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Portland Design

I’ve lived in Seattle for almost 3 years now. I feel like I’m pretty familiar with most of the design firms around here that are churning out great work. But, I wondered … what about Portland? Our neighboring big city. Portland is a pretty new place to me. I have been there only 2 times in the last 2 years, but it becomes more and more appealing every time I visit. There is just something about the Pearl district and the overall vibe of downtown.

Dare I say it - Portland is starting to have more of an appeal to me than Seattle. Don’t get me wrong, Seattle is still #1 in my book, but man … Portland is a strong #2. It seems to have everything I like about Seattle, and more. So, if you are from Portland - drop me some knowledge, and if you aren’t … you can still drop me some knowledge! What firms and designers are making an impact in P-town?

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ARCHIVE ID 1369 FILED UNDER Designer/Design Firm Profile
PUBLISHED ON Feb.15.2003 BY
WITH COMMENTS

Comments

I was considering moving there last year so I did some research, here is some good range...

On Feb.15.2003 at 03:58 PM

Ok, I know you said Portland, OR but Salem, OR is not that far. What's in Salem? One of my all time favorites: Scott Clum's Ride Studio.

On Feb.15.2003 at 05:13 PM

I agree! Been a fan of Scott for quite awhile ...

On Feb.15.2003 at 05:17 PM

>Dare I say it - Portland is starting to have more of an appeal to me than Seattle. Don't get me wrong, Seattle is still #1 in my book,

Hey Don, not to open up a can of racial worms here, but... don't you feel a strong lack of diversity in Seattle? I went there a year ago and was surprised by that. Sure there are tons of Asian Americans, but I felt like that was something that was missing from the city.

What makes cities like NY, Chicago, SF, even Atlanta, more appealing and inspiring to me is the mix of people and cultures.

Just wondering. I mean no offense to anybody.

On Feb.16.2003 at 12:02 PM

Feel good anyway has some excellent work. I had not heard of them before. W+K is W+K, no surprise there. I was very dissapointed by the others' navigation, I don't know if it's because it's sunday or what, but they were a bit annoying to go through.

On Feb.16.2003 at 12:11 PM

Okay, so I'm from england and I live in Scotland, but a few years ago I took an internship in Portland, OR. I worked with Plazm, who were and still are one of the most interesting and consistently great design collectives I've ever seen or heard tell of.

Portland is chock full of screamingly talented designers. Mostly, they tend to star off at W+K, gain a bit of a financial toehold in the city, then branch out and do some really interesting work elsewhere. There's always exceptions though - like the godlike Sean Tejerachi of Craphound fame.

Seriously though, check out Plazm. They're simply the best.

On Feb.16.2003 at 02:20 PM

Tony - huge fan of Craphound as well. I have 2 issues, but dream of owning the rest. Know where I could get ahold of past issues?

On Feb.16.2003 at 03:02 PM

> Hey Don, not to open up a can of racial worms here, but... don't you feel a strong lack of diversity in Seattle?

Well, Armin to be honest, if Seattle does lack diversity, I don't notice it so much. To me, Seattle is one of the most diverse cities in America. So many different cultures and views here. I tend to be a workaholic and I'm mostly at the office, home or a coffee shop :) I wish I could be a bit more involved in what is going on, but my workload just doesn't allow it right now. Self-employment will do that to you. But, in different ways, there could be a lack of diversity here. I just don't notice everything that's going on around me. Maybe I'm just oblivious ...

On Feb.16.2003 at 03:06 PM

>Seriously though, check out Plazm. They're simply the best.

Yup. I completely forgot them, they are http://www.plazm.com/" target="_blank">a pretty interesting group.

>So many different cultures and views here.

It might just have been my perception. And I was only there for a few days.

>I'm mostly at the office, home or a coffee shop

No lack of coffee shops in Seattle! that's for sure.

On Feb.16.2003 at 04:09 PM

and let's not forget that Portland is home to some great publications: Born Magazine, Digital Web Magazine

On Feb.17.2003 at 12:51 AM

The weather in the design community here in Portland is a little rough at the moment. From alot of Portlanders you might here growns of the low economy but there is lots to do here design-wise. Here are a few more agencies to sniff around.

Then there is always the infamous sportwear industry:

Nike

Adidas

Columbia Sportswear

Those are what comes to mind at the moment. There is also a plethera of freelance talent.

I feel the same way about Seattle that you do Portland. So you can come on down to Portland and I'll swap you for a summer.

On Feb.17.2003 at 08:12 PM