Don’t take it personally when Brennan Rooks stops looking into the camera during a Zoom call. Odds are high that he’s pushing pixels to refine an idea that just came to him when you offered the slightest bit of feedback. We call it the Rooks Spark. And don’t worry — you’ll see it before we even get off the call, and it will be awesome.
The truth is, Brennan shouldn’t even be part of this band of miscreants. See, we have team meetings every Monday morning—holler if you’d like to join—and on Brennan’s first one, he wore a Padres t-shirt. The Padres. The Padres? Like 17 people in San Diego like the Padres, and here’s this dude in Boise flying whatever colors the Padres wear.
Okay. We’ve digressed. Apologies.
Brennan came to us a couple of years ago. We were looking for a fresh approach to our design work, and he was looking for a new challenge. Beyond the Padres thing, he’s a fantastic addition to the Farinella team.
Let’s Get Into It
David: Okay. Do you know what we’re doing here?
Brennan: Not really.
David: This is the Meet Brennan Rooks interview.
Brennan: Oh, cool.
David: Driving in this morning, I was thinking about our first conversation when we talked about your experience and design inspirations. Beyond the cleanliness of your work, you felt like a good partner. I’ve always felt that’s super important because if you trust someone as a partner, then you can take all the risks and be as creative as possible.
Brennan: Oh, yeah. I’ve learned during my career that design works best in collaboration with your inspirations, with the people you’re around, your clients, the people you work with, the people you live with… All of that influences everything.
David: So, you’re thinking about UI/UX when you’re hanging out with your kid?
Brennan: (laughs) I mean, yeah. (laughs) I’m very much a passionate person who talks about and thinks about design in almost everything. My family lineage is soaked in creativity. I remember walking through Target when I was 12 and seeing a sign marketing a certain campaign or product. I’d tell my Mom, ‘That’s cool. Someone made that, and it caught my attention.’ Since then, it clicked, and I fell in love with the idea of influencing eyes through how things look and how you can say things. So, everywhere I go, I’m constantly looking at things and thinking how I would do it differently.
David: You got your start young, yeah?
Brennan: It started in high school with drawing. One of my art teachers saw what I was doing and told me they were starting a graphic design program. I fell in love with Photoshop and the idea of splicing ideas together. I went to Portland State and didn’t like the area, so I moved to Boise State and did four years there.
My first job out of college was as a junior graphic designer at a kid’s toy brand. It was really fun. That’s where I got my chops in packaging design and learned what a brand is and is not. I learned a lot about simplicity through that and had a good creative director who fell into it himself, but he learned through the trade of what’s right and wrong.
David: And you’ve done a fair amount of CPG work, right?
Brennan: Right. I worked for two sister companies — Microbe Formulas and CellCore — that oddly competed, and I did a lot of that there.
Left Turn #1
David: Okay, big left turn here…. When I was younger, I’d take inspiration from weird things. I did. Has the place where you take inspiration from evolved?
Brennan: Oh, huge. When I was a kid, a lot of it was music, which it still is today, but I think I’m influenced more by characters than music now. I grew up in a typical American family with divorced parents and figuring myself out. I just learned to draw, and it was my thing. I’d draw for hours and hours and hours, sucking through one album eight times over. To this day, I listen to some albums that are ages old because they’re so nostalgic, and it puts me in a spot.
I get inspiration from people who are different in the world. That’s what I chase. On my wall, I’ve got posters with Mac Miller—I created posters from his Circles record—Kobe Bryant, who’s my legend, and Virgil Abloh. Abloh was the founder and creative director of Off-White and the artistic director of Lous Vuitton before he passed. They are three very different characters but three very similar people in terms of what they do and how they do it. So, every time I see someone who feels like they go against the grain a little bit, I feel like I can resonate with them and draw inspiration from them.
David: That’s interesting. (long pause) I kinda got lost there picturing those three. I love hearing from designers where they draw inspiration because it gives me a sense of how original and creative they’ll push. I believe creatives — writers and designers — have to be sparked somehow.
Brennan: Right. I interviewed a lot of people when I was a creative director at my old job, and it was funny how many of them picked inspiration from their craft, thinking that was the right answer. I couldn’t tell you off the top of my head one creative director that I could pull, except maybe a couple that don’t even do what I do in terms of application. So, the people that inspire me that are past me where I might want to strive to be are all so freaking different from where the road should go. They hit a lane because they are so different. Virgil is one of those. Shepard Fairey is a great artist that I love.
Greg Hoffman (former CMO at Nike. Read his book “Emotion By Design” as soon as you can.) changed my whole perspective as a creative director on how to approach projects, campaigns, and teams. Daniel Arsham. He’s a clothing and sculpture artist, but he’s next level. He was the creative director for Dior, who did sculpture, and then ended up being the creative director for the Cleveland Cavilers for the past two years.
So, I’m inspired by random people who are really creative and clever in their own niche. I’m more interested in how someone’s brain works that I can resonate with.
Left Turn #2
David: I’m always curious. What do you do with shitty ideas?
Brennan: You try ‘em. I don’t think there are shitty ideas. I mean, they’re not all good, but they don’t need to be nixed out of the gate. See it through a ways until you see it doesn’t work.
The Important Things
David: One thing that I’m concerned about with you is your taste in color palettes … brown, orange, sherbet … you know, the colors of the San Diego Padres. How did that happen? It just doesn’t seem right that you root for that team. You’re such a smart person that likes such a shitty team.
Brennan: I became a Padres fan when I was probably nine or ten because my brother-in-law, who I think was just a boyfriend at the time, was an LA guy. I’d just fallen in love with the Lakers, and I was kind of a Mariners fan, but not really. The one person in my family who was a big sports fan was a Padres fan, so I said I’d like the Padres with him.
David: We agree that Teoscar Hernandez (of the Dodgers) should have been the All-Star starter over Fernando Tatis (of the Padres), right? (These notes are here for Maggie, who doesn’t know what this question means.)
Brennan: Are you kidding, though? We agree that Jackson Merrill deserves to be the starter in center field, though.
David: Meh.
Brennan: He’s a shoo-in to be rookie of the year.
David: Okay, let’s do the Proust questions.
Brennan: The what?
David: Questions designed to take you out of the standard Q&A questions.
Brennan: Cool.
David: Okay. You’re at the counter at Chipotle: burrito, taco, or bowl.
Brennan: It depends on what I ate that day. I’m a balanced eater. If it’s been a heavy week, I’m going bowl. But, I’m a big burrito guy. All day long.
David: What are you putting in there?
Brennan: These days, steak, cilantro rice, lettuce, mild salsa, sour cream, and queso. Obviously, I’m paying extra for the guac. Life is too short not to get the guac.
David: If you had to move to another country, would you go beach, mountains, or urban?
Brennan: Beach all day long. If my wife picked, we’d be in Sydney, Australia, already. If I could pick, we’d be on the Amalfi coast in Italy.
David: Let’s go random. Favorite flower?
Brennan: That’s an interesting one. Probably hydrangea.
David: Favorite tree to sit under?
Brennan: Palm tree.
David: That’s interesting. Okay. What is your idea of happiness?
Brennan: Freedom in terms of time, having nowhere to be, and nothing to do. Let me just sit back and do whatever comes to mind.
David: If you had to pick one recreational sport to play for a million dollars, win or lose, what would it be? Tennis, golf, pickleball, handball, tetherball …
Brennan: Who am I going up against?
David: It doesn’t matter.
Brennan: I would say a game of pick-up basketball.
David: Would you finish it off with a dunk?
Brennan: Hell, no. I’m 5’8”. Are you kidding? (laughs) I can’t even touch a backboard, especially now that I’m 30 and a dad.
