Creative IsSue wandering with
WILLIAM WOODS by Jeannie Fung
“I’M A BIG GUY THAT MAKES BIG KNIVES”
WILLIAM WOODS is often known as a designer, craftsmen, entrepreneur, mentor, and a big guy. He is a self proclaimed bearded renaissance man. After completing his undergraduate and graduate studies in Industrial Design at Savannah College of Art and Design,Woods established a name for his handmade custom cutlery and metal work known as Woods Bladeswork. He holds a part time faculty position teaching model shop courses at SCAD. Woods is admired by many students and loyal customers because of his master craft skills and expert knowledge in product development. woods_bladeworks In this interview, he shares his spotlight and journey in the creative field.
Which part of your professional roles allow
How did you get interested in your work or
more of your creativity?
specifically your knife work?
When I work with my knives I have one hundred percent complete control. It’s not very common in the industrial design community to be able to make the exact product you dream of. Usually you have to make a lot of compromises along the way and because my products are so spoken and custom high end. I can make them exactly as crazy as I want to make them. I don’t have to make compromises so I really that part about being creative and not having limitations.
I’ve always loved making things. After getting my undergraduate degree I went west and started a firm with some alumni called Ideation Edge. In the time frame we pulled some clients and pitched work to some cutlery companies but it was unsatisfying because you only got a tiny piece of the picture. It felt like you were putting your work out there and not getting a full return on it. When I returned to SCAD for grad school I knew exactly that I wanted to be in full control of my own work.
Teaching is a different type of creativity. You’re trying to…especially with classes I teach you’re more trying to manage the classroom environment and make sure people are absorbing as much information as possible without hurting themselves. That is the main goal there. I will say there is more creative moments with teaching… for the most part my creativity would be in my own work.
Did you know you would devote your life to creative work or field? I’ve always valued a personal freedom over money. I will do whatever job fulfills me and don’t really care how much I make out of it. I knew what I was worth and not all employers are willing to take that risk right away so I started my own company and business.
Would you say that your career goals are the same as now? I’ve always valued a personal freedom over money. I will do whatever job fulfills me and don’t really care how much I make out of it. I knew what I was worth and not all employers are willing to take that risk right away so I started my own company and business.
Can you share a specific moment that made you realize what you were pursuing was worthwhile? It was the first pre order I did for the first run of knives and I sold out within five or six minutes. Every pre order since has been faster and more demand for the product. It means that there is a constant demand for what I do. When I update people online and the work there are dozens and hundreds of people clamoring over what they want. It’s an excellent feeling as a designer to know that anything you make is in demand. It’s a crazy feeling and I didn’t expect it to happen but it happens.
What are some challenges or frustrations that you often come across? What about creative blocks?
How do you balance your work and play?
The main challenge is staying interested. You always want to be creative but when you put out a product the only way to make a real amount of them is to do a small run. That’s usually around 15-39. I don’t make any more than that at a time. It can get weary. My wait time is 6 months to 1 year so that I can get downtime to decompress, prototype, and change things up. I hardly get creative blocks.
I don’t see an end to it. I personally don’t have a balance and it may be bad. I invest all my money and more time on myself instead of other normal things even though it might be detrimental to my social life. I’ve never stopped feeling hungry for the information and learning. I spend my time buying more tools and developing more techniques.
What advice would you give to someone who
What do you get your inspiration or motivation
wants to start in your creative field?
from?
Find a sweet spot where you can deliver what people want. It’s more about the story. When people are buying a custom make from a person they are not necessarily buying it because you can make it better than a machine. They are buying it because of the story you share. You have to make your customers feel that special connection between the product, between maker, and themselves. It’s really important to build that. If they don’t feel special they won’t spend the money no matter how good. Main goal is being able to find the money find the product and find the passion and put them all three together.
It depends. I find that I problem solve in the unconscious. When I dream I can figure out mechanisms, how materials interact, and geometries. I work out the ideas in my head and work on it when I wake up. It doesn’t become real till I sit down on the computer and model it. It’s less of an ideation process and more of an artistic one.
What advice can you give to someone who may
How long have you worked on this story or
not come from a creative or design background
branding of yourself? Did it happen overnight?
But overtime as I learn how to make things stronger, cleaner, and faster with making through techniques and that’s how I get better. I am thirsty for the learning and process technique.
that wants to grow in your field? If you make something for a living you will spend 80% of your time sanding something. If you can’t find zen or happiness from that type of manual labor then you will never ever be able to make things nice.
I believe that most people in general are just a collection of stories. If you are not building and actively making your story more interesting then you are wasting your time. I have spent my entire life making sure my story is absolutely as interesting as possible, which helped when I rolled out my branding. I’m a big guy that makes big knives.
http://www.woodsbladeworks.com/ woods_bladeworks