***Reid Kille, Two Faced’s Lead Graphic Designer***

Meet Reid Kille, the lead graphic designer for our past issue Two Faced. At such a young age of 18, Reid has shown such impressive talent and grasp of the fundamentals, when it comes to graphic design and as an artist. Beacon definitely pushed Reid to bring a vision to the table when it came to creating art, yet time and time again, he always rose to the occasion and showcased his own unique spin. They say with time, we grow and expand on our talents, so Reid, being that you have already so much experience, talent and identity in the field at such a young age, the next years ahead of you will definitely be huge. There is no doubt. We believe in you!

1. Could you introduce our readers with a little bit about who you are and what being a graphic designer and visual artist means to you?

Sure! My name is Reid Kille, I'm 18, and I'm living in Portland for the time being. Perhaps unlike many of my graphic designer friends, design and art are not extremely central to my identity in the traditional sense. That's why it's always been a little hard for me to directly associate with being a "graphic designer". Most of the work I do is in the commercial vein and I've rarely had the opportunity to create something that didn't have a direct application. But I will say that the occasions that I get to create just to create are a different form of catharsis, largely due to the fact that they present some unique challenges. So, whenever I want to expand my perspective, I turn to creating art for art's sake.

2. It goes without question that since you were the graphic lead for Two Faced, what does the term Two Faced actually mean for you?

I actually hadn't really heard the term Two Faced before I worked on the issue, so that really gave me a clean slate to work off of. By the end of it, I think I sort of developed an understanding of Two Faced that examines inner turmoil rather than external deceit. In other words, by being two-faced, you're primarily lying to yourself, and that never ends well in the long term.

3. What strengths do you think you brought to the Two Faced issue?

This is a difficult question for me to answer because I've realized that if I had to redo the issue, I wouldn't do anything the same. I think by working on it with the rest of the team, we soon realized that we basically needed to throw everything out the window and start fresh in Volume III.

4. What did you find challenging when starting your role within Beacon and how did you manage to get past it?

Everything! At Beacon, you really go through a learning curve because you're kind of just thrown into it. You end up realizing that that's a good thing, but it's really uncomfortable at first, especially if you're someone who tends to sit in the background. I still struggle with this to this day but I think my time at Beacon definitely helped.

5. What was your favorite design component that you contributed to Two Faced?

The spread starting on page 20 has always been one of my favorites. It's the one spread I wouldn't mess with too much if I had to redo it.

6. What design process did you go through within Two Faced and how has it changed since your time with Beacon?

Dude, I didn't have a design process when I started Two Faced. But working on the issue definitely helped me develop one, and it's been essential. I think the biggest thing I learned is that it's okay to throw something out and redo it, even if it's kind of annoying. I also started learning how to be more organized and that's really saved my a** since then.

7. How have you applied your Beacon journey towards your career path and what did you learn from your overall experience?

During my time at Beacon, I kind of learned how to fulfill three different roles to varying degrees of success; entry, mid, and senior-level. It was a really great opportunity to compare and try my hand at being the one executing the designs vs. the one dictating them vs. somewhere in-between. After Beacon, I've mostly been doing solo contractor work, so I've landed "somewhere in-between" again, which has been an interesting adventure in contract-writing and timeline arguments. Overall, I think Beacon really taught me how to take feedback and apply it, which has been really useful.

8. Is there anything you would have done differently, perhaps for a particular design that you don’t resonate to?

I think I would've taken more risks with my designs if I had the chance. I had never done something of that scale before where everything sort of had to fit together in the end, so I ran into a lot of technical and logistical issues along the way that made it difficult to conceptualize the finished product and actually execute that vision.

Do not forget to check out all of Reid’s work in the Two Faced issue, which is currently available to preview online!

You can also find Reid on his Instagram and Weebly: @reidkille / reidkille.weebly.com