Meet Dave Bates | Designer + Creative Director

We had the good fortune of connecting with Dave Bates and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Dave, what is the most important factor behind your success?

The key to my success over time has been knowing when to seize an opportunity. I believe that if an opportunity appears daunting or if a clear solution isn’t immediately visible, it’s likely to be the most rewarding in the long run.

I began my career as a Graphic Designer, majoring in it in college and landing my first design job shortly after graduation (following a brief stint at UPS for their excellent benefits). It was a temporary position at a company specializing in designing hardware and touch screen interfaces for custom home automation systems—sleek, intuitive UIs tailored for upscale homes and businesses. This was in 2008, coinciding with the launch of the iPhone, marking a significant shift in our technological landscape. With a few iPhones in the office for testing, I picked one up off an engineer’s desk one day and learned that the plan was to simply shrink our existing UI to fit the new mobile format. However, given that the current hardware was 12″ wide, it seemed unrealistic to expect customers aged 50 and above to adapt to a UI scaled down to roughly 3″. Recognizing this challenge, the engineer and I advocated for the development of a new suite of UI specifically for iPhone users. After presenting our concepts and securing approval from the C-Suite, we embarked on this venture. Despite uncertainties about the outcome, I saw the potential in the opportunity and committed to it wholeheartedly. This decision led to my transition from a temporary to a full-time role, diving headfirst into the world of UI design at the dawn of a new era.

Several years later, I found myself in a different industry—lifestyle apparel marketing. As a designer within a marketing team at a company with a global presence, I faced new opportunities for growth. In addition to designing web banners and catalogs, I had the chance to expand our brand’s physical presence in major retailers like DICK’s Sporting Goods and LIDS. Drawing on my experience with SketchUp, a 3D software, I spearheaded the development of our retail presence, starting with a branded section within LIDS stores. This involved designing custom displays, incorporating branded elements, and creating visually compelling layouts to secure buy-in from stakeholders. As the project expanded to include larger and more complex installations in national stadiums, I embraced the challenges and opportunities for learning and growth. Despite the occasional setbacks and moments of uncertainty, I remained committed to finding solutions, often through collaboration with team members.

Saying yes to these opportunities propelled my career forward, equipping me with invaluable skills and experiences that shaped me into a more versatile and confident creative thinker. Despite moments of doubt or fear, each new challenge I embraced contributed to my professional growth and expanded my network of opportunities. As I reflect on my journey, I am reminded that by saying yes to the unknown, we uncover our true capabilities and pave the way for future success. Who knows where we’ll be a year from now?

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?

What keeps me busy is often the challenge of learning new skills or ways of thinking about a problem. First and foremost, I’m a designer, which, in simplest terms, means I’m a problem solver. As someone once said (and I’ve since repeated many times to sound smart), “artists ask questions, designers solve problems.” Throughout my career, I’ve encountered various design challenges across different industries, from interior design to film and video production, graphic design, and live event production. Finding solutions to these challenges often required me to acquire new skills, which, while sometimes daunting, ultimately brought me tremendous fulfillment through the process of discovery and creation.

I began my journey as a graphic designer, a role that remains integral to my problem-solving approach. However, what excites me most about this field is the freedom to explore diverse solutions once you grasp the principles of design. This versatility may be what sets me apart from other designers. I recall early in my career, during the fallout of the ’08 recession, seeing job postings seeking graphic designers who could also code, shoot video, and perform a myriad of other tasks. This notion of a “unicorn” designer, capable of fulfilling multiple roles within a creative team, initially seemed far-fetched. However, over time, I evolved into a “multi-disciplinarian,” strategically assessing each problem and assembling the necessary skills, whether they were in my repertoire or within my network of collaborators. This journey of adaptation and growth has been a source of pride, transforming me into a professional my younger self would have deemed impossible.

Collaboration has played a pivotal role in my development as a designer. Whether on the bustling set of a film production or brainstorming with a creative partner in a cozy office, the camaraderie and shared pursuit of creative solutions energize me. I’ve learned that the most rewarding projects often emerge from collaborative efforts, where ideas are stress-tested, support is readily available, and victories are celebrated together.

A fundamental lesson I’ve gleaned is the importance of developing soft skills. Clear communication, empathy, and self-awareness are indispensable traits for any designer. Effective communication ensures alignment with clients and teammates, essential for achieving project goals. Empathy enables us to connect with our audience and tailor solutions to their needs, while self-awareness prompts us to acknowledge our limitations, welcome feedback, and refine our ideas accordingly.

None of us should consider ourselves one thing. In writing and filmmaking there are flat and round characters who are either static or dynamic. Flat characters are uncomplicated whereas round characters, of course, are complex and have depth. If they are dynamic rather than static, they will develop with the story. Since we’re all the star of our own movie, it’s helpful to clock the changes we’re experiencing and determine if we are evolving as characters, or if we need to search for more ways to expand our skillsets or interests. I just try to make sure that when I look back, my younger self is jealous.

Let’s say your best friend was visiting the area and you wanted to show them the best time ever. Where would you take them? Give us a little itinerary – say it was a week long trip, where would you eat, drink, visit, hang out, etc.
Getting to be a tourist in your own city is one of the great ways to spend any amount of time. It’s easy to get wrapped up in routine and work and forget how great the place we call home is. I’m a new father, so this changes my schedule a bit. If I have a friend come to town for a week, I’ll dedicate some serious time to them, but they won’t be seeing us every day. These days, my time is prioritized for my wife and daughter, and friends and family can certainly jump in for a laugh here and there. But I think Ben Franklin said something about house guests being like fish…

So my solution is to make an itinerary for visiting friends and family, and then let them know which days they’ll be their own tour guide. This way they can to get lost on their own wandering downtown, or spend an afternoon snoozing at the hotel, and we get a reset while the baby naps on her normal schedule.

With that said, Boston is a drinking and sports city, with some solid music thrown in. Ideally, we catch a band one night at The Sinclair in Cambridge, my favorite venue. A constant lineup of great up and coming and touring acts, multiple bars, and literally no bad spot in the house. You can always see the stage and the sound is impeccable.

Before or after we’d have to grab dinner at Hourly Oyster House, just down the street. This is New England, so seafood is on the menu for sure. Another night we’d go across the Charles and head into the South End of Boston to Franklin Cafe who has the best burger anywhere. This is not a debate, its the best burger anywhere, Boston or otherwise, we’ve checked. For cocktails we’re going to head North out of the city and go to Woburn, where The Baldwin Bar sits in a somewhat random location far away from the awareness of tourists and drunken college kids. Let’s just say it’s worth the trip. After all of those options we’re going to have start looking at the weather and the calendar! Boston and New England at large is a region that ebbs and flows with the seasons, so we really like to let that be a deciding factor in the things we do. If it’s Fall, we’re taking people up to Salem for witch tours, and if its summer, we’re likely heading South to the Cape for some beach time. We live here because we have mountains 2 hours away for skiing and hiking, beaches all over, and solid people. Can’t go wrong.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Shoutout to Gabrielle Dalvet, who is someone who does more to prop up and motivate her friends and pro network than she’s required to. That lady is a rock solid marketer, mama, and friend who just has an innate ability to do the right thing and looking cool doing it. She’s just one of the many people in my career who pointed to me and said “You’re up, make it happen.”

Website: https://davebatesdesign.com/

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/davebatesdesign/

Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-bates-09424652/

Image Credits
Austin Huck took my headshot.