Grandpa-George Design and Interactive

Draplin Design Co.

Grandpa-George recently visited Portland, Oregon. Of course we had drop in on Draplin Design Co., North America —maker of Field Notes and famous guy with Minneapolis connections—and the guys at Wilderness. What a fun and interesting visit. Too bad Gary was on the road.

Getting caught arriving early isn’t too bad of a thing. Right? Yes, we got there a little early. We started exploring the building and decided to take an inspired photograph. You know that kind we are talking about—Partners staring off into the distance to imply that they are looking towards the future. Yeah, well…it wasn’t until later that we learned that we had been caught by John of the Wilderness team.

After meeting Aaron Draplin, John “Goo” Phemister and David Nakamoto, we were off on a tour of the space we have heard so much about. Don’t be fooled, there is a ton of cool stuff in one place, but it is all hyper-organized and findable.

Mr. Draplin loaded us up with swag, told us amazing yarns about his Minneapolis days and told us the story of how his business has grown. He even shared with us that he will be presenting at the AIGA Minnesota — Design Camp in northern Minnesota, October 2-4, 2009.

After spending several years at Minneapolis College of Art and Design, Mr. Draplin headed west to Southern California and eventually to Portland, Oregon. In 2004, he headed out on his own to create Draplin Design, Co., North America. Purveyor of cool, Mr. Draplin does work for snowboarding companies and magazines, apparel companies, as well as logos, tshirts and other sweet designs.

Mr. Draplin is also known for his Field Notes “I’m not writing it down to remember it later, I’m writing it down to remember it now.” Hipsters, the cool-but-forgetful, geeks and the ultra cool use Field Notes.

We hope Gary likes his treats and look forward to your visit back to Minnesota. Grandpa-George thanks the guys for their hospitality.