I first got introduced to Chuck Anderson‘s work a few years ago and have been following him ever since.  You may be familiar with his work with Lupe Fiasco, Urban Outfitters, Microsoft, PASTE Magazine and more.  Chuck designs under the name No Pattern and is one of my favorite young designers.  When I look at all he’s accomplished in his field at age 25, it makes me feel pretty lazy.  I had the chance to get his thoughts on design, music, and sports.  Enjoy!

What would you consider to be your “big break” as a designer?

It’s hard to give one answer for this as I feel like I had many ‘big breaks’ or at least big opportunities that led to bigger and better things. If I absolutely had to pick one or two, they would probably be the very early work I did for McDonald’s and ESPN the Magazine, as having bigger client names like those in my portfolio at age 18/19 helped establish a serious reputation rather quickly. The album cover I photographed & designed for Lupe Fiasco’s ‘Food & Liquor’ is probably the other as that really opened my work up to the biggest, most mainstream audience to date at the time.

Do you have a favorite type of project?  Fashion?  Print?  Why?

Most of my work ends up being for print, so I think naturally that’s what I’m most comfortable with. I love designing for product though as well – art and illustration that gets applied to a 3D structure rather than a flat page is a lot of fun for me. The Burton ‘light camo’ print I did, for example. That pattern on its own is cool, but when you see it in context on a backpack or a snowboard jacket it just completely changes the essence of the print into something that’s on another level. I don’t know though – any project that lets me experiment and be as creative as I can is my favorite type of project…as opposed to a client that is controlling and worried to take any risks.

How did you end up doing album art for Lupe Fiasco and Fall Out Boy?

Speak of the devil. Well, for Lupe Fiasco, I was introduced to him via mutual friends from LTD Magazine who needed photos of him for the mag. I met up with Lupe in the city and shot some pictures with him, stayed in touch, and he came to know and appreciate my work, ultimately asking me if I’d like to work with him on his first album. It was a great experience, working exclusively one on one with Lupe himself, not an art director or person at a label. The Fall Out Boy work came up more typically. They found my work, thought it would fit perfectly for the concept they wanted, we met and discussed it, and the rest is history.

If you could design any artist’s next album cover, who would it be?

I’d absolutely love to work with Jay-Z. He’s quite simply on a level that most artists are not. And I don’t just mean hip-hop artists. I mean artists in general, he’s in his own world as far as continued creativity, innovation, and music goes. For something less obvious, I’d love to work with Jacob Bannon for his band Converge, Tool would be a dream to work with considering how much thought and care they put into everything they do. Collaborating with John Dyer Baizley on a project would be wonderful, Radiohead, Fiona Apple, Local Natives, High On Fire, Between The Buried and Me…the list goes on forever.

I read an interview with you and Cool Hunting where you said that Kanye West was a huge inspiration for you.  Is he still a big inspiration to you?

Absolutely. Love him or hate him, he’s fascinating and inarguably one of the most creative minds of this generation of music.  I wasn’t the biggest fan of 808′s, but he’s certainly back to his full self on MBDTF. Again, he is someone I admire because he’s a musician, yes, but he’s an artist first. He truly, truly cares about the packaging, the art, the look, the styling, the aesthetic. All of it is important and he cares about it deeply which makes me appreciate and care about it too. I’d work with and admire anyone like that.

What music is currently inspiring you and who do you think is the next big thing?

I’m all over the place with music lately. One day I’ll be listening to nothing but metal. Lately it’s been Kylesa, Magrudergrind, Pig Destroyer, Bison BC, Agalloch. The next day I might be listening to nothing but Radiohead, Tristeza, or David Bazan, and the next day maybe it’s Wire, Television, Fugazi…then again I also really enjoy some classical stuff, tons of jazz…Depends on the mood I suppose. Next big thing? Metal is truly pushing new limits lately. There is some amazing new metal that is less about noise and more about mood and depth which is a great thing for that world of music. Even seeing Pitchfork review so much metal these days, positively, is good to see. Specifically who is the next big thing though? Jay Electronica, Baroness, Local Natives, any project Bon Iver is involved with, and really, it’s great to see Beach House getting so much great press. They’re incredible.

Of all the personal and commercial art you’ve done throughout your career, what are you must proud of?

The work I did for Microsoft Windows 7, based solely on the size of the job and the reach to hundreds of millions of people (default desktop, login screen, & packaging) would be the easy answer for commercial work. On a deeper level, the work I did for SVSV years ago I’m very proud of as that was one of my first successful forays into working with integrated light on photography, and the 2009 Chicago Marathon ad campaign for many reasons. It was a complex project with many steps to each design and was comprised of real actual people with real stories running the marathon. One runner who was blind, another in a wheelchair, another who was a breast cancer survivor, and others with great stories. All in all a very fulfilling project.

What’s your favorite sports team?

Any Chicago team. I’m a huge NFL fan, so the Chicago Bears are my default answer. They usually disappoint though, so after that in the NFL its the New England Patriots. I love their work ethic, attitude, and dominance.

You can see more of Chuck’s work here.