Christian Solorzano [00:00]

Hello, you are listening to Underscore, a show by the Chicago Graphic Design Club. I'm your host, Christian Solorzano, and today I share my conversation with Matthew Hoffman, the artist and custodian behind you Are Beautiful, a project that began in Chicago in 2002 and has since spread over 10 million stickers and more than 100 public installations across the world.

Together, we trace a long arc of Matthew's path as a self-described slow builder From taking apart radios in the basement as a kid to a high school graphic arts class that introduced him to photography and design, to moving to Chicago in the early 2000s with Node Network and turning that feeling of being lost in the city into a message that now lives in over 100 languages.

Matthew shares why he prefers the word custodian to founder and how the community has carried this project further than he could ever have alone, and why he believes that over-perfection is procrastination. We talk about mental health as the undercurrent in the work, finding your voice by simply putting things out into the world, and his guiding mission statement for designers entering the field: make things that matter.

As always, if you enjoy conversations like these, please support the show by following us on your preferred podcast platform and leaving us a rating wherever you're listening. It helps us expand our reach and our impact across Chicago and beyond. Thank you so much for tuning in, and enjoy the All right. So good morning, Matthew. How's it going?

Matthew Hoffman [01:33]

Pretty good. How are you?

Christian Solorzano [01:35]

I'm doing well. I feel so inclined to call you Matt for some reason. Does anyone call you Matt?

Matthew Hoffman [01:42]

People that don't know me. That is something my parents were very insistent on growing up, and it has kind of stuck with me. And so that's kind of— that's actually why I like the site, Say it's Matthew. Which is kind of like, yeah.

Christian Solorzano [02:01]

Underscore, it's Matthew, it's not Matt. Growing up, did you have any nicknames?

Matthew Hoffman [02:07]

I don't think so. No.

Christian Solorzano [02:10]

No? Okay. Yeah. Well, I'm curious about what— one of the first questions that I always like to kick these interviews with is the origin story and the moment that you decided that you wanted to pursue some kind of creative life?

Matthew Hoffman [02:25]

Yeah, well, I would say it took me quite some time. I feel like always been sort of a slow builder. Takes me a while to get places and get there. But I would say I was always a tinkerer. I would make things. In middle school, I was sort of taking apart old radios and things in the basement and that sort of thing. And I did, in middle school, get really heavy into woodshop because they still had the trade classes at that point.

And just really fell in love with being able to make things with your hands and actually create something. And so that was really something powerful that I kept with me for still even till now. But I would say like what I call the impetus of like the creative start was I had already applied to college, had already been accepted, but I didn't know what I wanted to do. I just sort of like was undeclared.

And the last year of high school, in order to get the honors diploma, at the high school, you had to take an arts class. And so my mom let me know that I would indeed be getting that honors diploma, so I just needed to pick my favorite art class. And so I picked a course in graphic arts, and it was taught by a guy named Mr. Andrea. And, kind of like balding in the front, ponytail in the back, really cool guy.

And it was sort of like— Full circle. Access to all the tools and free rein. There were— I think that you kind of had to like submit projects, but it was just, kind of go at your own pace. By the end of the year, turn in 2 or 3 things or something. And so learn how to use an SLR camera. We had a darkroom. Learn how to process, develop film and make prints.

I don't want to like date myself too much, but I hadn't ever touched a computer before. And so there were 3, got my hands on Illustrator and Photoshop, and I don't know if you've heard of Quark, but—

Christian Solorzano [04:31]

Yeah. And what were some of the things that you were making? Were you making personal work? Were you creating something for someone? What were some of the responses that you were— what were you responding to through this new media that you were discovering?

Matthew Hoffman [04:44]

Oh, well, yeah, that's interesting to think about, like the work that I was making. I think that in photography, I wanted— so I took a— my buddy and I in the class, we took pictures of ourselves, like sectioned pictures of ourselves up and down, and then developed those. And so we made freestanding, like those cardboard cutouts in the grocery store.

But like completely printed in the black and white darkroom. So just things like that. And then probably a lot of basic projects to understand how to use the different tools. And then by the end of the year, I had handmade a book to showcase all those pieces.

Christian Solorzano [05:24]

So the space that you have today, your beautiful facility, it's no surprise that you've built this life where you continue to be surrounded by all this machinery and all these tools that enable you to do what you were doing back in the day, which I think is really cool.

Matthew Hoffman [05:44]

Yeah, I think— are we having a breakthrough moment right now where it's like, duh? Yeah.

Christian Solorzano [05:50]

Yeah. Did you ever have a— did you ever anticipate that you would at some point— like, was this— is the place that you're at in life right now, is this something that you planned for? Or did you just kind of stumble step by step into the situation that you find yourself in, which is establishing this— I don't want to call it a brand because I think what your project does, you Are Beautiful, I think it's much bigger than a brand.

But the statement that has extended beyond just a sticker into installations, into events, into so much, was that planned? How much of it was planned, or was none of it planned at all?

Matthew Hoffman [06:33]

None of it was planned at all. There's no master plan. I would say, if anything, again, sort of talking about being a slow builder, is I was reluctant to many things that helped get us to where we're at now. I was reluctant to sort of do many things that it took to sort of take it from a project, which I still, yeah, consider it a project, into sort of more into the business realm just to keep it self-sustaining.

Christian Solorzano [07:02]

Yeah, so walk us through— I believe it was like March 2002, that's when you Are Beautiful is founded. Is that correct? Was that 2002?

Matthew Hoffman [07:15]

Yep. So that's when I moved to Chicago.

Christian Solorzano [07:17]

Yep. So you moved to Chicago. Walk us through everything that led up to your move to Chicago and where were you coming from and what brought you here?

Matthew Hoffman [07:25]

Yeah. So I always lived in the Midwest, Ohio and Indiana, born in Ohio. And we kind of popped around every couple of years to different places. And then I went to school in Muncie, Indiana at Ball State. And really wanted to get to Chicago. I remember kind of like taking field trips and, coming around, the South Side of the city and just seeing that skyline. It just really makes your stomach drop, and I wanted to figure out how to get here.

And so in those days, we would go get the Tribune, circle want ads, and I would go to the library and, send my resume to people. And so I was able to get a job at a publications firm in Lincolnwood here. And that's what brought me here. And so I came for the job and had no sort of like, no network of family or friends, but it was really exciting to explore the city. Really my first time like on my own.

And so it was, I mean, I had the time of my life. And also in all that sort of like audible and visual chaos, you can feel a little lost and alone. So that's where the message kind of came as a response to all the things I was going through. Yeah.

Christian Solorzano [08:42]

And at your space, you have the original you Are Beautiful sticker in the back and it's framed. And I'm guessing that was the original, 2002 sticker. And then it evolved. And I believe a designer here in Chicago sort of helped kern the letterforms. Was that Bud?

Matthew Hoffman [09:02]

Yeah. So there's been— yeah, there it's been a very slow iteration. But yeah, the very first stickers were, because it was a lot harder to get things made back then. So I went to a website where they made business card stickers. So it was a paper sticker, 2 by 3.5, and either I didn't send the file or they didn't print it well. One of the two, I would bet. I'll take the Take the credit on that one.

But it came back, it was supposed to be green stickers with a clean white type to blend in on lampposts, and instead were just a muddy brown. And then after some time of playing around with other ideas, I found a label manufacturer that was able to make sort of the now classic sticker. And yeah, the story that's really funny is that we were, Bud and I were visiting one of the murals.

And so when you're looking at a piece, the that's so big, obviously everything is much more extreme. And he's like, you know you can kern this, right?

Christian Solorzano [10:04]

Yeah.

Matthew Hoffman [10:05]

And I kind of— I have always really liked the utilitarian-ness of things, and the fact that just typing something out makes it sort of more democratic in a way. And so that was sort of my— theory, I should say. And he was like, nah, that—

Let's clean this up. And so yeah, he did a great job of sort of like, perfecting it. And what was really interesting is I didn't mention it to really anyone and just reprinted them. And people, not a lot of people, but a couple people were like, did you redo the sticker? It looks great. And so that's really cool how some people can really appreciate those Finer details.

Christian Solorzano [10:52]

Yeah. And have you ever considered doing like a retro pack where maybe it's like a limited edition throwback to the original first sticker and just doing like a limited run series?

Matthew Hoffman [11:04]

That would be fun. Yeah.

Christian Solorzano [11:05]

Yeah, I think that could be neat because I see the beauty in the imperfection of like not perfect kerning, but then I also see the urgency of like, no, this needs to be beautiful. But also the imperfection is also kind of a statement in itself of beauty, in my opinion.

Matthew Hoffman [11:23]

So yeah.

Christian Solorzano [11:25]

Maybe there could be like double-sided stickers at some point.

Matthew Hoffman [11:30]

Oh, I like that. I like that. Figure out— have to figure out how to make that happen. Yeah.

Christian Solorzano [11:34]

Yeah. So you're beautiful. It's pretty much just about everywhere in the world. I imagine I've seen, I've seen images of people holding up the sticker like in Egypt, and there's like a pyramid in the back, in the background. I've seen them like in bathrooms. I've seen them like stop signs, office spaces, water bottles, everywhere.

And I know that the last time that you and I spoke, I believe it was late or late last year, early this year, I asked you a question of where is— where have you seen— what's the most unexpected space that you've seen some of your work in? And I'd love for you to share that with the listener.

Matthew Hoffman [12:13]

Yeah. Yeah. I think probably the thing that one of the— and this was a long time ago, but one of the best spots was I never thought we'd get to Antarctica.

And in those days, it was like just sort of like different. We weren't like shipping normally. It was like I would ship stickers out occasionally every couple months when I had the moment. And so I made a downloadable sticker where you could just print on like Avery labels, return address mailing labels. And so someone was going to Antarctica and asked me if— well, actually, I created it for them and then added them to the site.

But they put that sticker on a stuffed penguin and put it out in a field of real penguins in Antarctica. So that got us to all the different continents.

Christian Solorzano [12:59]

Yeah. And I know that— is it true that there's over 100 installations of yours in the world?

Matthew Hoffman [13:08]

Yeah. It's— yeah. And, keep growing. I think that yeah, that's probably my favorite part of all of it is bringing these public installations. So that's been my mission to keep bringing those to different places and growing those out.

Christian Solorzano [13:26]

Yeah, because I feel like so much of Chicago's landscape is marked by your positive messages. And I feel like in just about every pocket of Chicago, there's an echo of you Are Beautiful that's present there. And most recently, I'm recording this in Oak Park, and if I stand up and look out my window, there's another piece of yours that's going to be there for about a year, you mentioned. And I think it's great. How do you feel about it?

I'm like, is it a— yeah, just curious about how you feel about so much of this message all over the place.

Matthew Hoffman [14:04]

Yeah, I mean, I love it. I think that we are so bombarded with stress or negativity. There's— I mean, I experience it daily— is so much negative self-talk. I mean, there's just so much going on where I think we need more positivity out there and to interact with and to really kind of help us all get through the day. So yeah, I mean, I'll— I've always said this— I'll keep going as long as I'm allowed.

Christian Solorzano [14:38]

Yeah. And I'm guessing, that when it comes to any sort of positive message, there tends to be people that will either push back or sort of want to challenge the message that you're creating, that you're trying to put out into the world. Do you deal with that? Is that something that— because I've seen some stickers that will say the opposite of you Are Beautiful as a way to be, I don't know, counterculture or something.

And I just, I'm curious about how you— what kind of responses you receive and whether that stuff, weighs on you.

Matthew Hoffman [15:16]

It is true that like you don't remember the 100 nice things that someone said, but you do remember the one, negative thing that someone said. I remember that like in art school that someone said that about like when people come to your show. That that's going to happen. And so I would say that, yeah, I mean, there's always going to be sort of like— what I think is interesting about it is it creates a conversation.

And there's no one that I haven't talked to about it who we haven't, after a really positive and great discussion, sort of come eye to eye to really get a good understanding of where we each are, because at the end of the day, we're human. So there could be— there has been some, I would say, misunderstanding of the message where it is true, it does use the word beautiful, and beautiful is sort of like a very— or can be like just a visual aspect.

But the whole point is that each of us, every single person in the entire world, is beautiful and is worthy and is enough. That's what the message is all about, and it isn't about the visual aspect. I think that's maybe the only misunderstanding that is able to be cleared up and figured out.

Christian Solorzano [16:39]

How has your definition of beauty evolved through the last 20-plus years? Do you find that it's ever shifting, and what are you finding beautiful these days?

Matthew Hoffman [16:53]

Yeah, that's a great question. I, so I was 23 when the project started, and so definitely have grown and evolved, and so much life has happened in that span of time, and both I and the project have, yeah, have grown. And I would say though, I feel like the sort of the core of it is still really the same.

And that really has been unwavering and really hasn't changed. So it's interesting to think about how much I've changed and the world has changed and the project has changed, but yet it's still sort of like this singular focus thing.

Christian Solorzano [17:34]

Yeah, because I know that for myself, when I first— I think of your you Are Beautiful project as sort of being a subconscious benchmark for how my definition of beauty has evolved over time.

I remember for the first time seeing your stickers when I was in college and perhaps maybe not fully understanding what— or maybe my definition of beauty being perhaps a little bit more limited, or maybe I thought that it was more so like appearance-based, like you are beautiful, like on this building means that this building is beautiful. But I think because the world feels so polarized at the moment. I think even in unexpected things, there's still beauty present there.

And I just find it to be, especially today, even more so urgent to just inject our environment with messages that counter the status quo, which is to try to sell you something. Even this little piece here that I have here. That says, take care of others and allow others to take care of you. To me, this as a mantra is— I mean, if this is the only takeaway that someone gets from going into your space, for example, it's just so meaningful.

Matthew Hoffman [19:01]

Thank you.

Christian Solorzano [19:01]

I think every person that I've seen engage with your work intimately reacts, responds to things in ways that suits their life. I think you've created a vocabulary that allows people to express themselves and to find words for the things that maybe they can't find for themselves.

Matthew Hoffman [19:20]

That's incredible. No, I really appreciate that. And that really well said and really means a lot. And, I think a lot about like success and how you measure that. And for me, Everything you just said, to me, is success.

Christian Solorzano [19:41]

Yeah, and you're also— I'm not trying to just shower you with many compliments, but I also think that the work that you're doing will outlive many of us. And I can see, for example, a simple sticker being unearthed 1,000 years from now and some archaeologists prescribing some kind of meaning to it and assigning it a cultural lens to it that I don't know, I just find really fascinating. Yeah.

Matthew Hoffman [20:17]

I like that. I really do. I like— I'm suddenly like, maybe we should make a time capsule or, some way.

Christian Solorzano [20:24]

I think that would be super cool. And I love that you went in your Instagram bio you don't— I don't think you call yourself the founder of this project. You call yourself a custodian, and I really love that. And I think I know what you mean by that, but can you tell us what you— why custodian?

Matthew Hoffman [20:45]

Yeah. So it's a little, play on words in that, somebody has to keep the lights on and the floors clean. But it's really, as you mentioned, about seeing the stickers where people are holding them and putting them up and it's the community that has spread this project. It 100% is the— all the success of the message being spread is from the community. And so I'm just the person kind of like keeping, getting everybody set up and ready to go.

And that's why I feel very comfortable in that role.

Christian Solorzano [21:18]

Yeah. And what would you say is a value that you resonate the most with? Because to me, when I think of Custodian, what I assign to it is humility. But how do you— what is there like a particular value that you feel runs through your DNA and into all the work that you're producing?

Matthew Hoffman [21:39]

I would say what jumps out at me first is hardworking, which I think is, again, works well with that title.

Christian Solorzano [21:52]

Yeah. So, and speaking of hardworking, can you walk us through a typical day in the life of Matthew and in the factory?

Matthew Hoffman [22:03]

Yeah, I— so I keep a pretty I would say boring, but like normal schedule, quote unquote, 9 to 5, Monday through Friday. And but that those days can be all dramatically different, which I think is really fun. So I'll have days where I'm behind the computer all day, designing on something. Or, whatever, really boring, tedious stuff like emailing and proposals and things. But, or I'll be, physically, designing or making new products, or I'll be like building like big installations.

And sometimes those are here in the building, and then sometimes those are offsite. And I don't know, it's just I do have a lot of variety, which makes it really fun.

Christian Solorzano [22:47]

Yeah. And what is the least favorite part of sort of running a huge production?

Matthew Hoffman [22:53]

I'll say I have, at the beginning of this year, I was like, I'm going to— my resolution was to like not complain, where this is like, it's— I'm very lucky to be able to do this no matter any part of it. And because I would get really salty about different parts of it. And I'm like, you know what, this is— I'm really fortunate to be able to, I get to do this. So I don't know really if there's— again, I think for me it's that variety.

So if I was, if I was doing one of any of those things all day, every day, yeah, I would get a little bored by it. But I try to keep things exciting.

Christian Solorzano [23:37]

Yeah. And as you were, as you, as you continue to build this and as you were first building it, was there a blueprint? Whenever I hear of an entrepreneur or someone that is building something, sometimes there's like a blueprint or some sort of mentor, some guiding hand. But I can't think of, for me, another viral cultural sticker that comes to mind.

So how, just curious about creating this from scratch, were you following a process or was there some sort of coaching that you were receiving, or is there someone that you were turning to for support?

Matthew Hoffman [24:23]

Yeah, that's interesting to think back. There was no, I would say, again, sort of like back to the community, like a lot of people, like I would, I still do, I'll talk to anyone who listens and I'm very like sort of like curious and inquisitive and I'm just trying to learn everything that I possibly can about everything that's possible.

And so I don't know if there was any one particular time or particular person, but like through the years, so many people have helped with advice and just, or like I'll watch like, oh, they're doing something really interesting. With this aspect, I'm gonna watch them and see if I can glean what exactly how they're doing it so well, and then take that and try to, help make everything work.

Christian Solorzano [25:19]

Yeah. And typically, how do you, how do you measure your own success when it comes to the work that you're producing? Do you have metrics like in your mind, or how do you define something as being good enough? Great?

Matthew Hoffman [25:36]

I don't know. Yeah, no, it's, no, it's a very good question. And it's so interesting and tricky. And, there are things that I have absolutely like adored that I'm working on it and making it, and I'm like, this is gonna be the next big thing. I love this. I can feel it. This is awesome. Everybody's gonna love this.

And for instance, the— we have this pack of warning stickers, which they look like, stickers that are on large machinery, electric shock, that sort of thing, but instead say, you're beautiful, and then some you're beautiful caution tape. And they're probably like one of my absolute favorite things that I've ever made, and they are a very slow seller.

And so I don't know, but I love them. I love that they're out in the world. I know that I'll go to someone's house and they'll have one on an outlet cover or something, and they point it out and I'm like, that's awesome. And then on the other hand too, I'll be like, yeah, I don't know how this is gonna do. And then it really does well, performs well.

So I'm not the best at sort of tracking or, I mean, I'm sure that I would make someone with an MBA cringe by saying this, but most of it's just a feeling and how I feel about things. Just like those warning stickers, they don't perform well enough to keep them, but because I love them so much, I can, and I do.

Christian Solorzano [27:13]

So much of the messaging that I see in your work, to me, there is this undercurrent that deals with mental health. To me, I think about the phrases that you put out there as being Some kind of, like I was mentioning earlier about this here. To me, this phrase, take care of others and allow others to take care of you, that second part, allow others to take care of you.

I, the reason why I resonate with this is because sometimes I struggle with that second part. I find it easy to take care of other people, but sometimes allowing someone to do something for me, I find to be, to be quite challenging. And I was talking most recently with someone very close to me about how letting someone take care of you is a form of you taking care of yourself.

So is there— are some of these pieces autobiographical, or are they just things that you're hearing, things you're seeing and responding to? But maybe talk a little bit about mental health.

Matthew Hoffman [28:23]

Yeah, absolutely. So, we've worked with NAMI. We've also worked with Hope for the Day and Sip of Hope. There's— we had actually been coincidentally working on phrases that were very similar. And so when Sip of Hope opened, there's a piece in there that says, it's okay not to be okay. And I would say that on some level, anything that I have written or shared is given to myself first. And that's actually kind of how I like come up with new phrases.

I guess I've— I don't know if I've ever like shared this publicly, but I keep— I write down little notes all the time. And normally most of us don't really have much going on Sundays, or at least I don't. And so I put them in as calendar entries for a future Sunday. And then just during the day, you'll get these little alerts and Some don't make any sense at all, and so I'm like, okay, so I'll delete that.

But then some will just like hit you, and it's just— and if it has that power again to do that, then I'm like, this is something to work with. So I would say that that's, yeah, where all the kind of like thoughts and phrases come from, just throughout daily life. Either I hear something, someone says something, or I think of something. And so yeah, it is all of this ongoing conversation that is really to try to keep us all feeling better.

Christian Solorzano [29:47]

And have you ever received any kind of very touching response to your work where maybe you, I don't know, not to be dramatic, but maybe someone's life was saved or someone was able to overcome a dark period in their life simply by I don't know, seen one of your pieces? Because I could imagine that kind of similar to songs where sometimes my favorite part about YouTube is reading the comments.

And sometimes I'll see, a song that really— that I'm a big fan of, and sometimes the comments will be like, this song saved my life, or this artist got me through the darkest periods of my life. So I'm assuming people must feel a sense of healing that comes from the work that you're producing. To me, that must be one of the most rewarding aspects of design because you're essentially not selling a product. You're sort of selling a state of mind or an approach or an attitude.

Even if people are not buying the thing, maybe they're just driving past it, yeah. I don't know, I find that so beautiful about just design being able to do that.

Matthew Hoffman [31:04]

Yeah, no, it's really the most rewarding and humbling part of it. And, this wall behind me is our letters sent in ever since 2003. I made a single HTML webpage that said, if you want 5 free stickers, send in a self-addressed stamped envelope, and still do it till this day. And it's just been incredible, the response where, yeah, it's to some people it could confuse them.

To some people it's just like a little, a little smile, a little pat on the back, or has really made a significant difference. And what people have shared over the years has really been powerful and meaningful. And to have a hand in helping someone do the work that they need to do yeah. Is really powerful.

Christian Solorzano [31:55]

Yeah. You're like a, I don't know how to, how to, how to describe it, but this might be, let's see, I don't want to use the word saint, but there, but there is some sort of like this, let's see, what would be, what would be the word for it? I don't know, like a motivational figure or a, I can't find the words for it, but I, but I think you're the body of your work is more than design. It's not just— it's way more than design.

I know for myself that there's a handful of people in Chicago that I subconsciously, I'm super inspired by. I would say you're definitely one of the people that come to mind as someone that has formed something in Chicago. That has rippled across. I think of mutual friends of ours, like such as Tanner with the Design Museum, and like Rick Valicenti, and a handful of others as just being, people that I aspire to sort of do something as impactful as.

And I'm assuming there's also a lot of younger designers that are, also feeling that ripple. I really love the event that you had at your space where t-shirts for the Design Museum were being distributed. There was like a photographer and you were, showing people the space. I think your project shows what design is capable of.

And I, for designers, we go to school and we think that design is just like a transaction where we use our skills to produce some kind of business outcome. And I think you've demonstrated that it can be more than that.

Matthew Hoffman [33:55]

Yeah, no, I really appreciate that. That's very kind. And, I think about the phrase, be who you— be who you needed to be, who you needed when you were younger. Yeah, I'm butchering it. I think I even have a woodcut with that phrase, but in the moment I can't quite think of the exact wording. But yeah, I mean, that's all I want to do is show that like, hey, anything is possible.

Christian Solorzano [34:23]

Yeah. So if you and I were having this conversation in the year 2036, what do you— what would be some of the— what would you be hoping that we'd be talking about? Years from now.

Matthew Hoffman [34:39]

I would hope that at least the work that I'm doing is still extremely similar in that it's still going and still putting out, however that is. Maybe at that point it's just holograms, but I've always said, to me, it doesn't really matter if this has grown into sort of some large, huge thing, or I'm just like an old man filling envelopes with stickers in my den. That's fine. Either way, I'm okay with. As long as I'm still doing the work, that's all I care about. Yeah.

Christian Solorzano [35:24]

And I'm curious to hear a little bit more about, outside of this work that you're doing, what are some of your other interests? What are sides of Matthew that maybe people wouldn't guess from just doing a simple Google search?

Matthew Hoffman [35:41]

Well, it's a bit of— that's a bit of the problem in that every single one of my interests, every single one of my hobbies, every single one of my skills all have coalesced into what I do now. I guess fortunately for me, I still really enjoy it. I'll just find random things to begin to obsess about or think about or work about.

I have wanted to for many years, I think I have written this down, that I've wanted to make small maquettes with scale people and that sort of thing. And I finally, like this week, started ordering different things to be able to begin to make those. But again, they're going to be then sort of ways to show how public art, you can kind of interact. But it's an interest of mine that I'm then bringing into a way to have fun hobbies also be productive, I guess.

Christian Solorzano [36:46]

Yeah. And what are some of the things that keep you up at night?

Matthew Hoffman [36:50]

That's a big one. Most of the time it's just all the things that I need to do. I would say it's the best quality about me, but also the worst quality. It's like, I, when I start thinking about something, I really obsess about it. So the last maybe month, I have been teaching myself welding. And so I have just been completely immersed and completely obsessed with it.

Because I need to make a project by next month that's all welded. And so that's what keeps me up. And I'm just chittering and chattering about it to anyone who will listen. And people are just please stop talking to me about this. Yeah.

Christian Solorzano [37:29]

And how do you escape? Or when you need to get away from the work, what are some of the things that you do to just recharge?

Matthew Hoffman [37:37]

Yeah, I mean, I think spending time with my family, and just, yeah, relaxing is really nice. I think that I probably, yeah, I don't do enough of it, but yeah.

Christian Solorzano [37:50]

Yeah, same. Yeah, it's hard when you love what you're doing, and I find that when you love what you're doing, you just never stop having more things that you want to do. And even if you try to take a break, your mind is still going, and it's difficult.

Matthew Hoffman [38:13]

Yeah. So I would say the only thing that takes me out of it are like action movies, just because they're so intense and, yeah, so powerful. So yeah, those sort of really are able to grab my attention. And yeah.

Christian Solorzano [38:28]

And when you're, when you're in your studio working, let's say you're in the studio, you're by yourself, and what are the— what is the environment like? Are you listening to something? Do you have a snack nearby that you enjoy? What are some of your essentials when it— when you're in the— in a zone of intense focus?

Matthew Hoffman [38:49]

Yeah, so I have Sonos speakers throughout the building, and they pretty much always either play one of two things for the— for maybe forever. Maybe the last 15 years or whatever have listened to one specific Basically, it's called Deep Focus. And then sometimes I'll listen to sort of like a, like indie folk mix now, but always there's music playing. It's just paused right now for this. And yeah, as far as snacks, I love cashews.

Those are good to have around to kind of just, have here and there. And I drink a lot of coffee.

Christian Solorzano [39:30]

How do you drink your coffee? Is it just like black, or do you do any sort of fancy stuff like syrup?

Matthew Hoffman [39:37]

Oh no, just double espressos, black, all day long until I've— now I stop around noon. Sometimes I push it to 1.

Christian Solorzano [39:47]

Yeah, and there's this one question that I am like dying to ask you, but if you woke up tomorrow and you Are Beautiful was entirely gone. There was no traces of it whatsoever, and you had to start over. Is there a new phrase or 3 new words that you would create the new project with?

Matthew Hoffman [40:13]

Would I know that the project has happened, or my memory is wiped clean?

Christian Solorzano [40:18]

Up to you.

Matthew Hoffman [40:19]

Well, I guess I don't know if I have an answer for either, honestly. I don't know if— I don't know. Well, so I'm— my view is of into the storefront, and there's a giant piece that, after you've been around a lot of stuff, you quit seeing it. But just sitting here staring at it, that says, be kind to yourself, and I really like that. That's really nice.

Christian Solorzano [40:45]

Yeah. And a lot of these, a lot of these values or these phrases Did you grow up hearing them or were these sort of some things that you constructed as an adult, or can you trace back some of these phrases to, childhood or, a teacher with the balding teacher with the ponytail? Was there, was there, was there something there that maybe you heard in passing that sometimes shapes what you're creating?

Matthew Hoffman [41:18]

That's interesting. I will honestly think about that more, give that some thought. At first, at first glance, nothing particular, but definitely like I was around, positivity and, self-empowerment and, all these things. And I think that definitely got positive reinforcement throughout my life. So yeah. I don't know if there was anything in particular that, yeah, that's really interesting.

Christian Solorzano [41:49]

Yeah. 'Cause I know like for me, there's been, there's like a few teachers that come to mind as just like planting a seed. And it's sometimes it's not until years later that you're like, oh, I've been like guided by this invisible hand. This entire time. And I think, I don't know, I think we all experience that. And I know like right now I probably can't think of any names, but yeah, that's something I'm always curious about. Yeah.

So as one of the things that I also do is I teach and a lot of the, a lot of my students are, they're graduating or they're entering school in this like this era that I think is doused with so much fear and uncertainty over the future of our society and graphic design and our profession. And how do you— I don't know, what would be some of your words for someone that maybe is at a turning point in their life?

Well, where they're entering a new phase in their life and it's just scary.

Matthew Hoffman [43:06]

Yeah, I think all of life is scary, but big change is the absolute scariest. And, my son, he's turning 18 and so he's going through just a massive life change where all of a sudden I just said it out loud to him and it was such a silly revelation that I was having, but I was like, you're like in the process of going through the biggest change that you've ever experienced in your entire life.

I think that as far as, yeah, young designers and things, recently I created like more of like for the studio itself, not the project, but like the studio, like just basically like 10 mission statements. And the top one is make things that matter.

And to me, that's— I think you could just stop there. I think that, the other 9, I was like, okay, I mean, they're very good, but I think just like focusing on how to make your mark and have your voice heard and really do things that matter. And if you focus on that, nothing goes away, but they kind of— everything kind of falls to the wayside.

Christian Solorzano [44:18]

And for you, how did you find your voice or learn to trust your voice? Because I feel like that's a scary thing sometimes is the inability to trust what is in our mind. And to this day, I still sometimes feel like I can't trust like my voice. And I'm sure you feel the exact same way sometimes as well.

So are there any practices or anything that you do to sort of Stop that mind of like, just whether it's doubts or fear, any exercises that you find useful for yourself?

Matthew Hoffman [44:52]

So for me, it's like putting something out there. I'm still uneasy or even scared of doing or trying new things sometimes. Sometimes it's easy, but sometimes I really struggle. And really, the— actually, my biggest struggle that I've noticed in the last few years is sort of like indecision, which is again a way to kind of like not hide, but like not put anything out there because I'm like, I'm still figuring it out, I'm still perfecting it. And I've always said like over-perfection is procrastination.

And so for me, it's just been putting it out there. So in the early days, it was sort of, I would say, the golden era of street art. So I just put everything up out in the environment. Without permission. And running around doing that was really terrifying to go and do, but then so exhilarating in the moment. And then as you leave, like walking away from a gigantic installation that you just put up and knowing how much good it's gonna do in the world.

So in however that is for you, like to, yeah, just put it out there. Just keep pushing it out there.

Christian Solorzano [46:03]

Yeah. And how do you— like, when it comes to the evolution of— because, for example, you Are Beautiful has extended to so many various products that go beyond the sticker. For example, there's— how many languages do you now produce of you Are Beautiful?

Matthew Hoffman [46:26]

Yeah, 118 languages. And then also in any— trying to do also in any way imaginable. So we have Braille, we'll have ASL in a month or two. Yeah. In any way it translates.

Christian Solorzano [46:41]

And is there something else that maybe you haven't— that you're working through? Like you mentioned welding as being like a new sort of discipline that you're getting into, but how do you gauge when it's time what's the time to introduce yourself to a new medium or like a new application of the project?

Matthew Hoffman [47:01]

I think they come in different ways. So either I'm a little bored. I fall— always fall back on like trying to do things yourself. So I don't— I mean, I— there are things you just have to outsource, and there's also sort of like a lot of freedom and flexibility with that. If you don't have a shop, then it's a great way to have things made, but then you're reliant on someone else.

You're probably paying a premium at that, and then you don't have like sort of like that full control over something. So that's actually where, the welding for this project came in, where I'm like, okay, I really want to do this a certain way and make sure that it's done exactly how I'd like it done. So to do that, I'll need to sort of like do it myself. And so yeah, either Boredom and interest, or if most of the time there's a reason.

And then I'm like, okay, well, so this setup costs X dollars. If you get another project where you can use that setup, then it's half the price. I know it's not real, but that's how I kind of keep— and then you just keep adding, and soon you're able to kind of produce anything that you need to. And there's sort— there's to me, there's a lot of freedom to that.

Christian Solorzano [48:15]

There is this visual language with a lot of the work that you do. The most obvious one is the script that you see throughout the city. There's also the very simple— is it Helvetica that the stickers are in?

Matthew Hoffman [48:31]

Yeah.

Christian Solorzano [48:32]

There's this simplicity. There's this boldness as well. The piece that's outside of Lake Theater here in Oak Park, it's like a bright yellow. So there seems to be this visual vocabulary that you're pouring into your work. Can you walk us through some of the decision-making of how something literally looks?

Matthew Hoffman [48:56]

Yeah, I mean, so for me, it always starts with the idea or the message. And then there's— so, and I— they're probably like outliers, but I would say that, yeah, there's the sort of like Helvetica Simple, there's the hand-drawn cursive, and then another that I call all caps that are just like Sharpie hand-drawn. And so it is sort of like, well, what is, what is going to suit this the best, or how it can look?

Christian Solorzano [49:32]

Right.

Matthew Hoffman [49:33]

Ascenders and descenders are like the bane of my existence when it comes to physically making things, because you could have a great word, and then it has just a descender in the middle of that word, and now you have a topsy-turvy piece. So there's the— there's, yeah, like it starts with the message, but then how can it be made? And so then materiality—

If it's indoors or outdoors. So there's sort of like, I would say at the start of something, there's like maybe 5 or 10 different things that, and then it begins to filter through all those steps.

Christian Solorzano [50:11]

Yeah, because what I'm always really fascinated to see is when other people do their interpretations of the sticker, and I remember this was maybe, I don't know, maybe 10 years ago, there was an exhibition where there was just a lot of a lot of displays of people's take on you Are Beautiful. And some people were doing, different colors, different textures. I remember someone like did a mirror, I believe. So it's just really cool to see how everyone assigns beauty to such a simple and bold message.

Yeah. Is there, is there any that you've seen that sort of stand out to you? As just being interesting or weird or whatever?

Matthew Hoffman [50:59]

Yeah, I mean, the collaborations that we've done have been the most interesting and fascinating things. We also do then a sticker club where there's an artist sticker every month. And so we're constantly doing these collaborations that where I think they say about collaboration, one and one doesn't equal too. It's interesting, where things go.

And I would say that over the years— yeah, what could be— well, actually, Alex Fuller did a sticker once with no words, and it's a very simple stick figure looking into the mirror smiling. I just love anything that kind of— yeah, just these plays on how to keep moving sort of like the spirit of things forward, I think is really interesting.

Christian Solorzano [51:48]

Yeah, because there is such a nonverbal aspect to just the statement, you are beautiful, and I like that. I've never seen that one, but it sounds really cool. Yeah. So cool. So we're almost at time, but I'm curious if there's anything that you're working on at the moment that we can expect to see soon, or anything that you'd like to share with us.

Matthew Hoffman [52:16]

Again, back to always pushing things forward and obsessions. Recently, this last month, got a sticker printer. And so, it— I think on the surface level it's really boring, but the amount of time I spent researching different printers and then their capabilities and then materials that it takes to print them. But now we can print a good amount of stickers in-house, so we're going to start doing that more.

And again, going back to if you own the— literally, well, I guess this is the printing press, literally— then you can have control over what you're putting out in the world a lot more. And so that's been really exciting. And the hope is to really learn and master that and then be able to, yeah, do all sorts of collaborations or offer that up for other people and that sort of thing.

Christian Solorzano [53:04]

Do you have a rough estimate of how many stickers you've produced?

Matthew Hoffman [53:09]

So we, it's, we say on everything over 10 million. It's about 11.5 right now. I keep like sort of a running tally, but to update everything, I think, I think over 10 is enough. I'll leave it like that for a while.

Christian Solorzano [53:26]

I wonder how if 10 million stickers would it fill up a car? Would it fill up like a room? I'd love to see that visualized.

Matthew Hoffman [53:36]

Yeah, I think it was only like— this was years ago, but I was doing some math, and so it's quite some time ago, but it was like to Milwaukee and back, I think, with like 4 million stickers in length if you put them end to end. But yeah, I mean, that is one of the funny things. They're so small that they don't take up a lot of space, but I guess what they do is the important thing.

Christian Solorzano [54:01]

Yeah. I think about how sometimes like they'll put like what a million dollars looks like. Yeah. Like as all like single dollar bills. Or like it would be, this is the distance to the moon and it's like, it's there and back like twice. Yeah. So it'd be, it'd be interesting to at some point, like just do some fun visualization of like what 11 million look like.

Matthew Hoffman [54:26]

Yeah. Yeah, I would like to get to one sticker for every person in the world. Yeah, but that's a few more than we're at.

Christian Solorzano [54:36]

Yeah, cool. Well, thank you so much for taking the time to chat with us today. I had a lot of fun learning more about you, and I always say this in these conversations, but the door for the Chicago Graphic Design Club is open, and we'd love to collaborate with you, and we just love what you're doing. And I speak on the behalf of myself and the Chicago graphic design community, so thank you for all that you do.

Matthew Hoffman [55:04]

Oh, thank you, thank you. No, that's incredibly kind, and I really appreciate that. And yeah, let's find a way to collaborate. I'd love that. Yeah. Cool.

Christian Solorzano [55:12]

So what are you up to for the rest of the day?

Matthew Hoffman [55:14]

Projects. Yeah, more work begets more work, and we've recently— we sell the— well, you have the— I call those the medium sculpture. Then there's mini sculptures. I've got to make a real big batch of those this afternoon.

Christian Solorzano [55:32]

Around what time do you usually wrap up for the day?

Matthew Hoffman [55:36]

It depends, but it depends. Somewhere between 5 and 7. Yeah.

Christian Solorzano [55:45]

Very cool. Awesome. Well, thank you again so much. I will include the details to this, to your link, the link to all that you, that you have online in the description for this episode. And yeah, I look forward to keeping in touch and thank you again so much.

Matthew Hoffman [56:03]

Yeah, same here. Thank you.

Christian Solorzano [56:05]

Thank you so much for sticking around until the end. As always, if you enjoy shows like these, and if you want to learn more about us, visit www.chicagographicdesign.club. Thank you, and we'll talk to you soon. Goodbye.