’s coming up for you guys in the near future?

We have a few projects coming up that we’re very excited about, including being a part of the Meth + Hotdogs 2 at Lift Detroit.

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New Stuff from Aesthetic Apparatus
Detroit Urban Craft Fair Artist Preview: Part 1
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