MEET #4695 MATT CHASE
Designer • Washington, DC
WNW Member #4695 Matt Chase has collaborated with a range of clients, including Men’s Health, The New York Times, Esquire, Monocle, GQ, The Wall Street Journal, Penguin, Vanity Fair, The Washington Post, Bloomberg, and The Atlantic. His editorial work is always fresh, eclectic and sharp-witted. We asked Matt what his ideal Working: Not Working ratio is: "Erratic. I like to push through a few days with my nose to the grindstone, then take a day off, then obsess over something new for a week, then burn out, then start all over again. Whether this is a consequence of the typical editorial workflow or a severely damaged thalamus is anyone’s guess."
Matt also offers some hilarious advice to fellow freelancers: "Freelancers have finally earned a reputation for having a professional work ethic and a cool, approachable demeanor. Let’s please not fuck that up."
1. How long have you been freelancing?
Technically I should state that my first freelance commission came in the seventh grade, when a kid paid me ten bucks to make him a set of AIM buddy icons. He slipped me two fives in the corner of the library between classes and to this day it’s probably the most badass I’ve ever felt.
The real answer to your question is a little over a year and a half. Like many (most?) people I know who eventually come to operate their own practice, I’d been overlapping a studio job with an increasing number of independent gigs, and eventually realized that the work I did on my own time was more creatively fulfilling than what I accomplished at the studio.
2. Is there a time or place that you feel most creative/have the best ideas?
Alone + outside seems to be a good inspirational recipe for me. I never start any project without first taking a walk around the block.
3. What's your ideal Working:Not Working ratio?
Erratic. I like to push through a few days with my nose to the grindstone, then take a day off, then obsess over something new for a week, then burn out, then start all over again. Whether this is a consequence of the typical editorial workflow or a severely damaged thalamus is anyone’s guess.
4. Do your parents understand what you do?
They do. It helps that pretty much everything I make can be e-mailed as a 350kb JPEG.
5. What scene from a movie makes you laugh just thinking about it?
The silent majesty of a winter's morn
6. If you were stranded on a desert island, with your computer, what 3 websites would you take with you?
Whatever the top three Google search results are for “how to get off a deserted island.”
7. What do you do when Not Working?
Fresh air, live shows, good food, good times.
8. Do you have a hidden talent?
None whatsoever.
9. Any tips or advice for fellow freelancers?
Freelancers have finally earned a reputation for having a professional work ethic and a cool, approachable demeanor. Let’s please not fuck that up.
10. What's your favorite thing on the internet this week?
This. Now just imagine if it had sound.
11. Who are some other WNW members whose work you admire, and why?
Jean Jullien, for his artfully brilliant commentary on life as we know it. Tomi Um, for her playful worlds and the quirky characters who inhabit them. Casey Martin, for minding the details and creating branding work that always, always feels right for the client. And Elana Schlenker, for giving us the typographic porno mag we didn’t even know we wanted.
12. Anything else you'd like to add that we haven't asked?
Can I get the Wi-Fi password for this island?