The daily digest of Twin Cities culture | Secrets of the City

Photo of Michael Cina by Kate Iverson

How the brilliant talents of internationally known graphic design group YouWorkForThem have continually slipped past the radar of the Twin Cities' media is a bit bewildering. Helmed by visionary design guru Michael Cina and his long-distance Bangkok-based biz partner Michael Young, YouWorkForThem is not only a highly respected design agency that has produced work for every big client in the book and exhibited artwork in numerous galleries all across the globe - it also runs one of the top design sites on the web as we know it, which as of this week, will debut its first complete design overhaul since 2002.

Screenshot of the new youworkforthem.com

If you're not a designer yourself, the YWFT site may mildly confuse at first glance. With a graphic-centric menu that serves up vector art, custom typefaces, stock video and images that are regularly utilized by clients and designers all over the world, it's primarily regarded as a resource for techies and design nerds. However, once you blink past the industry jargon, you'll find a fantastic collection of design books and magazines, as well as unbelievably cool original art prints, t-shirts, DVDs, and other items straight from the creative coffers of the YouWorkForThem design team. Their blog also doesn't disappoint, with unusual art and typography links, international design news and YWFT exclusives - which often include freebie treats such as specialty vector art.

Run out of a large art studio on the fringe of Northeast, YWFT's Minneapolis office boasts a whopping two employees, Michael Cina and wing-man Travis Stearns, who work their fingers (and their creativity) to the bone to maintain the insanely high standard of the brand. It's really no wonder that Cina and Young's vision and meticulous attention to quality and artistry have won them numerous design awards. By setting themselves apart from the more client-driven design firms, YouWorkForThem keeps an iron grip on the creative process, taking on only very select client work and concentrating primarily on their own original design products.

Local YouWorkForThem overlord Mike Cina took some time away from his uber-busy schedule to chat with me about the new website launch, designer Pepsi cans, and obscure disco...

You and your business partner, Michael Young run the business from opposite sides of the world - you in Minneapolis and him in Bangkok. How long have you been working together and how has your collective work evolved?

We started working together in 2000. He used to live in Baltimore, but we've never worked in the same office together. As far as collectively evolving, our careers have changed a lot. I used to work on clients, personal work and typefaces in my free time. We now work on youworkforthem.com and do minimal client work. Most of the creative
energy goes towards the site. It is a mixed blessing. I enjoy creating art and design, but running a business also has its good moments.

YouWorkForThem is internationally known and respected - what are some of the most exciting things you've done in your career?

When I first started in 1996, I would dream of working for big clients like MTV or Coke, or eventually get into a design book. Within my first couple of years in design I had work published in a major design book, had my work in the largest gallery in Brazil, had been in a lot of magazines, had one of the largest viewed design sites on the net, etc. I have also worked for most of the major clients out there and I hardly ever submit to book requests anymore. Being able to say I've worked for MTV or whatever is often seen as a cool thing, but it's not rewarding. I think the most exciting experiences have been being able to present my work and see parts of the world I never would have dreamed of being in.

Your site is a great source for design-related books. How do you select the books you sell and who buys them?

I select books that I feel reflect the best things going on in design at the current time. Some of the books are amazing and hardly sell, and some of them are okay by me but we can't keep them in stock. Our audience is mainly graphic designers but we get a lot of play from architects, film producers, artists, and illustrators. It's really interesting getting to see who buys books from us.

Can you tell me a bit about your process for creating the amazing art prints and t-shirts that you sell? Who designs them?

We have two studios, one in Minneapolis and one in Bangkok. On the upcoming round of shirts, both studios contributed. In Minneapolis we have been fortunate to work with a couple of the best artist/designers in town; Eric Carlson (Hardland/Heartland) and Travis Stearns (I Am Mint Condition) - their work is often featured on the site. Since we are also a shop, we have a great way to sell the material we make, so we work for ourselves as if we were our own client.

"Poplock" typeface by Travis Stearns

You guys are a fantastic resource for designers, with not only all the best design books, but also exclusive YWFT products such as fonts, vector art, and stock art. Of everything you do - what is your bread and butter, and alternately, what is your passion?

Well, it depends on what it is, sometimes one thing outshines another. I personally have deep roots in fonts, so that is my passion. Anyone who has worked here gets typographic training because the schools don't teach you anything on this subject and it's very important to design.

The site re-design is pretty cool! What's new, and why the overhaul?

We designed the site in 2000 so it was time for a change. This is the first stage of the re-design, the next phase will be next year and will be a lot better. The showings are bigger, there's new content, added video showings on some products, and a better checkout system. There are a lot of other new aspects, but they are details.

I love your site TrueisTrue - how did that start, how would you explain it, and when can we expect more updates?

Funny, I was about to take it down, guess I can't now! TrueisTrue was my personal playground for when I thought of something or whatever, I would just make something and put it up. Kinda like a digital scrap file. In the past (versions you can't see anymore) it was way more calculated, interactive and conceptual. I don't have the time to make
work like this anymore so it gets trapped in my head now. Maybe that will drive me insane someday.

Stock vector flourishes by Eric Carlson

You are quite busy running youworkforthem.com, how often do you take on client work, and how selective are you? What were some of the coolest client jobs you've done? Can you name some clients?

We are working on tons of illustrations for Pepsi cans right now. Currently, we are very selective with what we take on. Personally, I enjoyed doing work for VH1 the most; they were one of the few clients that asked us to push them further. I have done a couple of LP covers for Ghostly International lately and they just wanted good work, which is rare. All of them are cool in some way. Here is a partial list of decent clients: Mazda, Avon, HP, Apple, Adobe, Coke, Pepsi, VH1, MTV, ESPN, Fox Sports, Bacardi, SciFi Channel, Best Buy, American Express, Hitachi, Wired, Kodak, Staples, Computer Arts, Victoria's Secret, Etnies, etc.

What is your dream design project?

Redesign a town, make a typographic version of the Bible, speak at my old college, become a member of the AGI... you know the regular stuff, heh.

You're also a DJ and an obsessive record collector - I know, I've seen your insanely huge collection! What are the top 5 most obscure/rare records that you own? What are the silliest/worst ones? Also, will you be playing anywhere anytime soon?

I used to be a DJ, I just play records now. I have some wild stuff, most of it is just obscure, not insanely rare. I have a lot of extremely low pressings of jazz and boogie (late disco).

Original Pressings of:
Whitelabel copy of Skull Snaps
Nick Drake "Pink Moon"
Lloyd Miller "Oriental Jazz"

Worst LPs? Too many to count. When you take your chances, you get some duds. I have this LP by Josh White that looks amazing and is just horrible.

I don't DJ out much anymore, no upcoming gigs. It's a lot of work pulling records if you have a large collection and have wide taste like I do. I think if I DJ out again it will be more like "you get what I want to hear" and not as much party rock style. I have too much good, obscure stuff to be playing things just to make people dance. I would love to play up-tempo jazz out somewhere or mid-tempo boogie, so hit me up!

For more information on Mike Cina and YouWorkForThem visit www.youworkforthem.com, www.weworkforthem.com, or www.trueistrue.com