Meet Paul Lukes | Creative Director/Principal

We had the good fortune of connecting with Paul Lukes and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Paul, can you walk us through the thought-process of starting your business?
We are a husband-wife duo and it just made sense with writing and design being two things that so naturally fit together. We both have a shared passion in music as well, specifically hip hop and so having an outlet where we could offer our skills to other creatives was just something that made perfect sense. We also have pretty strong beliefs around what is ethically and morally sound in terms of the type of work we want to do. So creating a space where we can use our talents to help shape the world in a positive way was also of paramount importance to us. Really, it was a no brainer, the stars align and things just fit correctly. We were actually introduced in the first place, with the main intention of us working together and month later we were living together and now almost 13 years later we’re married and continuing to evolve our efforts.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
Art is sort of a general term that applies to everything I do, but I’d say more specifically I do three types of creative work. First, is design, which is my primary focus, but then I also create fine art and graffiti style murals. For the sake of this, I’ll speak mostly about my design practice.

First and foremost I am a conceptual designer. I think strategically first and make sure whatever work is created follows suit after that. So before I ever get designing there is a ton of research done into the client, their competitors, what makes them different and so on. I whittle that down to the core concepts that would best communicate those values/messages etc. and figure out the most compelling ways to execute those things. At Smart Minds, we’re primarily focused on creating work that elevates other creatives, whether that’s artists, musicians or organizations that are related to them.

In addition to my design work, Kyle is a talented writer who pens anything from press releases, to bios, to full fledged articles to help promote various artists. She’s written about a plethora of well known musicians and household names at this point. She’s sought out because of her knack for pulling a variety of disparate elements together and crafting cohesive pieces from them as well as her innate ability to interview people and get them to reveal truths about themselves that other authors/interviewers might not elicit. She was recently called “the Barbara Walters of hip hop” and I can’t really argue with that take on her.

We got where we are today by being ultra persistent, pushing through a lot of no’s to get to the yes, and sticking to our guns. Also, we’ve both been extremely dedicated to our own professional growth, constantly investing in learning more and building our repertoire of skills. It’s definitely not been easy, but it’s been worth it. We’ve overcome lots of challenges, mainly by staying super tight as a unit, always putting the business/relationship/marriage first, and pushing our egos out of the way.

The lessons we’ve learned along the way is that it’s super important to make sure you’re true to yourself, keep your standards high and don’t lower them for anyone. People and entities will come along and try to get you to break from your moral standards and engage in stuff that might be unethical, and they’ll offer you lots of money to do so or use their positions of power to try and influence you, but nothing is worth it. Staying true and always doing what we know is right, even when nobody is looking is what’s allowed us to get her and to build a reputation that is solid. Today we don’t create any work that objectifies women, promotes unhealthy substances (alcohol included) or has the potential to harm the planet or any of its inhabitants. We learned it’s ok to turn down clients that might not be a good fit, because it makes room for those that are.

What we’d like the world to know about us and our story is that we truly care about the materials we put out into the world. There’s a lot of garbage and ephemera out there that has little to no value, or even worse, is destructive. So we want to be a creative force for good, creating work that challenges people to think and encourages them to strive for better in their own lives.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
So Kyle is my best friend so I’m literally living this story daily. We’d probably eat at Watercourse in Denver, which is our favorite vegan spot in the state, then if it’s winter, like it is right now we’d probably go up to the Frisco/Breckenridge area and go skiing for a couple days (bringing our chihuahuas with us of course). And in a perfect world there would be a show at Red Rocks and after skiing for a couple days we could come down and go to a show there and hang out backstage like we always do (it’s a pretty magical venue, even backstage). If it was too cold for a show at Red Rocks we’d probably go to the Mission Ballroom and enjoy some good music there. Kyle and I also like to enjoy Colorado Rapids soccer games when the season is going on. I’m a big fan of the English Premier League and love the game so that’s the closest we can get to it locally. Kyle and I both don’t drink alcohol so we don’t typically go to bars or anything like that unless it’s a music venue. We love movies and probably go to at

least one every two weeks if not more often.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
This is a tough one to answer because there’s so many people. My father has been a huge influence on me in terms of business acumen and how we run the business. But when it comes to design, I’ve pulled from so many influences, from Aaron Draplin, to Saul Bass and so many designers in between. A book that has shaped how I think about advertising is Luke Sullivan’s “Hey Whipple Squeeze This.” And I know a huge influence on Kyle’s work and career has been Chuck D, of Public Enemy, who is a huge mentor and friend to her/us. I’ve also found great inspiration in books by Eckhart Tolle, Don Miguel Ruiz, Adam Grant, Charles Duhigg, Mark Manson, Seth Godin and tons of others. If I could make a list of all the influences and sources of inspiration we’ve had, it would probably be a book of it’s own. I personally have been mentored by Dawn Putney and Tom Campbell of Toolbox Creative and I am forever grateful for all of the wisdom they’ve imparted on me. Shane Miles of Bright Matter Design has also been a great mentor and colleague, who’s shared a ton of his knowledge and experience with us.

Website: http://smartmindsthinkalike.com/ http://smartmindsthinkalike.com/streetdialogue

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/smart_minds/?hl=en

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/paul-lukes-906608134/

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smartmindsthinkalike

Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/smart-minds-fort-collins

Image Credits
They’re all ours. The only thing that’s a little different is the magazine spreads from Thrasher Magazine. They’re owned by the magazine but Kyle wrote the articles.