The Marma Spot:
Please introduce yourself and the other members of Soft Gold U.S.A.

Ed of Soft Gold:
Ed Taylor, Seth Hodes and formerly Manderson — but he left for Brazil
so I’m not sure.

The Marma Spot:
How did the members of Soft Gold get started in art, when was the first time each of you knew that a job in a creative field was the way you wanted to go, and what is your first childhood memory of being exposed to some sort of art?

Ed of Soft Gold:
We aren’t producing art but thanks for the complement -we’re just designing stuff for clients. I would never consider a t-shirt for whoever art. People may think that it’s art - but it’s just a t-shirt in the end in my opinion.

It’s not like we just ended up and decided that we wanted to enter the “creative field” over a life in business. People that are creative need to
have a creative outlet and in a consumerist society you better get paid for it.
Oh and my Uncle was a painter.

The Marma Spot:
Soft Gold U.S.A. is an interesting name for a design agency, could you please let us into what it means, how you came to use the name, and why you think it fits with what Soft Gold does?

Ed of Soft Gold:
The 19th century fur trade was often referred to as Soft Gold. We started off doing t-shirts so it seemed clever. Unfortunately every designer does t-shirts now and no one makes any money from it so the name is more or less completely inappropriate as a business name. Although the name still does arose curiosity so we’ll stick with it for now and we still like making our own personal shirts.

The Marma Spot:
I know that Soft Gold has worked with such clients as MTV2, And1, Undefeated, and 2k t-shirts just to name a few. What was it like working with these clients and do you have any new projects coming up with these same clients in the future?

Ed of Soft Gold:
These clients have always been good to us and have given us opportunities that we appreciate. Whatever the future holds I hope the jobs and clients are as fun and lucrative as they have been.

The Marma Spot:
I also know that Soft Gold is working on some projects with Nike, Gigantic, Stussy, and Mazda. Can you elaborate on these projects?

Ed of Soft Gold:
We are doing some interesting stuff for Mazda, MTV and a couple of other clients. We like the work, we hope that our peers like the work and in the end we hope that the clients dig it to.

I feel the smaller companies generally have less bureaucracy and tend to be more interesting  clients. The smaller companies may not be pay the big money, but they often offer designers more freedom (and in some cases
more respect).

Smaller companies tend to have less to lose by pushing boundaries and trying new ideas. Ultimately it’s all good if we are able to do interesting work and make the client happy at the same time. In the end doing a job like a banner ad or a spot for Mazda should be treated with the same respect.

The Marma Spot:
Who are some companies that you haven’t worked with, either personally
or professionally that you would like to work with in the future and why?

Ed of Soft Gold:
Honestly it doesn’t matter. Ultimately client work isn’t going to fulfill anyone’s creative goals, well maybe on some levels. Though I doubt that any mature creative person would tell you that doing a MTV bumper is their creative nirvana. We are content with any job that comes our way. A job is a job and a client is a client. We a grateful to be sitting here now.

The Marma Spot:
No one knows better than me that sometimes working for others can get stressful, what projects, other than those for work, are coming up for the members of Soft Gold personally?

Ed of Soft Gold:
We do our own things. Seth does his magazine THEBLOWUP. I’m creating a video for Matt Pyke who was formerly with tDR and now has his own studio UNIVERSAL EVERYTHING. He is the curator of a series of exhibitions for digital video art galleries in the UK.

The Marma Spot:
Who are some people and what are some things that you often look
to for inspiration?

Ed of Soft Gold:
A: I always wanted a collective like ARCHIGRAM doing functional work as “art”. We are big fans of seventies rock mags and posters of that time.

B: There are a bunch of kids out there doing amazing things but nothing too memorable. The French dudes MM Paris, Lourent Fétis are pushing it in a good way. Their level deserves respect no question.

C: Mostly though we differ to the Dutch masters, modern art and pop culture. I always found pop culture humorous and therefore inspirational.

The Marma Spot:
How much of a role does music play in your workday?

Ed of Soft Gold:
Matts speakers worked best so we just listened to what he played.
Otherwise just put the headphones on when he played crap tracks. We all share the same musical interests. If one would go off the rails though we let ‘em play it out.

The Marma Spot:
With that said, what are three CD’s that you’ve been obsessed
with from this pass year?

Ed of Soft Gold:
CDs? Just kidding. But seriously I don’t think we have any CD’s here at the office. Its all downloads.  I’ll say DIPLOMATS to name one genre. We always end up with this on at the studio.

The Marma Spot:
Could you name a movie from this past year you saw that has inspired you and tell us about how it has?

Ed of Soft Gold:
Paris Texas has always had a profound effect on me but I don’t want to be cliché…Ummm…Actually, this year, I finally saw Punch-Drunk Love by PTA.
I always judge the effectiveness of a film by how my emotions resonate when I leave the theater or turn of my TV. It’s not my favorite but it left me effected in someway. That to me evokes feeling and in turn, I guess, evokes inspiration.

The Marma Spot:
I find new links from different sites everyday like Newstoday and Design is Kinky. Can you tell us what sites if any you visit for design and creative related news as well as share some links from your favorites bar?

Ed of Soft Gold:
Ircimages.com and Lukeford.com are the only sites necessary at the moment. Oh and Google images when you’re in a jam.

The Marma Spot:
Now this is the last question I promise. I for one am trying to be truthful with myself, and others, about my O.C. (the hit television show on fox) addiction. Are there any addictions that the members of Soft Gold are trying to come to terms with?

Ed of Soft Gold:
If your gonna be bad be good at it!