Online Inspiration: Design for Mankind

Periodically, we post reviews of online sources of inspiration: websites and blogs that encourage creativity and connect creative souls. If you’d like to suggest a favorite site for a future profile, please e-mail your pick to creativereality@live.com.

Sometimes you meet someone online who is so obviously cool that you wish you could sit down and have a latte together posthaste. That’s how I felt when Erin Loechner responded to my profile request. I’d stumbled across Erin’s blog, Design for Mankind (via a post at Creative Every Day) and was blown away by her beautiful, free eZine, Inspiration. Both publications are appealing explorations of creativity and creative people.

Erin describes herself as “a 24-year-old Midwesterner living in Los Angeles with a passion for reading, writing and [not] arithmetic.” (OK, so if I was 24, artsy, and living stroller-free in LA, I might have a shot at being cool too…hey, a girl can fantasize, right??) Erin may be younger than many of this blog’s regular readers, but you’ll find plenty of inspiration in her blog and work. Here’s what Erin has to say about her creative life.

CC: What led to the creation of your blog?
EL: I began Design for Mankind almost a year ago for absolutely selfish reasons. Living in LA has its perks, but community is one thing that I had struggled with. It was so difficult to meet like-minded people when I spent the majority of my day plugging away at an ad agency and spending time with my husband at night. I’ve always been a blogger (I started a personal blog in 2001), so I thought I’d channel my love for art and design and seek to build a community of individuals in need of inspiration [much like myself!]. The blog has grown immensely from there, and I’m so grateful to my readers for its success!

CC: And how about the eZine?
EL: The eZine was one of those light-bulb moments. Last December I was finding very little inspiration in print and was discouraged—after all, as fantastic as the web is, I love something tangible to flip through and make notes on. My magazines just weren’t doing the trick anymore and I wanted to know more about what “normal” people were like, rather than executive editors of million-dollar corporations.

The eZine launched in January of 2008 with a glance at the inspiration boards of various artists/designers and has since grown into a monthly topic to ponder and be inspired from. It has been an incredible tool in meeting new and creative individuals and has been such a fun project for me to work on. I’m excited for the coming months, as the eZine has been shaping itself into a very powerful gift. I can’t wait to see how it grows!

CC: With a fulltime job and a marriage, where do you find time for creativity?
EL: Ahhh, precisely my dilemma. I recently resigned from my position (in April, actually!) and am now a full-time blogger. I found that I was encouraging so many of my readers to take time out for creativity and wasn’t practicing what I preached. Thankfully, my advertisements will supplement my income for now (I live very simply).

CC: What are your personal creative projects (aside from the blog)?
EL: I’m learning to illustrate! It’s such an exciting experience, really. I know nothing of how to create art and am not a very crafty person, but am so inspired by artists like AshleyG and Keri Smith who have found their own way to create something beautiful.

CC: How do you organize (share) the Dailies on your blog?
EL: I like to keep the Dailies well-rounded and offer a peek into the lives of bloggers/artists/designers that are very well known (Irene from Bloesem, Victoria from SFGirlbyBay, Mav from Port2Port Press, Stephanie Congdon Barnes, Lisa Solomon, and the like). But, I always balance that out with those smaller folk who I feel should have a light shed onto their work. I featured Vic from Lost today (a fantastic Aussie blog) as a tribute to hard-working bloggers who feature great content and aren’t always given credit for that.

CC: What do you do in terms of marketing/promotion for your blog (if anything)?
EL: You know, I’m actually not so good at this part. I’m a natural socialite, so I love commenting on other bloggers’ posts, and I think that sort of established relationship does the marketing for itself. I’d hate to “use” other blogs to self-promote Design for Mankind, so I like to keep things solely based on friendships and not so much on the PR side of things. I’m a firm believer that things will unravel the way they are meant to, and I try to let nature run its course on the blog—whichever direction that may be!

CC: How do you find all the cool people, resources, and things you write about? (Or do you just know ALL the cool people online due to your natural coolness??)
EL: Ha. You’re sweet! I’m a digger. I LOVE research and find new artists in the most unexpected places. A good rule of thumb for me is to ALWAYS check out links from other artists/designers’ sites. Chances are, if you love the artist, you’ll love their friends.

CC: How is your Etsy store doing?
EL: Eh. It’s OK. I don’t pay much attention to it, to be honest. The posters were something that came from a few readers requesting a copy of a graphic I had designed for the second issue of the eZine. I wanted to make them available for everyone, so the Etsy store was the easiest solution. It’s been a learning experience—I’ve lost a bit of money in the process, but you’ll have that. The main thing I like to keep in mind is that inspiration begets inspiration, so the act of producing something tangible and offering it to a wider audience can only come full circle!

CC: Great to meet you, Erin–thanks for the inspiration!