Trevor Hacker was a design lead during my stint at Nextiva. At the time our team was facing challenges, but Trevor always kept things positive and pushed the team forward. He stepped into roles that no designer should be called to and perpetually encouraged our team. The phrase ‘servant leadership’ is a cheugy cliche… but honestly he embodied what that meant every, single, day. His calm positive, attitude is something I hope to emulate in my own approach to work
Dogs or Cats?
Cats. While I don’t have any pets right now, we had several cats in our house growing up.
How did you get into design?
My dad is a painter and mom is a musician, so I was always very interested in art, music, and design. Growing up skateboarding in California in the 90s I was probably influenced by board graphics, stickers and the highly visual culture. I was first introduced to design in High School when I enrolled in a graphic design course and loved it — I signed up for every subsequent course that was offered. I continued my education in graphic design at California College of the Arts in San Francisco.
What’s one thing you learned over the last year?
I think last year was really tough on everyone. I learned that spending time outdoors hiking, biking and trying to find an outlet really helped counter the incredible amount of Zoom meetings!
What’s a typical day in your role at Nextiva look like?
I’ve been at Nextiva for just a few weeks but a typical day starts with a design team stand-up meeting and then jumping into the various design tasks. It’s great to be a part of a collaborative team and be inspired by everyone’s unique talents.
What’s been the largest challenge of your career?
Between Dec 2018–March 2020 I left my full time job and took the plunge into being an independent contractor. It was a really challenging but rewarding time in my career. I spent a month traveling while working from Japan. One of my clients sent me to Newcastle in the UK to lead a team of designers where I worked several weeks in their office and spent my weekends exploring London and Paris. I took a major risk but realized a dream to have the flexibility to work remotely.
What’s been the most rewarding part of being a designer?
Collaborating with so many different people across all disciplines. As a designer you get to learn so much from your clients and colleagues who have skills/interests that are different than your own.
What’s one piece of work you’re exceptionally proud of?
I had an incredible opportunity to partner with Audi while working at the Designory agency on Audi Magazine — bringing together all of my passions — art, design, music, food, photography, and travel. As Art Director on the project I was responsible for creative direction and design of the publication and was able to pitch and produce several travel stories utilizing my own photography. It was amazing to be able to collaborate with our team of talented writers and work with prominent chefs, musicians, artists, architects, athletes, and vehicle designers.
What’s one tip you’d give to someone starting out?
Stick with it! Some of the hardest moments in my career were the ones that led to the most growth. Also, find another creative outlet. I’ve always been into playing music, record collecting, and cooking to help break up the routine.
Where can people find you? Anything you’d like to shoutout or promote?
I started an experimental solo music project over a decade ago called Equators. My last release (2017) was a 45 min film/album which was pressed in a limited run of 100LPs with covers printed by my sister in-law who ran a screen printing shop in Berkeley, CA. Listen via Spotify.
