Greg Meadows Robin Hood strikes again By Jana Eisenberg; photo by kc kratt Greg Meadows is your average forty-seven-year-old father of four, graphic designer, photographer, teacher, and mentor, who loves typography, history, and architecture, and rarely goes anywhere without his camera … Wait. That doesn’t sound average. You’re right. He’s not—and he’s ours. Meadows is one of those under-publicized dudes who lives and works here in Buffalo, consistently connecting with the community. He puts out beautiful design, notices and documents our rich history, and continually lets others know about it in cool ways, like on his visually focused blog and his photo site on Flickr. (“I especially love the unchampioned architectural details around Buffalo and the eclectic typography,” he wrote to me in an e-mail.) Meadows was born in Oneonta and studied advertising design and production at Mohawk Valley Community College in Utica. He moved on to SUNY Fredonia, where he received a B.A. in design. His first not-so-great job was in Binghamton. Meadows complained about it to his former professor, who networked on his behalf. In 1985, he got a call from another of his professor’s former students, needing a designer in Buffalo. Today, Meadows is one of three associate creative directors at the award-winning marketing firm the Martin Group. He also engages with clients like the Allentown Association, doing design work for the annual Secrets of Allentown tour. Since 1986, he’s taught—at UB, Fredonia, Villa Maria, and currently at Daemen—and makes a point of staying connected with his own students, too. In addition, beginning in the mid-1990s, he’s done all the graphic design for the Roycroft Inn. In speaking about the ongoing project, he naturally articulates some of his design philosophies. “This project is the pride and joy of my design experience,” Meadows says. “I try to make the work speak to the honesty of the Roycroft movement. It was a compliment when Rich Kegler, who designed the font that is frequently used around East Aurora, said that he was impressed that I didn’t use his font. I based mine on one that I found by William Morris, an English designer who was the inspiration for a lot of the Arts & Crafts movement. And for the printed pieces I used papers with a tactile quality, which people could touch and connect to the history.” “If I had to boil down my design approach to one word, it would be ‘appropriate,’” he continues. “I am first challenged with what the customer needs; I’m fanatical about solving that. Then I think about what to bring in from a personal perspective. We are told not to tell a client we did something because it’s cool … though to a degree, I believe that if you’ve met their needs, it’s allowed. “Sometimes I feel like a ‘Robin Hood of Design;’ I like and want to provide good design to people that deserve it … A lot of my favorite work is done for not-for-profits.” “Creative people need to do a better job educating clients about the value of our work,” Meadows maintains. “There is amazing design talent in this city; some of them raise the bar, some stay in their comfort zones. I feel like you can’t sit back and wait for inspiration to come to you; you have to go out and challenge yourself, and seek it.” Jana Eisenberg is a frequent contributor to Spree. SUBSCRIBE NOW Back to the Table of Contents Back to Top