We were lucky to catch up with Ted Pioli recently and have shared our conversation below.

Ted, appreciate you joining us today. I’m sure there have been days where the challenges of being an artist or creative force you to think about what it would be like to just have a regular job. When’s the last time you felt that way? Did you have any insights from the experience?

I am happy as an artist / creative. I’m fortunate enough to have carved a path in my life that lets me keep artwork personal and design for others. Sometimes I think about what job I would do if I had no creative bone or skill in my body. I think I’d be a mailman.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

Hi I’m Ted, a Boston-based product and brand designer. I like working on bleeding edge technology that serves a purpose as well as crafting visual identities and websites for interesting content and brands. Currently I’m working on the UX/UI for the controls software of a surgical robotics platform (packaging, stereoscopic UI, lighting behavior etc). I studied design at the Massachusetts College of Art and Design where I now sometimes teach undergrad and graduate classes as well as serve as a guest designer for portfolio critiques. I have always been an artist at heart. Before finding design I was an illustrator and painter (In my spare time I illustrate under the moniker “Strange Folks”). I really enjoy being the person who helps create something from nothing, taking a product or feature from ambiguous idea to polished reality. I also really gravitate to designing complex tools that help others create or solve with. My approach to design is sort of how you would approach a hackathon project – because typically the things I’m working on are ambiguous and pressured by time. My working style involves iterating and refining at a fast pace. Outside of work I am a proud father, illustrator, photographer, and nature enthusiast.

When first going to design school I thought I would major in illustration, I had been drawing non-stop since I was a kid, like most art school applicants. The more I learned about the graphic design major the more opportunity I saw to utilize and expand upon my artistic background. I started by learning letterpress and foundational principles and navigated my way through brand design, package design, web design, coding, app design, and finally discovering the field of UX design, also known as product design. UX/UI stuck out to me because the more skillsets you had the more valuable of designer you became. Especially physical products with a digital component — those types of products involve illustration, branding, packaging, print design, photography, industrial design, UX design, UI design, animation, copywriting, web design. The fun projects involve many disciplines. Being able to be adaptable and work on any part of a project from strategy and concept to final product quickly became my biggest strength.

Along the way I wasn’t sure what type of company I wanted to work at so I pursued 5 or so internships at varying studios. A product team inside a large tech company, a small print studio, a brand and 3D installation studio, a product innovation studio, and a contract creative for a large company. I found the product innovation studio to fit my style of working best. I liked working on the branding and digital components to physical product with displays and connectivity. Working on these types of projects made me learn a lot more in a shorter amount of time than any other. I got to work alongside brand strategists, user researches, industrial designers, electrical and mechanical engineers as well as the back of house business development and relationship management.

I jumped around a few agencies in the Boston area working on apps, websites, mobile portals, and embedded UX / UI design before feeling burnt out from consulting and inevitably joining an in-house design team at a product company. I went from working on a spread of projects and industries to working at Formlabs and focusing on 3D printing technology for a little over three years. While there I helped shape their design system and lead the design and launch of a few products. From there I joined Vicarious Surgical as their principal UX/UI designer to help shape the user experience for their flexible and small robot meant for abdominal surgeries.

One thing I didn’t mention in this story is how I also freelanced along the entire journey. From freshman year of college when I barely knew what design was until this day I have been freelancing by moonlight. This freelance portion of my work has allowed me always have current work to show in my portfolio (a lot of my day-job work is under strict NDAs). I’ve worked on a smattering of things in my freelance life: brand consulting for Boston Dynamics, illustrations for the Boston Bruins, branding for mom and pop restaurants, beer can artwork, websites, brand strategy for a game studio, and UX / UI design for some pretty cool medical devices. I’ve been asked many times if I’d consider going full-time freelance but I much prefer to have the consistency and security of a full-time UX/UI job while being picky with freelance and taking on interesting projects as they come up (ones that involve learning a new skill, pro-bono work, or for an industry I’ve never worked in before).

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

I don’t get them. I’ve had really smart people explain to me what they are and why they’re going to change the world and our understanding of ownership as well as really smart people explain what they are and how they’re a scam. I don’t know who to believe. I’m not spending a dime on them or trying to make a dime from them. My gut tells me that the point in history where NFTs first emerged will be looked at in a peculiar way. My bet is that they will evolve into something completely different than their original use. I’ve noticed an uptick in freelance projects that involve NTFs (games, websites, and NFTs themselves) — I pass on them 100% of the time. It feels like the modern snake oil.

What do you find most rewarding about being a creative?

The most rewarding aspect of being an artist or creative is you get paid for the thing you love doing! Seriously, that’s something to be grateful for. Not everyone gets paid for what others deem to be a “hobby”. Majority of my work is for other people and doesn’t involve me expressing myself, but its still rewarding to use my brain in a creative / problem solving way all day. Im never really bored when I’m working and I pursue opportunities that allow for a healthy work / life balance. I’ve worked as a lawn mower, busboy, and paper pusher before — the life I’m able to live as a designer / creative is something I never take for granted.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.behance.net/Tedpio
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/ted-pioli-7216509b/
• Other: https://dribbble.com/Tedpio