Uprising: Mason Galecki
Always imaginative and a jack-of-all-trades, Mason Galecki, now an art director at Havas Chicago, first found an outlet for his uncontainable creativity and energy through art classes at high school, extracurricular ceramics and photography classes, and everything active from rock climbing to tae kwon do.
Driven by the perseverance his parents instilled in him from a young age, he attended Wasatch Academy, an international boarding school in Utah that opened his mind to all of his passions. Tucked away amongst some of America’s greatest national and state parks, the school introduced art and music into his life, through piano and violin lessons, printmaking courses and a choir - on top of the more academic studies that he thrived in, namely biology and chemistry.
He says, “Wasatch gave me a platform to explore myself and learn who I was - and what I was passionate about. It challenged me to think differently and gave me a voice.”
Mason went on to attend Utah State University and, always the all-rounder, studied visual art - comprised of classes on drawing, ceramics, photography, design, art history and more. After two years of laying the groundwork for his creative skills, he finally bit the bullet and submitted his photography and graphic design portfolios to the college’s art program and was subsequently accepted into the Design program. From there, art and design encapsulated his life.
“I would spend hours and days at a time in the art building and my design studio,” he says. “I was learning so much from my professors and all my talented classmates. There was so much information and I wanted to consume all of it. I spent many late nights in the studio finishing projects, working on personal work, and just goofing off with my friends. I was learning more and more about the history of graphic design and current design trends - honing in on my craft and loving every second of it. As I dove into higher level courses, I was getting a deeper understanding of art and my love for learning.”
The countryside of Utah - the backdrop to his childhood and educational career - is obviously drastically removed from the busy lifestyle and environment of Chicago, where Mason now lives and works. Reflecting on his journey to the Windy City, he says that he was motivated by a piece of advice from a speaker at college: ‘Surround yourself with people who are 10 times more creative than yourself’. In doing so, the art director has made a habit of including himself in teams, friendship groups and projects that cultivate creativity - whether that be sharing recipes with pals or collaborating at work.
Mason’s professional career began at the creative agency Upshot in November 2019, where he absorbed as much information and asked as many questions as possible - all while adapting to the Chicagoan lifestyle. “On the design side of things, I learned a lot about brand voice, and how to take the established design language and apply it to my work,” he says, “On the process side of things I learned to work quickly and the importance of knowing the inner workings of the agency and how a process can streamline work.”
He adds, “People are willing to teach if you are willing to learn. I was learning something new every day, I surrounded myself with people who cared about their jobs, who cared about producing good work, and who cared about working hard.”
His earliest professional project involved a simple graphic template for Corona’s ‘Refresca Más’ campaign, an experience that taught him to refine his style and adapt to the brand’s unique flavour, while still pushing the creative boundaries. Spending lots of his time googling “how to ‘…’ in photoshop”, he learned quickly and had developed greatly by the time he worked on the ‘Corona De Mayo’ campaign in 2021 - a project that he feels was a turning point in his blossoming career.
“We needed to get people to celebrate Cinco de Mayo, so we decided to bring Cinco to the consumer. We teamed up with Old El Paso and Postmates and created the ‘Cinco Party Pack’. The consumer would receive festive merch, apparel, a piñata, papel picado, recipes… everything you need for a good party. I had the opportunity to work with the illustrator, Kyle Letendre, who really made the art come to life and feel authentic to the holiday and cohesive with the brand.”
More recently, Mason worked on the ‘adidas x Cuts & Slices’ collaboration, featuring the Pizzeria owner, and Brooklyn’s own sneaker guru, Randy Mclaren - a project that promoted adidas as a community partner while telling Randy’s story. “Adidas and Cuts & Slices did the collab for the Adilicous Cuts & Slices Forum 84 Hi Launch. Randy is a key figure in the NYC sneaker community and his pizza joints provide a space for his community to expand their taste buds and come together over a slice. He adds his own food, culture, and flavour to his pizzas, with creations like jerk chicken or sweet chilli oxtail.”
Wanting to build excitement for the launch, they hosted a block party and created wheatpaste posters, stickers, tote bags and more - even making a pizza box that featured on Jimmy Kimmel Live. “It was a great way of promoting Cuts & Slices in an authentic way but also connecting the adidas brand as well, in one collaborative piece.”
Settling into life in Chicago, he also has a side project called ‘The Goods’ with co-founder and fellow Chicago transplant Sarah Hernandez. The platform - which can be found here - spotlights independent tastemakers who are defining Chicago’s food culture and curating the area’s up-and-coming culinary spaces and experiences.
“We have met so many amazing people while running The Goods account, but one experience in particular that we’ve found particularly fantastic is the ‘Candid Fare Salon Dinners’. They are a two-women team, composed of Delaney Workman, a food justice and human rights professional-turned-chef, and Cebe Loomis, a visual artist and social documentarian. Together, the duo have combined their crafts to foster community through art and food - documenting food stories from family and new friends while hosting intimate, salon-style dinners in Cebe’s home.”
As well as sharing the local food revolution with the world, what gives Mason true gratification is seeing his professional work out in the wild. “That feeling of knowing you saw an idea grow into an entire project that is now something created,” he says. “That feeling is rewarding, knowing the time, energy and effort that went into it.” However, where he derives challenge in his working life, is from the balancing act that comes along with being a creative in the commercial world, with its many voices and stakeholders. He explains, “What I may think is the best, might not always be what other people on my team, or even the client, envision. Being able to provide guidance and creative direction while also delivering on the client’s vision can sometimes be challenging to navigate.”
Within the constantly evolving industry, where more and more content is being produced to grasp an ever-diminishing share of the public’s attention, Mason also finds a challenge with getting work the attention it deserves. He says, “There are so many people creating content, having new and unexpected ideas. I get pumped to see new ideas and how I can create better work because of those challenging the industry - but on the opposite side of the coin, I do get frustrated with the amount of content that is constantly being produced. Often I feel that some impactful and stunning work is barely reaching the surface because there is too much noise.”
One of those voices above the noise, however, is that of designer Keetra Dixon. After having the opportunity to hear her speak and participate in one of her workshops several years ago, Mason has followed her career and advice ever since, as a source of inspiration in the design world. “She’s held titles such as graphic designer, experiential director and artist,” he says. “She plays ‘with the fallibility of communication and social connect; ever inspired by discovery, forced bumbles, and new materials +tech’. I particularly admire her love of making, and pushing beyond the boundaries of the industry and challenging the norm.”
Embodying the spirit of one of his creative heroes, Mason continues to make and create, even when away from the office and his work. Finding it difficult to simply sit still, his spare time and decompression often involves him remaining productive in some capacity - be that physically or creatively. “I will tinker around the house, or do DIY projects for my apartment,” he says, although he admits that, like us all, there is nothing more relaxing than sitting on the sofa for a while without any distractions.
“The need for me to create and be active is the driving force in my life and for me to work,” he adds. “I want to succeed in my endeavours and do what makes me happy.”
