AFQ - Stella Bugbee
In this edition of AFQ I reached out to Creative/Art Director Stella Bugbee. I met Stella through a friend in NY (who’s now her husband). When I was living in NY, she would have to endure “Thursday Night Jams” that her husband and I would do. We’d even make her listen to the nights end product. We’d be high fiving each other cause we thought we were geniuses and she would just sit there shaking her head as if we were nuts (which might be true. We did name the project Twinkler and Thrasher).
Stella Bugbee is an accomplished designer. She was recognized by How Magazine as “Woman to Watch” and has been honored by some of the top design associations. Her works have been featured in books and magazines. She got a lot of press for her “Lace Tape” which is pictured above. Now she is the Design Director for Domino Magazine and Topic Magazine (two completely different mags). Stella is one of the nicest people I’ve met and a true inspiration. Enjoy.
1) You are providing creative direction for Topic and Domino. Why 2 magazine
projects? What are some of the ups and downs with juggling 2 different mags?
I love magazines because they are collaborative and they take a ton of
effort but when they’re over you have this little thing you can hold and
read and people can enjoy. Plus, they are a great record of what’s going on
at a given time.
Domino and Topic are both magazines but they couldn’t be more different from
one another. Domino is a super-mass consumer magazine that reaches like a
million people each month. Topic is a totally non-commercial project that a
small amount of people ever get to see. Topic is where I get to put every
idea I want to see in a magazine. Domino is where I get to learn what other
people want to see in a magazine. I like the back and forth.
2) What are you seeing out there that’s exciting in design-land or any-land
for that matter?
I’m into the idea that young people are leaving the city to start farms.
That’s so exciting! And OBAMA!
3) Do you think your children (twins) communicate via ESP? What’s the
strangest thing they’ve done as a team?
When they were first learning to talk they had a word that they used that
only they knew what it meant. It was, “MEM.” Whenever one of them would say
it the other would crack up. They were like 18 months old and they already
had a private joke.
4) What are some of the things you think help maintain a family and a career
in design?
No matter what your job is, it’s hard on a family when both parents have to
work full time. I won’t get into the cultural/political situation that
should change to make it easier for families, but on a positive note, I
think that design is a great career for some one with a family. It teaches
you to be adaptable, think of lots of solutions and stay engaged in culture.
All those things help when dealing with family stuff.
5) What advice would you give to a design student trying to start their
career or get their foot in the door?
Don’t expect to know everything right away. You don’t have to make a big
splash or your best work before you’re 25, just make sure you do something
you’re proud of, even if it’s only one thing a year. It might take longer to
achieve the things you thought you should achieve but that’s fine. The goal
is to make work for a long time and stay interested.