Anna Laytham

Anna Laytham is a designer, illustrator and artist residing in Brooklyn, New York, whose focus shifts from digital, ui/ux, and app design, to print design, illustration, sculpture, character design, comics, zines, prints, product design (physical & digital), and pretty much anything else that is interesting and challenging. Anna may not dig our pop culture questions, but interviewing her sure was fun.

She has made a name for herself designing major book covers, and her client list reads like a litany of who’s who in a myriad of businesses and organizations. She has done work for Pepsi, GE, Brisk, MSNBC, The TODAY Show, AMP Energy, The White House, Ben & Jerry’s, Makerbot Industries, Simon & Schuster and Penguin Random House.

On top of all that, and producing an art show in Berlin, Anna was a former adjunct professor at the School of Visual Arts, where she also graduated with a BFA in Graphic Design. When free, which isn’t often, she enjoys building things, using her hands, and learning about the Universe.

Q. If you could clone one boy band member who would it be?

Board game design for rapper, MF DoomI’m gonna be honest here and say I can’t name a single boy band member. I never got super into them, even though I was an impressionable tween during their 90s peak. Although I guess One Direction and those type of bands count, right? Maybe one of them, they all have such great hair, and the world could always use more great hair.

Q. How do you feel about sandwiches made with the ends of loaves of bread?

Totally acceptable, but only after the rest of the bread has been eaten.

Q. Follow up question, what do you call those parts of the bread?

Bread Butts, obviously.

Q. If you could redesign one classic book, what book would you choose?

book Design by Anna LaythamUUUUUUuuuuuUUUuuuggghhHHHHHHhh I thought I wouldn’t have to talk about design here but I’ve been fooled! None of them, they’ve all already been done enough times by people more talented than I.

Q. Would you rather never swim again or have to swim in a pair of jeans every time you swam?

Can I cut them into Jorts? If I can cut them into Jorts, swim in Jeans!

Q. In your opinion, is a hot dog a sandwich?

It’s a meatish thing between two pieces of bread, so technically, yes. But hot dogs are also their own category.

Q. How’s it feel to have an accent?

I don’t speak any German, which I am very embarrassed of whenever I am here, so I don’t tend to notice it much in everyday life. But I do find that I can pick up other Americans here by their accents immediately, which in turn makes me conscious of my own!

Sculpture Design by Anna LaythamQ. If you had to eat dinner with Toby Maguire what would you order?

That’s the Spider-Man guy, right? I know literally nothing about him, but if he is paying, something expensive.

Q. Full House or Family Matters?

I had to Google both of these, I’ve never seen either! Can I choose option c: anything that isn’t a sitcom.

But wait, there's more....
Dumb Questions for Smart Designers with Anna Laytham
The Complete Series of Interviews

Marty Neumeier

Tarentino or Scorcese?
Chad Makerson Michael

Chad Michael

What cologne did you wear when you were younger?

Chalk & Brush

How do you feel about cargo pants?

Reyna Noriega

Q: Would you travel to Mars?

Tyler Spangler

Beavis or Butthead?
Debbie Millman

Debbie Millman

If you were in a font family, what style would you be?

Kevin Cantrell

Boomerang: The app or the tool?

Ariel Wilson

Q. Who’s Your Favorite Dad Bod?

Lauren Peters-Collaer

Q. What gives you goosebumps?

Luke Tonge

How are your nunchuck skills?

Mari Andrew

What noise does your spirit animal make?

Matt Curtis

If you were in a heist movie, who would be your assembled team?

Robert Fisher

What can you see from your window right now?

Beat Baudenbacher

What’s the last thing you apologized for?
Dumb Questions for Smart Designers with Paul Woods

Paul Woods

What is the best board game to flip over in anger?
Designer and Illustrator James Olstein

James Olstein

Would you rather drown in coffee grounds or cat hair?
Dumb Questions for Smart Designers with Victor Melendez

Victor Melendez

Where’s the strangest place you’ve peed?
Dumb Questions for Smart Designers with Courtney Macca

Courtney Macca

What’s your uncle’s name?
Dumb Questions for Smart Designers with Anna Laytham

Anna Laytham

How do you feel about sandwiches made with the ends of loaves of bread?
Dumb Questions for Smart Designers with Johnnie Cluney

Johnnie Cluney

Have you ever eaten something in a bathroom?
Dumb Questions for Smart Designers with Julieta Felix

Julieta Felix

How many bugs do you think you’ve killed in your life, whether by accident or on purpose?

Brian Van Gogh

What’s the last thing you licked?
Dumb Questions for Smart Designers with Randy J Hunt

Randy J. Hunt

If you started a cult, what would you make people wear?
Dumb Questions for Smart Designers with Jennifer Heuer

Jennifer Heuer

Do you think a world with adorable puppies on every corner would get annoying after a while?
Dumb Questions for Smart Designers with Syd Weiler

Syd Weiler

If animals could talk, which do you think would be the rudest?

Kendrick Kidd

What kind of toilet paper do you use?
Dumb Questions for Smart Designers with Lola Landekic

Lola Landekic

How many tabs do you have open on your desktop right now and what are they?
Dumb Questions for Smart Designers with Shogo Ota

Shogo Ota

What is one thing Idaho and Japan have in common?
Dumb Questions for Smart Designers with Jordan Scott

Jordan Scott

Would you allow Jeff Goldblum to tattoo you?
Andy J Miller of Creative Pep Talk answers Dumb Questions for Smart Designers

Andy J. Miller

When was the last time you kissed someone on the hand?
Dumb Questions for Smart Designers with Josh Higgins

Josh Higgins

Q. Do you have any pet names for Mark Zuckerberg?

Amy Nicole Schwartz

If you were two kids in a trenchcoat, would you want to be the head or the body?
Stefan Sagmeister

Stefan Sagmeister

Would you rather ride in Air Force One with Trump or in a tank with Putin?

Christopher Ayres

How good are you at giving driving directions in California?

Chris Costello

Do you ever hold your pee too long while drawing?
Dumb Questions with Joshuan Taylor

Joshua Taylor

What Disney princess would you want to be?
Dumb Questions for Smart Designers - Jared Erondu

Jared Erondu

Someone you just met has food stuck in their teeth, do you tell them?

Zac Petit

At what age did you get to second base? And where did it occur?
Nicole Jacek Dumb Questions for Smart Designers

Nicole Jacek

Whose hair would win in a fight, yours or Donald Trump’s?
Dan Cassaro Dumb Questions for Smart Designers

Dan Cassaro

What was your mom’s last Tweet?

Cap Watkins

Man grooming, yes or no?
DanielleEvansHeadshot

Danielle Evans

If you had to make a slogan with raw oysters, what would it say?
Darren Booth Designer

Darren Booth

Who would you rather have escort your wife to a party, Ryan Adams or Ryan Reynolds?
Lauren Hom

Lauren Hom

What is your favorite flea market find?

Mikey Burton

What would it take for you to move back in with your parents now?

Gavin Strange

What was more painful, taking a bad skate slam or designing your website?

Becky Simpson

Do you own any domain names you don’t use?

Craig Frazier

Would you rather wake up for a day as Daniel Craig or Frasier Crane?

Mackey Saturday

What is the strangest rewards program you are a member of?

Sara Blake

Are you of the old school mindset, do you hand sketch everything first?

Jess Boonstra

Harry Potter or The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo or The Da Vinci Code?

Jeff Rogers

Tell us a personal story about glow sticks or hot sauce.

Chip Kidd

Who would run the country better, Donald Trump or The Joker?

The Heads of State

What do you think of the upcoming Ghostbusters reboot? Be honest.

Scott Allen Hill

What was the most inopportune time you broke, lost or forgot your glasses?

Timothy Goodman

If Donald Trump asked you to draw something on his Mexico border wall, what would you draw?

James Victore

Can you invent a clever bumper sticker slogan? We may or may not steal it.

Veerle Pieters

Since you never have had a boss before, would you rather have David Brent (The Office) or Gordon Ramsey (Chef) as your boss?

Gui Borchert

What do they write on your cup at Starbucks when you tell them your name is Gui?

Don Clark

What is your favorite show to watch with your kids on a Saturday morning?

Harvey Shepard

Would you rather shovel snow or go to a Nickelback concert?

Tad Carpenter

What’s your favorite children’s book?

James Flames

Who would you love to have design the poster for your 40th birthday party?

Jessica Hische

Can you give us an example of one thing you wouldn’t want your Momager to handle?

Steven Heller

You’ve interviewed a ton of people. Is there one person in particular that you haven’t that you’d want to interview?

Sara Blakely

What would your first thoughts be if you were asked to write Grease 3?

Josh Brewer

Elton John or Phil Collins?

Ashleigh Axios

If you’re going on a road trip with President Obama, what kind of car would you drive?

Matthew Manos

How do you feel about the term Millennials? Be honest.

Jean Jullien

If you had to get trapped for a month in one city’s subway system which would you prefer, NYC or London?

Bradford Shellhammer

Since your name sounds like that of a superhero, what would be the name of your arch nemesis?

Jon Contino

Would you rather be the brand manager or general manager for the Yankees?