Saxon Campbell on why side projects let designers be beginners again

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.