Meet Tristen Click Stone | Art Director & Educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Tristen Click Stone and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Tristen, what led you to pursuing a creative path professionally?
I grew up very poor, on food stamps, sometimes living with friends and I knew I didn’t want to end up that way as an adult. I put a huge amount of effort into my education by first graduating high school with my associates degree, and next getting into the competitive University of Washington for architecture.

I had spent way too many hours as a teenager customizing my MySpace profile and always loved looking and designed band merch at concerts. I knew I wanted to do something in the creative industry and after researching stumbled on the career path of graphic design.

I chose yearbook as an elective in high school and started doing page layouts, learning InDesign. I remember sitting at the computer, arguing with one of my classmates about which font to use for the titles. I had no idea that meant I had an opinion about typography.

I also took black-and-white photography and fell in love with the process. Taking photos, focusing on composition and having no idea what the final negative would look like, followed by trying not to mess up reeling the film in with sweaty palms inside a pitch-black room was nerve-wracking. So many things can go wrong in the darkroom, and I was paranoid about each possibility. Maybe that’s why I appreciated the practice so much and took pride in my work. Being in a darkroom is an interesting sensory experience in itself. Since you can’t see clearly in the darkness, you learn to rely more on your other senses, especially touch.

I guess I fully grasped the idea that I might be a designer after I had a year of architecture studies under my belt and recognized that architecture was not what I actually wanted to do. I had to self-reflect and think about what I enjoyed but could also make a living doing. Drawing endless plans and elevations wasn’t as exciting to me as learning about the history of architecture, art, and different design movements. My path to becoming a designer started when I began looking at symbols within designed objects as puzzle pieces. Why did that poster look so good to me? I started noticing elements of design such as typography and balance.

When I joined the military, I wanted to continue working toward design. I made some really ugly logos, learned more of the Adobe programs, and finally felt I like I was on the right track. I started to consider myself a designer after I started producing work I was proud of. I have always been hypercritical of myself and my work, so this took longer than one would think.

I have always enjoyed walking the line between artist and designer. I was also a cook, to me this is an art; textures, colors and plating. I also have my own resin art business and I sell at local makers markets. I tend to turn most of my creative hobbies in to entrepreneurial expeditions.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
I have learned over the years that some art / design you do for a paycheck and some you do for passion, and those two don’t always align. It can be challenging to balance everything as a creative. Not only do I have personal art projects such as my resin, but I am always wanting to create passion projects on the design side too. Sometimes its fun to use my skillset and just imagine that I own a restaurant that needs branding, or I am creating a new app and have full creative freedom. It is also hard to stay up to date on all the latest technology, keep my portfolio up to date, stay connected to others for future design opportunities, attend design conferences, and fit in time for teaching and research. I’ve learned I can’t always do it all and need to prioritize but always make sure I am learning and growing so I don’t feel stagnant.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I live in Tacoma, WA which is about 45 minutes south of Seattle (no traffic). Tacoma has changed so much over the past few years and has so many hidden gems. As a foodie I would tell my best friend they have to eat at The Table and get the ricotta gnocchi mac-n-cheese. Next up I would say to visit point defiance, you can do the 5 mile drive through the woods and take a turn off to stop at a beach, it is truly stunning, google it. Lastly I would say you have to go the the Museum of Glass where you can also watch live glassblowing, and just a few minutes away from there the Tacoma Art Museum.

Shoutout is all about shouting out others who you feel deserve additional recognition and exposure. Who would you like to shoutout?
Graduate school of Vermont College of Fine Arts was a huge stepping stone for me in my design career. My advisors and classmates helped me understand that anything can be graphic design. I was able to truly research things I was passionate about and was able to facilitate workshops and speak at conferences because of it.

Website: www.tristenclick.com

Instagram: @tristyyy_artist & @tristyyy

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