Boulder, CO
9.21

WHERE ARE YOU?
Boulder Colorado to Rawlins, Wyoming

WHAT'D YOU DO TODAY?
Woke up kind of in a trance. Everything that was today was marked with a twinge of sadness, the end felt heavy and present, but also strangely, very far away? (soooooo oo poetic Sahm)

Once we were all up, we packed up our things, locked the doors and slipped the key under the mat of our Colorado home (a million thank you's to Jeung).

Morning coffee brought to us by Ozo Coffee Roasters.

At noon, we made our way over to the Co-working space, NICHE, to meet and interview IAN SCOTT! Principal and Creative Director of Root House Studio. Loved their work. Loved what they do for the Boulder community. It was a shorter interview than we were used to, but Ian's answers were succinct, clear, and overall just really inspiring to listen to. Post-interview, we wandered around the space for a bit and talked with some of the lovely designers at Root House before finally saying goodbye.

Once the evening rolled around, we made our way over to interview JONNY BLACK + RICHARD ROCHE of Cast Iron Design for our VERY. LAST. INTERVIEW.

It was funny because before we started, they asked us who was the craziest interviewee, and I think they took the cake. They had a great dynamic, and I think the three of us just had a lot of fun hearing them speak and interact. Along with just being a hilarious duo, the two created a preeeetty incredible studio--Cast Iron's dedication to green graphic design was so inspiring to hear and learn about. Definitely came out of that interview more conscious about my position as a design student, and how I can be more environmentally-sensitive with my work/process.

After speaking with them for a bit and getting some studio shots, we packed up and waved adieu.









And then just like that, we were done.

Hiked up Chautauqua Park.

Ran down.

We had a tight schedule to make in time for some birthdays, so we grabbed some burritos to-go and drooooveeee.

Five hours later. we made it to our KOA. Tense moment when we needed four more dollars and one penny in cash, but we pulled through. (Later realized we probably shouldn't have bothered because we literally stayed for four hours, but, I digress.)

We were all FUCKING TIRED! so we aggressively pulled out our tent and sleeping bags, and chilled to the bone, we barreled inside.

HOW YAH FEELIN?
Cannot believe this is the last time I'll close my eyes in this tent this summer.

sahm 1

WHERE ARE YOU?
Boulder, CO & somewhere in Wyoming?

WHAT'D YOU DO TODAY?
Left our friends in Denver (Thank you Jeung for your hospitality - you’re amazing!) and headed over to Boulder for our last. two. interviews. ahhhh.

First interview of the day was with cool dude, IAN SCOTT, principal/creative director of Root House Design. This interview was short and precise. He answered our questions in a very succinct, thought out way, which allowed a lot of time for us to walk around the space and mingle with some other Root House designers. His studio is a vibrant collaborative space for different companies, running theme apparently. Root House Design does work that is very community and environmentally focused in a meaningful and social way, it was really cool being able to talk with Ian in more detail about their mission.

We had a bit of time before our next interview so we stopped at a juicery to recharge our cameras and ourselves.

Then we made our way to Cast Iron Design’s Studio. Imagine this: an abandoned hospital building, ok cool, now an abandoned hospital building’s chapel, okay, now an abandoned hospital building’s chapel with a huge portrait of Al Gore. Congrats, you’ve imaged Cast Iron Design.

Now the people of Cast Iron is another story, the studio is co owned by these two crazies: JONATHAN BLACK and RICHARD ROCHE. There is no doubt that they are the weirdest and craziest studio that we interviewed, it was definitely a memorable end to the trip. Aside from their personality, their work speaks tremendously to environmentally friendly and sustainable design on a level that I’ve never seen before. They put so much thought in to the way that their work is manufactured - from the paper they use to the glue on their stickers. It’s really inspiring to see a studio that works in this way and even more so that their clients are interested in and excited for the extra effort that it takes to work in this way.

After our interview, we did a little hike and got to run around for a bit in the magical Colorado sunset.

Got some burritos and snackies for the long haul - 17 hour ride home, just in time for some birthdays :)

We drove as far as we could at 9pm. After 5 hours of driving we situated ourselves in the last campground somewhere in Wyoming where we slept (napped?) for a few (3) hours.

HOW YAH FEELIN?
Ahhh I don’t know. Right after our interview with Cast Iron I was in a strange mood — feeling the end and trying to reject it mostly. Jonathan asked us what we took from the trip as a whole, I answered very vaguely and I didn’t like that I did that, but I think I need more alone time to think about it.

These next 17 hours shall be interesting.

- d.g.

WHERE ARE YOU?
Boulder CO --> somewhere southwest in good ol' Wyoming

WHAT'D YOU DO TODAY?
Two interviews today…

Woke up kind of groggy and really feeling the fact that it’s the last interview day, but I never admitted it or even acknowledged it that way until writing this now. Packed up, headed out for a coffee and research before meeting IAN SCOTT of Root House Studio. Very cool guy, working with really cool people on really cool projects. He was so eloquent and succinct, the interview went so quickly. Makes me a little sad in retrospect. I wish I’d had more questions. It was one of those things where I came up with at least 10 questions immediately after leaving. Coming in, I think I was a little intimidated because I love their work. The interview went really well though, it was just short.

Then we grabbed juice. I love juice. I forgot how much. Worked a little and grabbed some more goods then we were on our way to Cast Iron Design to meet cofounders, RICHARD ROCHE and JOHNNY. One of the first questions they asked us was which interviewee was the craziest? After 2.5 hours we were there, it would definitely have to be them… They are wonderful guys and their dynamic is so incredible. We spent the first, nearly ten minutes, just cracking up at these two. They make such incredible work too and are taking graphic design into an environmentally conscience sphere. It’s amazing how their clients embrace this extra effort on their part. Love love love it. I’ll definitely be following these guys into the future. I hope there’ll be an opportunity to meet with them again and spend some more time in Boulder.

We ran out of there all in a strange mood - post our last interview headed for Chautauqua Park where everything cleared up. We walked/ran uphill fast, breathed heavy for a while for the first time in a long time in the fresh air beneath the Flat Irons. This place reminds me so much of Hood River.

Then we grabbed burritos to go and TJs snacks way too slowly for a folks trying to drive five hours at like 9pm. We’re trying to make it home in time for parents’ birthdays which means we’ve got 17 hours to fit in before 6pm tomorrow. We hit the road for as long as we could, only to camp for 3 hours (an hour in I had to pee and the hour after that a windstorm snapped me awake again). Oh well. In the spirit of denying the end, I’d rather start the trek home in the dark.

HOW YAH FEELIN?
WEIRD. The interviews and people today were amazing, our hike was lovely and we’ve had some wonderful moments today as always. But I just feel off. My subconscious knows it’s the end. I need to reflect and think harder about it I know, but not right now.

-schloopy sam