After more than 12 years in the same office, Kurt Wolken of the graphic design studio Wolken Communica turned to his partner, Justin Byrnes, with an idea — to close the office and become “studio gypsies.”
“We are traveling from place to place, studio to studio or office to office,” Wolken explains over coffee. “Potentially could be a client, someone we’ve never met or another design firm and working out of that space for one maybe two months.”
Byrnes wasn’t sold to begin with, but once he thought about it, he was on board. “As in any job,” Byrnes says, “You kind of hit that plateau where you’re just kind of at the job. It’s the daily in and out. So for things to change up that dramatically, it made sense to me.”
Justin Byrnes and Kurt Wolken, self-described studio gypsies.
As graphic designers, the duo needs to be creative. “Let’s do something new and interesting,” Wolken says, “We’re social people to begin with so the more we can get out and mix it up with people and engage, the more it feeds your creativity.” Their first office stint is here in Ballard with Hovie Hawk at Design Hovie Studios.
Wolken and Byrnes aren’t just working in Ballard, they’re experiencing it. They hit the local bars and coffee shops in downtown Ballard. “It’s a new neighborhood so you want to explore it,” Byrnes tells us. “We’re only going to be here for a couple of months and then we’re going to be somewhere else.” They’re blogging their traveling work adventures on StudioGypsies.com.
“The economy played a huge part,” Wolken says, “Not from us for fear of closing our own doors but from a door opening in a different way to us to go do something new.” With other firms and businesses being hit by the economic downturn, Wolken and Byrnes are taking advantage of the extra space at some of these offices. “It’s really foreign to everybody,” says Wolken, “There are two reactions we get when we talk to people about it. The first one is, ‘I’ve never heard of that, does anybody do that?’ and as far as we know, no. The second reaction is ‘I’m jealous. I wish I could not go to the same place everyday.'”
All-in-all, Wolken says this is a positive experience for everyone. “Everybody gets the creative spark of working with someone new and then we get out of their way and move on to the next thing.”
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A very creative concept. Bet you will start a trend. Good luck!
It sounds like what contractors and freelance artists do everyday?
I think the difference is its a company, not an individual, and they aren’t working for the place that’s hosting them. They are doing their own work out of another company’s space.
I’m still a little confused.
so they’re doing their own work, in someone else’s space? are they subletting?
what would I get if I let these two dudes work in my office? will they make coffee? bring donuts?
Hi Huh, Kurt Wolken here. – We’d be happy to make the coffee, but be warned we also tend to drink a lot of it. The idea is to creatively collaborate with our hosts in order to do that we are willing to set aside a number of hours hours of design for rent. Most companies have a marketing piece that’s always on the back burner and we’d love to help and execute those projects while were there. The whole idea hinges on a creative exchange for both sides. Otherwise we can sublet if that’s preferred, or make some high quality coffee – we’re open to ideas.