Gabriel Stromberg has been a name about town for nearly two decades. As one of the cofounders of design firm Civilization (where he was the creative director and lead designer from 2008 to 2022), Stromberg worked on many award-winning projects, helped produce the wildly popular and always packed Design Lecture Series, and co-created and moderated the Beyond This Point podcast. His work is held in the permanent collections of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art and the Cooper Hewitt Smithsonian Design Museum.

Now operating a solo studio, Stromberg still produces design and branding work for clients—among them are organizations such as the Biennale of Sydney, the Museum for Art in Wood, the Newark Museum of Art, and the Gates Foundation—but he also has an independent art practice. His work is graphic, bold, and oftentimes playful. It’s the embodiment of a “less is more” approach, perhaps a crossover from his graphic design portfolio. When he isn’t in the studio, he’s at the front of a classroom, shaping the next generation of creative minds in his classes on design history at Seattle Central Creative Academy and brand design at the University of Washington.

Stromberg’s work is currently on display through May 2 in an exhibition titled Earth Sign at studio e gallery in Georgetown.

Hometown

New Orleans, Louisiana. 

Discipline

Artist, designer, and educator.

Favorite Spot in Seattle

Marjorie Restaurant is a longtime favorite.

Describe your work in three words?

Organic. Quiet. Thoughtful. 

When did you know you wanted to be an artist?

I have been designing and making art for as long as I can remember. Even as far back as middle school I was very active creatively—designing the cover of the school yearbook, screenprinting my own t-shirts, and drawing and painting.

Where do you find inspiration?

Anywhere and everywhere I can. I am constantly searching and looking for ideas and inspiration. Books are probably my favorite source for inspiration—particularly vintage books. My favorite bookstores in Seattle are Magus Books in the U district, Peter Miller and Arundel in Pioneer Square, Mercer Street Books in Queen Anne. I am also a big fan of the Paper Hound in Vancouver BC.

What are the challenges of working with your medium?

Working in clay is both really easy and extremely challenging at the same time. I feel like I can make anything; yet I still consider myself a beginner. I kind of like that beginner vibe though—messy, not too refined. I am still honing and learning about the technical aspects of the craft—things like glazing, and other elements of production.  

Share one piece of advice you wish you knew when you were first starting out.

Try anything and everything and don’t worry about the outcome. The experience of making is the important part. I was a perfectionist for many years which definitely held me back or took up a lot of my energy. My creative practice has gradually brought me out of that mindset, but it took a while.

Who do you admire and why?

One of the reasons that I started developing my own art practice was that I was inspired by all of these amazing artists working in our city—Dawn Cerny, Victoria Haven, Maikoiyo Alley-Barnes, Tuan Nguyen, Gillian Theobold, Emily Counts—just to name a few. There have been so many artists in Seattle who I admire that make really interesting and exciting work. We have such an incredible creative community here. 

Define success on your terms.

Everything I do—design art, teaching—I am personally invested in. I find it interesting and inspiring. That feels like success.

 

What do you still hope to accomplish?

I am still developing my style or approach. I just want to make more work. I have some new ideas that I want to experiment with in the studio.

If you weren’t making art, what would you be doing?

Perhaps a historian of some kind. I teach design history and I love researching and learning about different time periods and cultures. I read quite a few books on history. I am currently reading The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow—truly an amazing and insightful work.