Hank Washington
Cornelius ‘Hank’ Washington is an Art Director, Designer, and Illustrator born and raised in Mississippi, currently creating in Atlanta, Georgia. He is the founder and creator of Hank Designs Studio and helps teams with identity designs, art direction, and illustration. With nearly a decade of experience, he’s worked with notable brands such as Instagram, Adobe, Snapchat, Netflix and more. Hank is also the creator of Fuzzies that can be seen across social media.
We caught up with Hank to learn more about his journey starting Hank Designs Studio, where he finds inspiration, and his advice for designers just starting out.
Hi Hank! Tell us about yourself - how did you get to where you are today? When did you first become interested in design?
Hello! Quick back story: I actually got my name “Hank” from a little league baseball game. I was one of the few black players on the team and after a “semi pro '' game, I was named after my favorite historic player, Hank Aaron. The creative space became sort of a last resort for my career choice leaving high school. My older brother was one of the first “creatives'' in my family. He was a big music fan and he illustrated a lot of caricatures of people. He and his friends held the same interests and one of them became a graphic designer. I was very unfamiliar with space, but I always knew it existed, ya know? I was in the weird space of trying to decide whether or not I was going to college or simply going into the workforce. After school, I used to go on to Myspace (yes, Myspace) and my brother’s friend had a blog where he shared his artwork and music interests. I was addicted to seeing what he would post and It was my first introduction to Mac Miller’s music. I realized that was what I wanted to do. I didn’t know what to call it, but I knew it was something I wanted to do. After a few projects and experiences, Hank Designs was born.
Art Director, Designer, and Illustrator Hank Washington
How would you describe your aesthetic and how has your visual style changed over time?
Early on, I was heavily into designing for clients. I did a lot of branding and logo work and art direction for social media platforms so I didn’t necessarily have a “style” just yet. To be honest, I got bored with fitting the molds for any and everybody so I heavily invested time to learn how to create things I enjoyed seeing. Whether it was photo manipulations, 3D renders, motion graphics, or type layouts, if it looked cool, I wanted to do it. Obviously, these were experiments done over the course of time but I found phases where I would create a series of things I enjoyed making at the time. Creating the series helped me look back at my work to find inspiration to do more. Over time, I started to find commonalities between the different pieces of work I enjoyed making. I would read books and watch videos about being a generalist or specialist but it’s rare you see a formula that just makes your work yours. I simply created a formula that made sure that whatever I created needed to be bold, honest, vibrant, and/or Fuzzie. A good buddy of mine describes it as creating your ideal best friend and hopefully fans of your work can become friends with it as well.
Tell us about your journey starting Hank Designs Studios - what was the process of starting your own studio like and what types of projects do you take on?
Leaving college, I was fortunate enough to find an internship with an amazing and young marketing team. At the time, we were really small and our oldest employee was 26. Small but packed a punch! Because we were a startup, I wasn’t able to work under a lot of experience like an art director or creative director, so a lot of the creative (technical and conceptual) responsibilities fell into my lap. As scary as it was, it was the best thing that ever happened. I learned how to pitch, won and lost deals, and how to think about money the hard way lol. The culture of the team was very entrepreneurial so everyone had their own side hustles as we worked within the company. I started taking on small projects for random clients to create things I wasn’t able to for my job. Luckily, I was surrounded by great people who pushed me harder than I pushed myself to bring Hank Designs to life and now I’m more than happy that they did.
When working with brands, what do you think is one of the most important elements of design when telling a brand’s story visually?
I used to believe the logo played a huge role when it came to the brand’s story, but over the years I realized how important copywriting and brand values are- they’re a huge deal breaker when a brand really needs to connect. These influence our visual decisions more than we realize. Don’t get me wrong, logos still play a huge role, but a brand’s visual language and how typography design displays good copywriting is the most important in my book.
What has been one of your favorite projects to work on and why? What would be your dream project?
It’s tough to filter down to one, but I think my favorite so far was my work with Snapchat. I’ve been doing a lot of illustrative work and I was fortunate enough to create a motion piece that highlighted the 55th anniversary of the voting rights act of 1965. It was a mass message that went out to all Snapchat users and it was blessing to be able to praise the bravery and sacrifices my people made to ensure i was able to have a voice in our political system.
Vote work for Snapchat by Hank Washington
I don’t think we have a enough space for the list of my dream projects but I had to pick just one to highlight, I would love to create a Fuzzie Mural. Being able to see a character at a large scale like would be a dream come true and as a honorable mention I think I would love to art direct the marketing behind an animated movie as well…….and a food truck…..ok, that’s it…..for now.
Where do you find creative inspiration?
As cliché as it sounds, life outside of design usually is the driving force behind a lot of my ideas. I have encountered a lot of people, cultures, and experiences that I’m always curious of how I can interpret them creatively. So usually when I'm not searching for ideas is when they come. I follow a lot of creatives that are super inspiring but one in particular that I’m truly inspired by is Robin Velghe, who is an illustrator and animator who creates these amazing hip hop influenced motion pieces. His use of color and character design gets me with every piece. I want to glow up and be like him but in a ‘Hank’ kind of way lol.
Do you have any favorite design resources?
For sure! So I have to say the most influential source has been The Futur. It’s an amazing platform that basically teaches creatives how to make a living doing what they love. It’s really the hub that pointed me to other sources that helps me get by creatively. I also use a google chrome plug in called Muzli that generates creative blogs and portfolios, and news to keep me in the loop everyday before I start my to-do lists. Hmm let me see, there are some amazing books out there around creativity but I think for business development, The Win Without Pitching manifesto is a game changer for any creative that's trying to understand the business aspect of selling creative services. Of course Behance is an amazing rabbit to get lost in as well.
What advice would you give to designers who are just starting out?
Have fun with this! I know it’s hard to realize but we are in an epic time in our lives where we can make a living creating things that CAN be fun. Our parents and grandparents had to choose careers that they weren't necessarily passionate about only to survive. Now, we can really wake up in our underwear, draw a cartoon, design our favorite food menu, or even create our next timeless piece and make a living from it. Don’t take it for granted.
Thank you for sharing with us Hank! To view more of Hank’s work visit his website and follow him on Instagram.
All images courtesy of Hank Washington.