CHARLES WHITE GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Charles White is a Graphic Designer, with a deep love of music and HiFi. We met Charles at AXPONA 2023 at the Audio Group Denmark room, where he was making decisions on buying new loudspeakers for his system.

harles’ story is one of escaping the rat race, a dream that many people have, and his route to his new life and career came through his passion for old school hip hop.

He now lives and works in California, but Chicago will always be his home.

Chicago To California

NB: A bit of background, where were you born and raised, where do you call home now?

CW: I was actually born in Alabama. By the age of 3, my dad moved the family up to Milwaukee. From there, we moved around because of my dad’s job and lived in Chicago, Detroit and Akron, Ohio. I really don’t remember much about Milwaukee, but Chicago, Detroit and Ohio had a profound impact on me (in a good way). After graduating from college, I moved back to Chicago which is where I spent the first part of my adult life. To be honest, Chicago in the 90s was a great place to be. The people, food, culture, art, music and nightlife was incredible. Chicago will always be home in my heart.

For the last 13 years, I’ve been living in Claremont, a small college town about 30 miles east of LA. I have to say, I am pleasantly surprised by how much I love California. The weather (obviously), the vibe, and the freedom to be you (whatever your truth is) has made California a very special place for me.

NB: Was your educational background focused on art and design?

CW: My education background was not focused on art and design. I graduated from Ohio University with a Communication degree. I was always fascinated by art and design but didn’t have the courage at that time to pursue that path. I was afraid to put myself out there. I guess I was being practical. However, that practical approach to life would soon change.

NB: Describe your career path and how you got to where you are now?

CW: When I first graduated college, I started working for a local Coca-Cola distributor as a marketing development manager (stable but not sexy). It was a good job that taught me a lot about the corporate world, but if I’m being honest, it didn’t move me at all. It was just a job.

After a year, I found my way into radio, working in ad sales. I was fortunate to spend a few years working for two of the top music stations in Chicago. One was classic rock (WCKG) and the other was urban (V-103). I really enjoyed both experiences. I later realized I loved working around music and creative types more than I like the actual job itself. I later ended up working at Starz (the cable network) and Music Choice (another cable television content provider), both in marketing and distribution.

During my cable career, I started producing branded CDs for restaurants and hotels as a side hustle. The first project was a collaboration with a co-worker’s husband. After the completion of that project, he moved on to other opportunities and I started targeting hotels. Once I secured the contracts, I would select the music, secure the license to use the music, get the CDs manufactured. This was my first endeavour in design. I had zero design experience, but I knew what I liked so I downloaded the demo software for Coral Draw and Adobe. At that time, I felt more comfortable with Coral Draw, so I purchased the software, read some books and started designing CD covers. Surprisingly, I was good at it.

The 30 In 30 Challenge

In 2008, Music Choice began to downsize which led to me being laid off. My wife, who very supportive, thought it would be a good idea for me to finally pursue my passion. So instead of going back into the corporate race, I took a year off to study design. A year later, we moved to California.

Once in California, I started freelancing for a number of companies including The American Heart Association in Los Angeles and AARP. I later started doing contract work for Esri, the world’s leading GIS software company. I was creating 32 and16 pixel icons for their software tools. Designing for spaces that small of was extremely challenging and mentally draining. I was starting to worry I was moving away from my passion and falling back into a corporate grind. That is why I implemented my 30 in 30 self-challenge which was to create on poster a day for 30 days. And, in order to keep my focus, I wanted to maintain a common theme. That theme was old school hip hop.

Upon finishing the project, I decided to post my work on Etsy to see if there would be any interest in my work. It was a little scary putting my work out there but after a couple of days, I started getting sales. I started creating more prints to sell on Etsy. This little experiment turned into a fulltime business which eventually led me into licensing agreements.

My first license agreement was with the Miles Davis estate. I felt both excited and privileged. Being able to create designs for Miles Davis has been an honor. It was at that time, I started to see myself as an actual artist.

NB: The 30 in 30 project sounds like a real challenge!

CW: The 30 in 30 project was a real challenge. It was something I greatly needed at the time. It was probably the smartest thing I ever did for myself. Because I was working on software icons at that time, I felt I was falling into a technical rut. I wanted to reconnect with why I loved designing in the first place. I also thought it would be great opportunity to combine three things I loved: graphic design, poster art and music. It was a great mental exercise, it helped me learn how to design when I was not in the mood, how to get past creative blocks and how to stay on schedule.

NB: Is it something that you would repeat?

CW: I don’t know. Fortunately, I’m in a place where I have enough diversity of projects, my juices are constantly flowing. In fact, sometimes I have to force myself not to think and shut it down.

NB; How do you view the commercialisation of art, is it a constraint or does it give you more freedom and why?

CW: I don’t think there is one definitive answer to this question. If you are creating art to sell to a specific audience and that is the only objective, that will be constraining. In that scenario, you are designing with the mindset of, “this is what they want” versus “this is what I’m feeling”. For me, it is hard to design from that perspective. Those type of projects are a struggle and typically take me much longer to complete.

On the other hand, commercial art can help you grow as an artist. When I design a licensed print, I am expressing my interpretation of the subject. But even though I have the license to be creative and expressive, there are still guidelines I have to follow. Learning how to navigate my creativity within those guidelines is an exercise that actually makes you a better artist.

All that being said, the idea of being a “starving artist” does not appeal to me. I feel the goal is to balance being true to who you are as an artist/designer and being able to earn a living. At the end of the day, we are fortunate to be able to make a living doing what we love. It doesn’t matter if its commercial art or fine art, you’re still creating.

NB: What advice would you give to someone wanting to make their living from art the way that you have?

CW: Three parts:

Figure out what moves you. What inspires you. Ask for forgiveness, not permission. Too many times, we ask for permission to do instead of just doing it. Yeah, you’re going to make mistakes but who cares. That’s how you learn and grow.

Understanding everything is not for everyone. Not everyone is going to appreciate your work and that’s okay.

NB: Who do you admire in the art world?

CW: As a designer, I always admired Saul Bass. In my opinion, he is the greatest graphic designer ever. I’ve never seen anyone say so much with so little. I’ve always been attracted to minimalist designs. I could look at his movie posters all day.

Miles Davis And Prince

NB: Who is your greatest musical idol?

CW: I have two, Miles Davis and Prince. They both were in their own unique universe.

Miles Davis has such a huge canvas of work. He never allowed himself to be boxed in. From “Birth of the Cool” to “Doo-Bop” he was always changing the game. He is probably the most inspiring artist to design prints for. He’s a force of gravity like no other. And don’t get me started on his persona. Miles is the definition of cool. To quote his nephew, Vince Wilburn (who is an incredible musician himself),

Miles was and still is a superhero.

As for Prince, all I can say is he a major part of my life soundtrack. I remember the first time I heard the “Dirty Mind” album; I instantly became a fan. It was unlike anything I ever heard before. The bass line and funk on “Head” was mind blowing. Of course, at that age, I really didn’t know what the song was about. I just knew it was funky. And like Miles, he was never restricted to one genre. A lot of people don’t know he had two jazz funk albums, “Madhouse 8” and “Madhouse 16”. I highly recommend checking them out if you can find them.

DANISH HiFi

NB; We met you at the Audio Group Denmark exhibit at AXPONA, so we guess there is a Danish influence on your HiFi, what is in your HiFi system?

CW: I have two HiFi systems. My main system is the following:

Aavik I-280 Integrated Amp, Aavik S-280 Streamer, Esoteric U-Z1 Universal Disc Player (I guess it’s a vintage piece at this point but it still sounds great), VPI Prime 21 Turntable, Moon LP5.3 Phono Amp

(looking to upgrade to Aavik in the future).

Borresen X6 Speakers. These 200 pound speakers are the truth! They really sing with the Aavik equipment. And they look amazing. They are a true statement piece, acoustically and visually.

Ansuz Mainz8 Power Distributor and Ansuz X2 Speaker Cables.

My smaller office system is a Primaluna Evo 300 Integrated Tube Amp, PS Audio DAC, Bluesound Node Streamer, Tannoy Mini Speakers and Nordost Speaker Cables.

NB: Have you reached audio nirvana or are you on an upgrade path?

CW: Do we ever truly reach audio nirvana? I think the journey to nirvana is what we enjoy which is why upgrades are always on the table. Right now, I am extremely happy with my system. The Aavik and Borresen set up is an incredible audio experience. Each listening session sounds even better than the previous.

As for upgrades, I have my eye on the Aavik R-180 phono stage. I have about 3,000 albums in my collection so investing in a premium phono stage could be worthwhile experience. There is something to be said about a night of vinyl and a bottle of pinot noir.

NB: Give us three tunes that tell us about you, where you have been, where you are going and where you are right now.

CW: “Colors” by Ashley Henry. The line that connected with me is “we bring the color to the mural, we bring the chorus to the song”. This is more of an aspiration.

“Everybody Loves the Sunshine” by Roy Ayers Ubiquity. It’s about living your best life. Every day I wake up, my goal is to make it my best. Tomorrow is not promised. No matter how challenging the day is, a sunny day will always make it seem better.

“I Love Music” by The O’Jays. The title says it all. I simply love music, all types of music. My work and my pleasure are heavily influenced by music. For me, music is medicinal (I borrowed that from a friend at Mo-Fi).

NB: If you could spend a day with anyone from history, alive or dead, who would it be and what would you do?

CW: Muhammad Ali. He is the definition of strength and living your truth. And I’m not talking about physical strength. I’m talking about strength of character. I would simply want to sit with him and listen to his stories and life lessons. Stories and lessons that go far beyond boxing.

NB: Describe your perfect day off, who you spend it with and what you do away from work.

CW: A perfect day off is simply being at home, taking a musical journey through my albums with the family. It’s pretty simple.

NB: Thank you Charles, it has been a pleasure talking to you, see you at AXPONA next year!

You can check out

Charles’ music inspired work at his website Studio Maxe.