Mirificam Press

Interview: Stephen Olmstead of Sonata Creative

October 22nd, 2008 in Web Design Culture

by: Matthew Griffin

This week Mirificam Press will be taking on a slightly different form. It's my pleasure to introduce my readers to Stephen Olmstead, owner of Sonata Creative in Phoenix Arizona. Stephen and his wife Celeste have recently launched Sonata Creative as an independent design studio—quite successfully, I might add. Stephen is also a blogger and a reformed Christian. We met just a few weeks ago through Mirificam Press and I was immediately impressed by his grasp of Christian worldview concepts as they relate to design. I'm sure you will feel the same.

Stephen Olmstead Interview

At what point did you know that you would make creative work your vocation?

I've always enjoyed creative work. Design however, was not originally what I thought I'd be doing as a vocation. I was really into music performance as a kid and was involved in many performing groups all throughout my school days. At that time I thought that playing trumpet would be what I would do for the rest of my life.  Graphic design was just something that I did for fun; merely a hobby during those years. Then I had an epiphany during my senior year in high school: I realized that I really didn't enjoy music when I was being paid to do it. I then proceeded to reverse the roles of music and design... design became my vocation and music my hobby.  I started doing a few paying design gigs during my senior year of high school and went on from there. The rest, as they say, is history.

Were there any influential figures in your early life that encouraged you in your creativity?

My parents were incredible- they exposed me to many different activities and hobbies as a kid which allowed me to discover what I did and did not enjoy. They never once discouraged me from going out on a limb and trying new things.  That's huge- especially to a budding designer... when you're just starting out its easy to get discouraged or turned off of something by an ill-placed comment. I also had a friend in high school who was a major entrepreneur and owned his own company at the age of 16. He encouraged me to pursue design as a career and would often throw paying design jobs my way. In retrospect, I don't think I would have ever taken that first step if he wouldn't have pushed me. I've been really fortunate to have some excellent people placed in my life.

At what point did you start making the connection between your work and your Christian worldview?

I was blessed to grow up in a strong Christian family though I didn't fully understand the ramifications of true saving grace until I was in my early teens. At that time it became abundantly clear to me that Christ was not just a brand name, but rather THE definition of my life. In other words, I realized that calling myself a Christian did not make it true, neither did my family lineage or my desire to do good works. The doctrines of grace and an understanding of reformed theology later helped me to deepen and mature in my walk with the Lord. Everything else in my life has grown out of this point of understanding.

How have you grown in that understanding through your years as a designer?

College was a big testing ground for me, especially during my first few years. I was the only professing Christian (to my knowledge) in my program; something made abundantly clear to me as I progressed. I was approached by a few students and teachers who couldn't understand how I could profess to be a creative individual and still hold to the 'stuffy' principals of Christianity. It was not uncommon for political and social issues to make their way into classroom discussion, and I often found myself the odd man out on the side of Christianity and conservatism. The world claims that the creative individual must be open to anything and everything in order to truly reach the pinnacle of artistry. I do not believe that this is so, in fact I would argue that having values and Biblical boundaries help to promote excellence in the creative arena. This is something that I've definitely had to grown in as a Christian designer throughout the years.

How does Christianity affect your design?

As a Christian, my primary purpose in this life is to glorify God. This is reflected in how I approach clients and it causes my self-centered goals to yield to God's commands for my life.  My Christian worldview affects my design much in the same way it affects most anything else in my life. The Bible dictates my boundaries as an artist; those lines that are a 'do not cross' for me. The world perceives boundaries as a bad thing, but as a Christian I realize that boundaries facilitate focused creative thinking. I will not take on work that promotes anger, injustice, lust, or anything that God calls me to take a stand against. If this means I lose out on a high-paying job, so be it. Success as a designer is secondary in my life—glorifying the God who saved me from my sin is primary. I suppose that really is the point: design must always take a back seat to your relationship with God.

When you were studying digital media management at Arizona State University, did you find the academic environment hostile to your ideas about the Christian worldview?

I wouldn't say I received too much hostility towards my Christian Worldview. I had an extremely talented professor for a few years who was openly homosexual. At the beginning, this professor would criticize my views and would judge my projects closer than she did the other students. However, over the course of a semester or so, I was able to prove that my worldview did not negatively impact my creative work, in fact my teacher admitted that there was evidence to the contrary. This opened many new avenues of conversation with my teacher including a few discussions about sin and the nature of God. We gained a healthy respect for one another and established a friendship. I learned a lot about God's common grace to mankind through that friendship and at the same time I was challenged to stand unyieldingly in His name. It was a really great growing experience.

How did you get your start with Sonata Creative?

Sonata Creative is actually a fairly recent launch. For years I ran all of my freelance work under the name 'Vigilant Studios'. In recent years God has brought a lot of change into my life: I've graduated, married my beautiful wife, changed jobs and become a homeowner. Vigilant Studios was an excellent vehicle for me starting out, but it began to feel old and clunky. I found that my heart just wasn't it any more and came to the conclusion that I needed to put a fresh spin on things. After a few months of careful planning and restructuring, I came up with Sonata Creative. One big goal of mine was to come up with a business model that would allow me to continue to use my creative skills while allowing for scalability beginning with the incorporation of my wife and her talents.

You work with your wife, Celeste, at Sonata Creative. How does that work? Does she share your passion and your worldview?

To be honest with you, we're still working that all out. Celeste and I both work full-time jobs during the day (I design for a non-profit Christian organization called Food for the Hungry in Phoenix, Arizona and she is a Financial Advisor for an online university). Right now I do all of my work for Sonata Creative at night and on weekends. In the future my goal is to turn Sonata Creative into something that my wife and I can do from our home. My wife is a huge blessing and shares my same passion and worldview. God has crafted us uniquely in that she tends to fill in my lacking qualities, and I hers. It is an absolute joy to be married to your best friend and we find that we work quite well together.

Do you think it's appropriate to bring Christianity into a highly secularized work environment where many people are annoyed by or even hostile toward religion in general?

Yes I do, but I don't think that people generally understand what 'bringing Christianity into the workplace' means. It doesn't mean shoving the gospel down your coworkers throats day in and day out. There is something to be said about living the Christian life consistently in the home, workplace, and at church. There's no need to be fake or to take on a different personas for each of these settings... this just leads to hypocrisy and can destroy your witness for Christ. The annoyance and hostility of your coworkers is a choice that they make (and indeed I believe it is often the conviction of the Holy Spirit at work in their lives). True Christianity is loving, convicting, and genuine regardless of the environment it is placed in. Christ is the backbone of our identity as Christians. Without that backbone, we're just spineless Christians.

Is it possible that you could be wrong in your assumptions about reality—that maybe Christianity is just another psychological crutch or an “opiate of the masses” as Marx put it.

I'd have to answer that with a resounding 'no'. Christ has altered every aspect of who I am. I think one of the most damaging lies that is circulated in easy-believe Christian circles today is that 'getting saved' is your ticket to the good life. That is, people assume that 'being Christian' means that you've received your get out of jail free card and that life will no longer trouble you in the ways that it did before. God calls us to do hard things for His kingdom. I don't know of many psychological crutches that call you do things that you're not comfortable with. Christianity is about putting your faith in God and trusting Him to lead you through any and every situation that you encounter... even the hard ones.

What do you see as the single most corrosive force in the modern design community?

I believe that one of the most corrosive forces in the modern design community is universalism. I understand the intentions of the those who follow this line of thinking, but I believe it is fundamentally flawed. Universalism provides a convenient answer to the hard questions of this world, but not the right one. People don't like to hear that there are black and white answers to things, they don't like to confront absolute truth. Universalism also rears its head in the design community by causing work to begin to look the same. God has blessed us all with unique qualities and talents. Without absolute qualities in place, design becomes a drab remix of the same old thing.

Do you have any advice for designers (especially Christian Designers) who are struggling to find their place in the creative world?

I would firstly encourage Christian designers to pursue their passion of the visual arts with Christ-centered conviction. You are about to dive into a world that loves to push the envelope of the appropriate and mundane. It will be easy to want to cave in and trade-in your Christian ethics for likability... don't do it. In the end, you'll find that living your life with the conviction the Bible has called you to provides a multitude of blessings as a designer. I would also encourage Christian designers to understand God's common grace to all mankind. There are some Christians who take their faith to an extreme and go to the length of saying that ONLY works done by Christians is acceptable and good. This is not true in my opinion. God has gifted the believer and unbeliever. We ought to seek to learn from the best in our industry regardless of their faith and personal convictions. God uses all of mankind, because they are all subject to His will. You can seek out the beauty of the Lord in all His creation without compromising your faith and Biblical principles.

Thanks, Stephen.

Thank you- it was a pleasure and honor!  God bless!

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