An interview with designer Eric Karjaluoto of smashLAB

January 12, 11:29 AMDesign Trends ExaminerNeal Shaffer

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"I remember drawing logos and trying to design magazines in the fourth grade."

Eric Karjaluoto is one of the founders of smashLAB, a strategic interactive agency based in Vancouver, Canada. In addition to client work, smashLAB is behind both MakeFive and Undrln, two social media startups that have generated considerable buzz. He also authors ideasonideas, where he discusses "design, brands and experience." I've always found his work insightful, provocative, and relevant, so I got in touch to get a quick taste of what makes him tick.

First thing, give me some general background on the path that led you to where you are now. I'm always curious about how folks in this field ended up there, since the answer is almost never "I've wanted to design/be a creative director since I was a little kid." Or is it?

I actually was one of those odd people. I remember drawing logos and trying to design magazines in the fourth grade. In fact, I remember doing poorly on quizzes as I spent so much time varying how my type aligned with the margins. (I know--that's sort of weird, but it now seems to make more sense.)

I stumbled around in public school being a "less than exemplary" student. That being said, I did some interesting little things: painting pictures, starting a t-shirt business, et cetera. From there I studied painting at Emily Carr and then painted for a few years while working in production at a newspaper.

In 2000 I joined up with my good friend Eric Shelkie to start smashLAB.

We've spent almost every waking moment since then trying to make the best work we can. (I think we almost have enough practice to do something really great one of these days.)

You're the creative director at smashLAB and you're also behind both MakeFive and Undrln, two recently launched web ventures. What have you learned in terms of the differences between client work and launching something of your own?

Client work pays better.

That being said, the web ventures are lovely projects to work on. It's nice to build things that you can take ownership of, and steer over the long-term. When you can see how a project works "in the wild", it allows you to augment and revise things that just aren't working as they should. I like that, as the project-nature of our client work often doesn't allow for that reflection after completion.

Additionally, I have to say that clients are good at poking holes in ideas that aren't yet sound. On self-directed projects, however, it's more difficult to remain objective. As such, I find that we really have to ask for people to give us a "slap in the face". Something has to keep you cognizant of what really does work, and what ideas/approaches are better left on the cutting-room floor.

You've got some strong opinions about the ways that PR and marketing firms deal with social media outreach (and, as you know, I agree with pretty much all of it.) The question is: what the hell is wrong with them? Any chance they'll figure it out?

I think it largely has to do with a universal problem of coming to terms with the new tools at our disposal. We've had these great mechanisms (email, RSS feeds, blogs, and so on and so forth) arrive in very short order. Now we have to implement them in a fashion that's somehow measurable to our clients.

Now, I'm not in PR, so I really don't know how that world works. That being said, I suspect that it's much easier to sell a client on the notion of having sent "x number of emails", no matter how poorly they performed, versus explaining that you've been building relations that have no return today, but are establishing groundwork for the future. Buyers of such services have a hard time not having quantitative numbers to go back to their employers and boards with.

That said, I think there are all kinds of people in marketing and PR doing great jobs. It's just hard to not pick on those who have been doing things poorly.  ;-)

Aside from your own ventures, what's inspiring you these days? Music, blogs, films, etc?

I think I'm getting older, as I'm not finding as much time to invest in newer films or music. Lately I've found myself drawn to Joe Strummer songs, old Rolling Stones, Bruce Springsteen. You know, I heard some Don Henley the other day and really liked it. This is rather perverse given that I've always hated his music. (I don't know what the f*ck is going on in my head.)

I recently started to watch Dexter, which is really well written. I didn't think I would like it so much, given its grim premise; nevertheless, I find myself interested in it, which I find myself less so with a lot of recent film.

As for reading, most of that is done in fits and spurts on the bus or while on the toilet. I've found this great little iPhone app called Instapaper, that allows you to mark articles on the web for reading later. This leads me to click on all kinds of interesting things over the course of the day, and then digest them on the bus-ride home. (I try to read about things other than design, as I'm generally pretty limited in my general knowledge.)

What's coming in '09 from you and smashLAB?

Well, we'll continue to refine MakeFive. We're adding more local features that will help people find neat things in their neighborhoods. I think we're getting a handle on how that site works, and I'd like to see the usage increase on it.

I'm around 25,000 words into a book on marketing for underdogs that (so far) seems to be coming together nicely. I'd like to just buckle-down, get it done, and then self-publish it within the next couple of months (hopefully someone reads it).

Meanwhile, we have two new web properties in the works. I'm excited about both and believe they could become useful tools for a number of people. (I have to say that there's nothing quite as fun as watching people actually use this stuff that we toil away at.)

We also will try to take on a little client work, in order to keep the lights on. So, if you know anyone who needs to hire some really obsessive web folks, pass our name along, okay? (If you don't, I'll have to make sales calls, and I really hate sales calls.)

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My thanks to Eric for taking the time to do this interview. Look for more short talks with designers and other creative types in this space throughout the coming months.