What makes us tick

In 2016, Coates Kokes helped the Oregon Health Authority launch a marijuana youth prevention campaign. The research indicated teens wished to hear from adults who had used marijuana in the past. We conceived of a video to test in focus groups that featured a former pot smoker who questioned his marijuana use as a teenager.

As a designer/brand manager, one of the greatest privileges of my job is learning. To make an ad, you have to understand the customer. To make an infographic, you have to understand the process. To open a 5-star luxury lodge on the Oregon coast, you have to understand a lot more than business cards. It’s a learning process.

This spring marks three years living in my 150-square-foot apartment in Northwest Portland. While I could go on about how living at my means, reducing my carbon footprint, and generally adopting the minimalist lifestyle of every aesthetic blogger’s dreams, let’s be honest with each other – tiny living is really hard.

It’s been cold out these days. “Coat weather” as they say. Each morning before I head to work, I look in my closet and try to decide which coat to wear. Do I go with the soft fluffy cream or fleece-collared gray? Or is it the trench coat, the pea coat or one of my down-filled jackets in tangerine, sandstone or snowflake? Oh, but it might rain. Maybe the blue plaid, the belted black or the poly-tech raincoat would be a better choice. Then, again, there’s always the puffy coat with fur-trimmed hood lurking in the back of my closet. Choices, choices.

In light of recent tragedies, I’ve been reflecting on the role social media has taken in the aftermath of disasters. The responses to the hurricanes in the Southeast and the earthquakes south of our border remind us of the impact wide exposure of humanitarian goodwill can have to inform and inspire additional relief efforts. I’m…