Reflecting the Creative Community

Kellis Landrum, editor-in-chief of Neu Black, started the Web site about two years ago with his partners Toshi and Alex Jones. At first, they just wanted to keep track of what was happening with all of the creative people they knew. But the site has evolved to become the premiere source in Los Angeles for who's hot and what's next in creative style and culture. Kellis tries to document what's new and interesting with creative people, projects, and events that are culturally significant. Through Neu Black, he wants to give his audience an inspiring sense of where things are going what's happening next.

Why did you start this project?

I really wanted to build something I owned and could do whatever I wanted to with. I don't think I really realized it at the time, but I desperately needed to do something that wasn't client-driven. I was also really inspired (read: jealous) by people like Dooce or Pitchfork who were getting real attention without traditional media connections or corporate backing.

Between my partners and I, we had the skills to do it. I was hoping we'd get tons of free stuff (which rarely happens), meet tons of cool people (which happens all the time), and hopefully make enough money to grow (which is happening slowly).

I think if you're creative, you have to find things that challenge you. I always liked to write but like anything else, the more you do it the better you become. Neu Black is a medium that gives me the opportunity create a lot of different things and show them to a lot of different people.

To me, this is the American dream. You start from scratch, have a good idea, work hard, and you make it. We have a voice that reaches millions. I get to communicate my ideas to people all over the globe and I don't need Conde Nast or News Corp to do it.

What in design, culture, and style do readers get from Neu Black that they don't get anywhere else?

Everyone has a different voice and different experiences. Even when we talk about the same things like as other sites, we always have our own take on it. I met Alex at Art Center so we were both used to seeing drawings of concept cars, product sketches, designer furniture, and all sorts of illustration on a daily basis. We got to know a lot of those people and I think it's the reason why we cover such a broad range of content. We see how different creative disciplines inspire each other and we carry that message.

If you're a fashion designer and fashion's all you look at, it's really difficult to come up with an idea that doesn't look like what everyone else is doing. But maybe if you see what someone is doing with architecture, it will give you new ideas about structure. Maybe you look at a painting and see what some one is doing with color or line work and a light bulb goes on. When you re-contextualize those ideas, you can find something that feels like it's part of the current culture, but it's also pushing what you're doing a step forward.

Since we live in LA, we try to reflect the creative community around us. It's unfortunate that no matter how talented you are, if no one sees your work it's hard to get respect make a living off of that talent. There are some really amazing creative people in Los Angeles that I'd expect everyone would know about, and yet they don't. Galleries, fashion shows, film festivals, and design expos, all play a crucial role in introducing artists on a local level, but the problem with those is that you have to be there attend them to see it. them. We have a format that's instantly accessible to a global audience at any time of day, and on top of that, it's free. We also publish twice (or more) a day, which is challenging in and of itself. As you'd imagine we're always looking for new content, so for all of you reading this, send your stuff to submissions@neublack.com.

It sounds challenging to have to publish so frequently. Do you have time to do anything else outside of Neu Black and Soda?

Well I've been trying to get a little bit more exercise. Once you start sitting at a desk all day you have to work a little harder to keep that spare tire from forming. When I had Roland Young's class he asked me one day if I wanted to be a weight lifter or an artist. I didn't go to the gym for three years after that.

I've been making a conscious effort to plan physical activities. I started rock climbing last summer, but it's gotten chilly lately so I've been snowboarding. I ran my first half marathon last month, which was really challenging. I really had to take a piece of my life back from my career. It turned out to be the best thing that ever happened to me, because I had to find a way to get things done faster with less effort. As it turns out being creative is useful for all sorts of things. Jose Caballer turned me on to "The 4 Hour Work Week" by Tim Feriss and I can't thank him enough. Though I'm not quite down to 4 hours, I highly recommend it.

What is your background?

I split my time between Neu Black (Online Publishing) and Soda (Interactive Experience & Art Direction). I should mention, it would be impossible for me to do all of this by myself and I have the best partners I could ever ask for. It all sort or runs together at some point because the publishing and the design influence each other so much. I started getting into design about ten years ago and doing interactive work about six years ago.

In terms of design, Neu Black taught me a lot about how to work for myself. Being your own client is a little scary a first, then intensely liberating once you get used to it. It also shoved me into being a writer, producer, editor, developer, and most importantly it forced me to get out and meet people.

As a result, I got first-hand experience on how interactive communication works and as it turns out, there's a need for that. I think it's natural for creatives, producers, developers, and marketing to all have their own agendas, but when you have to think about all those things collectively you get a different perspective. I think of it my job as giving the Internet what it wants. If you're I'm not doing that it will let you me know with either a deafening roar or complete silence. Figuring out "what the Internet wants today" is an art form in and of itself.

What trends do you see happening now?

As interactive publishing has been growing over the past few years we've noticed that the Internet has started to form it's own creative communities just like you see in cities. It's really interesting to see artists and designers in Los Angeles, Moscow, Buenos Aires, and Lisbon all riffing off of each other. You have to know where to look, but if you read Neu Black, you'll definitely see that happening. When I look at our analytics and see people in Paris or Rio De Janeiro looking at Neu Black, I know they are getting a piece of what's happening in LA and I get a little jazzed on that.

In the creative world, there's always a certain amount of hype going on-whether it's art, design, music, fashion, etc. While the web is certainly used to create that, it also filters the hype in a way that print and TV can't. If something's good, people link to it, and that link acts as a vote of confidence. When we link to something we're saying, "this is cool, you should check it out."

Agreed. That does seem to be the trend on how the word is spread now-through "reputation." Do you feel that spreading the word about one's creative talent is easier now with the Internet?

When I started designing a decade or so ago, the only way to see good work was to buy really expensive books, assuming you could find a book store that carried them. These days you can find amazing artists and designers from around the world on sites like Neu Black for free and educate yourself in a way that wasn't possible a few years ago. I mentioned earlier that re-contextualizing ideas from other disciplines used to come with a hefty price tag. Now you can find what everyone is doing from architecture to performance art for free on the web.

On the other side of that coin, if you're doing something noteworthy you can let people know about it with a lot less effort. You can put up a site, and if it's good you'll be recognized by your peers without creative reps, PR people, or publishing houses. In the past you had to put up a lot of money to get known, and being known can often make or break a career. Sites like Neu Black help artists get attention based on merit, and if I can help talented people succeed I'm just fine with that.

Rachel Elnar is a co-founder and interactive director of Ramp Creative in downtown LA.