Saxon Campbell on why side projects let designers be beginners again — The Brand Identity – Home of the Greatest in Graphic & Brand Design
More than half of the objects in Some Minor Details®, Saxon Campbell’s growing library of 3D models, are things he has collected while spending time with his kids, and a couple were even found by his two-year-old son. He recreates them digitally with close attention to their textures and small imperfections, and sells the models through The Brand Identity Store for other designers to use. He uses Some Minor Details to give his 3D work a place of its own, where he can follow an interest without explaining how it answers a brief. In this interview, we talk about how 3D became part of his practice, what makes glass and shiny objects so hard to get right and the relevance of side projects.
TBI Hi Saxon! How is New York treating you these days?
SC We’ve actually been splitting our time between New York and Florida. Since having our second child, we’ve been spending more time in Florida, so life looks a little different at the moment. There’s a lot of balancing family, running Unspoken Agreement, the design studio I co-founded with Robin Kannard, and finding time for my own work. Having something like Some Minor Details that I can dip into and build at my own pace has been really nice.
TBI How would you sum up what Some Minor Details is?
SC Some Minor Details is a growing collection of 3D objects and scenes, built around things I find interesting enough to spend far too much time looking at. More than half of the objects are things I’ve collected while spending time with my kids, and a couple were actually found by my two-year-old son. That gives the collection a personal side, because I associate those objects with the time we spent together. I recreate them digitally, paying attention to the textures and small imperfections that give them character, then make them available for other designers to use in their own work.
There’s always something I haven’t figured out yet.
TBI How did 3D design become part of your practice?
SC My background is in graphic design and branding, and 3D opened up another part of that process for me. When you’re working on a brand or packaging, the object and the way you photograph or present it can be as important as the graphics. Being able to work with the shape, material, lighting and composition gives me more control over the whole image.
I’ve been working with Cinema 4D and Redshift for years, and that side of my practice keeps expanding. There’s always something I haven’t figured out yet, which is a big part of the appeal.
TBI Why did you decide to start Some Minor Details®?
SC I wanted to give that part of my practice a place of its own. With client work, there’s a reason for every decision, and there are other people involved in deciding what makes it through. I enjoy that process, but I also wanted somewhere I could follow an interest without needing to explain how it answered a brief.
Making the objects available to other designers gives the work another life. Something I’ve spent time building can become a small part of an image or idea I would never have thought of myself.
TBI How did you land on the name?
SC It reflects the things I tend to get caught up in. The edge of an object, a slight variation in its surface, the way light catches a curve. They sound like minor details until you remove them and realise how much they were doing.
TBI Where does a self-initiated project like this sit alongside your design agency?
SC Unspoken Agreement is a collaborative practice, with all the different considerations that come with building a brand for someone else. Some Minor Details gives me room to make smaller, more personal decisions and see where they go.
The two feed into each other. Spending time on a material or lighting study develops skills I can bring into the studio’s work. My background in branding also influences how I compose and present the objects. They’re separate projects, but they come from the same eye.
The time you put into something can keep creating value.
TBI The objects go from a quail egg to an antique vase. How did you choose them?
SC A lot of them come from spending time with my kids. More than half are objects I’ve collected while we’re together, and a couple were actually found by my two-year-old son. I like that his curiosity has become part of the collection.
Something about the shape, texture or small imperfections will catch my attention. There isn’t a strict theme, which explains the range from a quail egg to an antique vase. Some objects also have a memory attached to them, so recreating them becomes a way of holding onto that moment and turning it into something someone else can use.
TBI Which material has been the hardest to get right?
SC Glass or a shiny object is probably the one that makes me work the hardest. You can have a material that seems correct, but if the thickness, edges or lighting are slightly wrong, the whole object feels wrong. So much of what you’re seeing is the environment reflected in or viewed through it.
The challenge is getting it to feel convincing while still making an interesting image. Technically correct doesn’t automatically mean it looks good.
TBI For a designer, what’s the value in side projects – commercial or not – such as creating digital products?
SC They give you a chance to find out what you’re interested in when nobody is asking you to make anything. That’s useful when a lot of your working life is spent responding to other people’s needs.
They also let you be a beginner again. You can struggle with something, follow a strange idea or spend too long on a detail because you want to understand it. That learning eventually shows up elsewhere in your work.
Selling a digital product adds another possibility – the time you put into something can keep creating value after you’ve finished it. But I think it needs to remain something you enjoy making. I want Some Minor Details to grow without turning every experiment into something that has to justify itself commercially.