Ryan Putnam is a creative based in San Francisco I came across online while browsing illustrations on dribbble, his work immediately appealed, it's distinctive and imaginative. He describes himself as an illustrator, designer and potter. He pushes the boundaries in his vast variety of work by investigating and combining texture, type, colour, layering, printing, mark making and illustrating.
I admire his intentions of constantly experimenting with his work with each of his pieces being diverse. Ryan often uses risograph printing to achieve different outcomes in texture, shapes and uses this to manipulate type, form, light, shadows and photography.
In his own words his approach to his work is ‘fun, personal and always forward looking’ and his ‘goal is to combine craft functionality with fine art integrity and the exacting principles of design’
In order to separate his personal and client work Ryan set up Putnam Studio, where he collaborates with other designers, such as Hannah Swann, in creating work for companies. This has a completely different identity that includes a soft colour palette and a mascot to inject fun into the brand.
Putnam’s clients include Source's event branding as part of the Designer Founder Guild retreat. Designing a library of illustrations for Airbnb, the identity and illustration for a loan-servicing app called Scratch and working with Stripe to create a San Francisco Guide for new hires. As well as collaborating with Neutral Ground to create a series of laser-etched woodblocks, to just name a few of his customers.
In an online article about Putnam Studio, written by Ryan himself, he states how 'some may think creative sparks spring forth from our pencils' but they have a more 'structured and replicable' approach when designing.
At Putnam Studio they have a 5 step process to create unique and sustainable illustration identities. To not only define an illustration idea but to also bring core parts of a brands personality to life. These steps include: brand audit, visual landscape, style construction, library of illustrations and illustration legacy. Find more information about each step in the article: https://medium.com/putnam-studio/
On his own website he has a shop in which he sells prints, zines, accessories and ceramics so if you’re interested take a look here: http://ryanputn.am/
He’s also active on instagram where he posts what he’s been working on in which you can browse here: https://www.instagram.com/ryanputnam/
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