Joshua Gajownik
Member since 2004
What is your greatest work-related purchase?
Hmmmmm, a Noguchi table for an interior branding project at Red Hat. It's not necessarily the most expensive purchase. But it is meticulously crafted and balanced. I happily designed an entire room around that one piece. Unpacking the table from its crate and assembling it, was like Christmas. A close second to that, and probably the most expensive purchase, was a large painting from a young artist named Clare Grill.
Over the last couple of years, I've really enjoyed working on projects where brand, art, product, and interior design intersect. I was formally trained as a graphic designer at the College of Design at NCSU. But from a very young age I was also interested in furniture and architecture as well. I appreciate space design and a sense of place in a constructed environment is very important to me.
What professional accomplishment are you proudest of?
The work I've done with Nike has been the most fulfilling for me I think. They have been very creative projects with an open group of people. It's a ton of work and iterations and really all over the place looking for something that will be relevant a year from now. So even the stuff that doesn't get used is rewarding too. It's been eye-opening to see how far in advance really large brands like Nike must function. They are years ahead of any product release. The moving parts, all projecting the future, are fascinating.
Plus, I grew up with Nike and they are an original so it makes me proud to have worked with them. My mind really gets going when it comes to things like competition and sports. The tone of athletics and sportsmanship lends itself so well to telling stories. It's theatre on a grand scale.
What is your non-work creative outlet?
I geek out on Discovery Channel and National Geographic. I love engineering and science shows, books, magazines, culture. I'm fascinated at how things work and I am innately a fixer. I actually moved to North Carolina to study aerospace engineering at NCSU. After two years I transferred to the College of Design. I'm kind of a hybrid of my parents: my dad who was an engineer, and my mom who is very artistically inclined. My work is kind of nonscience, if you will. Artistic, definitely influenced by natural and mechanical curiosities, but by no means science.
When not geeking out I'm probably working out in some way. I've taken to biking in Raleigh. Our greenways are awesome. I didn't really appreciate this area until I started to see it outside of the confines of my car. You see so much more on a bike. Before, I think I was just going to college here. Now when I bike, I feel like I am really living here. I also just recently got back into playing hockey, after a 10 year gap since high school. So the biking has been a little less frequent these days to make room for hockey.
What do you see yourself doing in five years? And where?
I think it goes back to that intersection of brand, art, and interiors. Everything from large global brands, to small boutique brands. I enjoy the challenges of each and working on them simultaneously. I'd love to help more small upstart shops establish themselves and realize their identities within their communities, where ever they may be.
As for where I'll be, I've found that isn't really an issue in the world we live. It's astounding and empowering. I can design for everything from a gallery show in Taipei, to a book in Austria, an office in Singapore, to the Bain Project here in Raleigh, all from one place.
You have to eat a radial tire. How would you prepare it?
Well there is pretty much nothing better in this world than mexican food. So I think I'd go find myself a nice shredded tire on I-40 (so it is local and relatively fresh as far as shredded tires go). I'd roll it into a burrito with avocado, beans, rice, chicken, queso fresco, and cilantro. Cut up the left over tire into little tire chips for guacamole. Serve those in a tire basket (I actually have three of those, they are awesome). Polish it off with a limeade.