Meet Gabriel Tarin | Art Director & Brand Designer

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

Hi Gabriel, why did you pursue a creative career?
As a kid I always loved to draw or paint or create. I never thought it would be something I could make a career out of. Not until a counselor from the Art Institute visited my senior art class in high school to talk about college and artistic careers. My love for art and hip-hop led me to have an infatuation for graffiti and graphic tees. So when the counselor started talking about graphic design, and showing what you could do in that field, I was hooked. I didn’t get to go to the Art Institute, but I received my BFA in Graphic Design at New Mexico State University. The program showed me that my career goals didn’t have to stop at just a designer for apparel. It exposed me to the world of branding and logo design, marketing, and advertising… and opened my eyes to the possibility of being an art director, creative director or even the owner of my own brand. Being able to draw for a living is amazing and doing so while also helping others achieve their goals as a designer is so fulfilling and rewarding. I really do love what I do.

Can you open up a bit about your work and career? We’re big fans and we’d love for our community to learn more about your work.
As I look back on where the journey started, I’m most proud of my growth. In the beginning, my biggest challenge was getting started. I’m from a smaller city, El Paso, TX, and when I graduated college, I found it very difficult to find a job. Partly because I knew my biggest goal was to move to a larger city, which would require a good amount of money. My other passion is cooking and at the time I was working for a few really great restaurants… and getting paid well. I decided to continue cooking and save up to move. Fast forward to meeting my wife, moving to Denver and finally starting my design career… 3 years after graduating in 2010. I freelanced here and there, but Denver is where it really took off. I started at a small t-shirt shop that eventually closed. Since then, I continued to work at other places… a print shop, an event firm, a university, and now, at a branding agency. Along the way, taking brand courses, finding inspiration from groups like The Futur, freelancing and improving my creative process, and just finding ways to learn and grow.

I continue to freelance and also offer design services for apparel and merchandise under the brand name Project Project Design Company (PPDC). This allowed me to focus on a specific aesthetic apart from my brand strategy and identity skills. My ultimate goal would be to hire other designers under the brand who share the same love for apparel design. PPDC came about during the pandemic. The idea for the name came from my passion for starting and being a part of projects. The aesthetic is clean, graphic heavy, typographic and illustrative centric. PPDC specializes in providing designs for apparel, merch, posters, stickers, and other swag. As well as logos and brand identity. Starting PPDC gave me a fun way to work on a different design style and collaborate with a whole new kind of client.

During what has been a 10 year adventure, I’ve learned to 1. Trust the process and love the journey. You really need to be able to find joy in the steps and milestones towards your goals and not fixate on the end result. 2. Don’t worry about making mistakes. Some of the best ideas come from improving on “bad” ones. 3. Check your ego. Ask for help, stay humble, and root for others. 4. Never stop learning. There is always room for growth and improvement and when you continue to seek out different knowledge you’ll find that it can broaden your horizons and inspire your work. Lastly, 5. Find comfort in the discomfort. People will challenge you, processes can change, some days are going to suck and ideas might hit a wall, but it’s all ok. Being comfortable with being uncomfortable will only help you persevere, find new ideas, and be a better person.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
Oh boy, this would be quite the list. I would start by finding some great brunch spots to start the day. Snooze, Urban Egg, and Postino’s are some of my favorites. I would then take them to places like the RiNo District for cool art and bars to hang out. Highlands, Cap Hill and Cherry Creek have some of my favorite places for lunch and dinner. Bull and Bush is amazing and has great beer. And places like Linger, Angelo’s, Fat Sully’s, Katsu Ramen, and Urban Farmer are some of my favorite places to eat.

Of course no trip to Denver would be complete without visiting some of the neighboring cities. I love going to Ft. Collins for the breweries. Breckenridge, Estes, and Canon City are some of my favorite cities to visit to hang out, white water raft, snowmobile and get great food and enjoy awesome scenery.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Man, this is a tough one. I’m so grateful to have found so many resources and to have so many amazing people in my life that have supported me and rooted for me. My wife, Rosie, by far has been my biggest supporter. She’s the reason I’m in Colorado in the first place. She’s a great sounding board, listener, and problem-solver and I’m not sure what I do without her.

My parents and sister have also never stopped rooting for me. They’ve helped me celebrate wins and conquer losses and inspire me to be better.

In college, I met two really creative designers and, honestly, just really great human beings, Adrian Lopez and Tony Lopez. These two have really inspired me to stay creative, to push myself and have taught me a lot about being an artist and staying genuine.

I’ve also been lucky enough to have found two really great colleagues, here in Colorado, that have taught me so much – Justin Gatz and Rachel Koontz. I met these two at my previous position in the marketing department of a local university. I’ve always been able to count on them to give me sound advice and inspire me with their great ideas. It’s also great to see them grow and flourish in their current positions at their agencies.

Lastly I’d like to thank COHN Marketing, the agency I currently work for and led by Jeff Cohn, one of the nicest people you’ll ever meet. The whole team has really made an impact on my journey as a creative. Every single person there is an amazing, smart, inspiring individual who I learn from every day.

Website: https://www.gabrieltarin.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/gabriel.tarin

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gabrieltarin

Other: logolounge: https://www.logolounge.com/designers/gabriel.tarin portfolio: https://www.behance.net/gabrieltarin side hustle: https://projectprojectdesign.co/

Image Credits
urban outdoor images – Justin Gatz. Indoor office images – Jesse Pixler. Headshot – Jesse Pixler