NYC designer is Youngstown-proud

By KALEA HALL | khall@vindy.com

LIBERTY

Jesse Reed works with identities every day.

His job is to communicate ideas to people through his design work at Pentagram in New York City.

Sometimes he has to pinch himself because he is living his dream — a sign the Liberty Township native is cognizant of his own identity — and proud of it.

“I like having these roots of just a getting-work-done kind of town,” Reed said. “I think that is what Youngstown represents — this strong work ethic.”

Reed doesn’t hide his love of the old steel town. He spreads it. His Twitter cover photo screams “Youngstown,” just like his attitude. He credits his polite character to his roots. He moved away from the city, but this city has not left him.

“I just like to hold onto it,” Reed said.

His story extends the Youngstown story beyond the Rust Belt, as the city’s story flows through the people who take their roots and spread them.

THE STORY STARTS

Reed’s story starts in Australia, where he was born 27 years ago. His story continued in Liberty Township where he grew up as a punk-rock skater with a dream to make stuff, and drum away through life. At 13, he started his first company, called Nebulize.

This was so he could have cool skateboards and T-shirts with handmade logos to wear and give to his friends. He would design the logos using Microsoft Paint, and he used stencils and spray paint to add it to his board.

He had a website, and his customers would send him a check. Then he would mail them merchandise.

“I had this drive to start companies, make designs and such,” he said.

His family was always there to provide support. His mother, Ellen Weiss, would drive him places and help his business. She still lives in Liberty.

“He was always very independent,” Weiss said.

She encouraged his entrepreneurial efforts. She allowed him to explore, while at the same time instilling qualities every mother wants her child to have.

From Reed’s photos, designs and artwork at his mother’s home, it is easy to see that he pours himself into projects and creates his own masterpieces.

“He gets into the real core of where he is at,” his mom said. “Wherever he is, he always sees his glass half full. Never empty. Every little thing he does, he puts his total self into it.”

In high school, Reed continued to build upon his creativity with his band One Fourth Awesome.

But despite the time he took in honing his creative side, he never once thought a design career could be in his future.

He was an average student at Liberty High School with not much of an idea about what he wanted to study in college. When the University of Cincinnati accepted him, he originally went for business and then transferred to the art program. He would later transfer to the design program after he discovered an even greater passion for it.

“In high school all I wanted to do was play drums and skateboard,” he said. “[Design] literally changed my whole work ethic.”

A PASSION FOR DESIGN

His passion for making logos, working with color and shapes to tell a story, made him take chances.

In college he was able to obtain paid internships and chose to go to a place where dreams come true: The Big Apple.

“There is no risk in trying,” he said.

Four of his six internships were in NYC.

“It was the place that felt right,” he said. “It was the big design hub.”

One of them was at his dream job, Pentagram — the world’s largest independent design agency where many designers dream of working.

His belief in himself led him back to NYC after graduation with enough money to live for three months. His dream to be a designer in New York turned into a reality after he was recommended to the Museum of Modern Art. In 2010 he went on staff as a junior graphic designer at MoMa.

THE DREAM JOB

A competition changed his path.

Reed was encouraged by his boss at the time to enter the Command X contest in 2011. Command X is a design reality show that takes place at the American Institute of Graphic Arts, or AIGA, conference. The three-day competition is among seven emerging designers under 26 who complete challenges on stage in front of a live audience of thousands.

A few months later, Reed got an email from none other than his design idol and the host of the competition: Michael Bierut, a partner of Pentagram.

Reed had intentions of staying at MoMa for a little longer, but he couldn’t pass up the interview opportunity Bierut presented.

Turns out he was offered the job that night.

“I was ecstatic,” he said.

The job switch was definitely a change for Reed, and he admits that it was difficult. He went from working on a design team to being the sole designer. And that one designer might have 15 projects to work on at once with different deadlines.

“You have control over everything, but you have to take on the responsibility to it,” he said. “That kind of drives you not to mess up.”

Reed’s clients include non-profits, companies, educational institutions and others. Examples are Penguin Press, New York University and Saks Fifth Avenue.

Bierut remembers Reed as one of the design firm’s best interns. His communicative attitude, natural talent and noticeable love of his job all gave him that title. Bierut is not only Reed’s design idol, he also comes from a similar background — he’s from Parma and attended the University of Cincinnati.

Bierut has a small, hand-picked team of designers and when an opening came he invited Reed for an interview.

“I am happy I did,” he said. “There are a lot of people that want to work for us for a variety of reasons so we never have trouble. You have to be very good.”

A CLASSIC

Outside of his work for Pentagram, Reed came across another opportunity to delve into the work he loves.

In the basement of Pentagram’s offices, of all place, in a locker and under piles of clothes was a binder. It held an item most designers dreamed about seeing and feeling in person: the first edition of the New York City Transit Authority Graphics Standards Manual by Massimo Vignelli and Bob Noorda, both design legends.

This manual was created to help get people to where they needed to go.

“You can’t just get one of these,” Reed said. “It is something that is lost in time.”

Reed and his colleagues knew they wanted to share this masterpiece of design that efficiently helped people every day. A year and a half later they received permission from the Metropolitan Transit Authority to recreate the book. They turned to the online fundraiser website kickstarter.com. The goal was $100,000 to remake and sell 1,000 copies. The $100,000 was raised in just three hours.

“People reacted the same way we reacted,” Reed said. “We just thought designers would like it.”

By the end of the 30-day Kickstarter campaign they reached 6,718 backers that pledged a total $802,812 to the project.

YOUNGSTOWN PRIDE

So what’s next? His “bucket list project” is to design for Youngstown — to help it in some way, whether through signs, mural or some type of public messaging. The authenticity to this city is what he loves.

“I’m not interested in helping the city look cooler, but I am interested in designing something that raises money for city programs, improvements,” he said.

“I learned a great deal about legacy cities — Youngstown being one of them — from someone very close to me. Capitalizing on and being proud of this category is something the city could really embrace, and perhaps design could help.”

He has a list of places he visits when in town: Taco Bell, Plaza Donuts, Truck World, The Butler Institute of American Art are a few. He drives from Liberty through downtown and up Market Street so he can see the changing city.

“Every time I come home I just drive around and take photos. This is probably the thing I like doing most when in Youngstown,” he said.