When Australian designer Wade Jeffree arrived in New York in 2012, a fresh graduate from Swinburne’s Communication Design course, he immediately took a job – selling shoes. It’s not that he wasn’t offered roles in top design studios, he just wanted to do something that gave him a more flexible schedule.
It’s a decision he doesn’t regret. “When I speak to Australians who have moved over here for design jobs, a similar story keeps surfacing,” he says. “They wish they’d explored more of the city before taking on their respective jobs.”
Three months after he arrived in New York, his career kicked into gear and he started work at Sagmeister & Walsh (S&W), where he established his reputation as a promising designer (and willing participant in the firm’s tradition of nude staff photos).
His two years at S&W were incredibly valuable. “Stefan Sagmeister was someone I had dreamed of working with,” says Jeffree. “Having the opportunity to sit next to him every day and watch him impart wisdom with every conversation was amazing.”
Sagmeister taught Jeffree the importance of being honest, clear and decisive in every interaction – “no matter if they were an intern, fan or a CEO,” he says.
The busy agency on Broadway in New York, which counts Pepsi, BMW and The New York Times among its clients, was a long way from Kingsbury, in Melbourne’s northern suburbs. That’s where Jeffree grew up, in a house down the street from a huge cemetery in the tiny “nine-block suburb”. After high school, he completed the Northland Design Studies course (or “Year 13”) before enrolling in Swinburne’s Communication Design degree.
By his final year at university, Jeffree knew he wanted to work overseas, and deliberated between London and New York. Lured by the J1 visa and the promise of a New York summer, Jeffree booked his flights to the US. After a road trip from the coast to coast, an adventure documented in his book Coming to America, the designer arrived in New York.
Five years later, Jeffree says New York continues to have a huge impact on his work. “My relocation here has influenced and inspired me in many ways Melbourne would not,” he says. “The power of travel is immeasurable and the people I’ve met are going to be influential for years to come.”
There’s a buzz in New York that you can’t find anywhere else, he says. “Everyone is highly motivated, skilled, and all here from somewhere else trying to make something of it,” he says. “The enthusiasm and energy created through this passion and motivation is infectious – you want to work and you want to always be pushing.”
Today he runs a design studio with his partner Leta Sobierajski, a fellow designer from Jefferson in upstate New York. They met online via the site OkCupid (“Tinder didn't exist then,” he says) and in 2014, starting work on a collaboration called Complements, an exploration of their relationship through “humorous” and “oddball” portrait photography. “Complements made us quickly realise that we work well together,” says Jeffree. “It’s why we now run a design studio together.”
With clients including Google, Uniqlo Japan, and taste-making record label Ghostly International, the pair now live and work in Brooklyn. A typical workday sees Jeffree up and out of the apartment and riding to the studio by eight in the morning. “I work best in the AM as there are no distractions,” he says. “Everything is quiet.” That extends to the studio where they wear headphones and mostly chat online, but make a habit of leaving the studio to have lunch together. “The studio is right next to the river, so we have an amazing view of Manhattan from Transmitter Park,” he says. “I will never not love that view. It gives me perspective on how crazy this place is and why I love it so much.”
Establishing and running their own business has been hard, but it means the couple can take time off when they need it. “Maybe that is taking half a day to go to galleries,” says Jeffree. “It’s been the best thing for my mental and physical health.”
What advice does Jeffree have for people trying to pursue a creative career? Don’t take any shortcuts.
“Take time to decide what you are really looking to do,” he says. “You may feel the need to rush. But spend the time creating the things that make you happy and challenge you.”
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