Christopher Ayres

From boot camp to burritos, Christopher Ayres thinks about designing in terms of pop culture, and who he would want to eat and talk with, using references to comedians like Aziz Ansari, or the films of Johnny Depp. He has become a go-to champion of rebranding major identities.

Christopher has dedicated 13 years to the publishing, design and advertising industries. He has worked with some of the most iconic brands in the world, including Visa, Nike, Coca-Cola, JetBlue and Crayola. He was the Creative Director at MRY, then went on to oversee a complete overhaul of design and brand strategy for celeb-favorite Barry’s Bootcamp, transitioning them from a niche boutique fitness company to a full-fledged lifestyle brand.

From New Yorker to Californian, he says he still feels like that gawky, small town kid from Kansas at heart. Christopher has come a long way. He now serves as Creative Director for Taco Bell, and his reasoning behind the leap is simple, “Because tacos.”

Q. What’s the first website you go to everyday besides your email?

It was Facebook, which is a really lame answer, but I feel like all the time leading up to the election and now post election, all the political posts are bumming me out. It started my day with a bad energy. So, now I hit up the Apple news app real quick to see what’s going on in the world and to make sure I didn’t sleep through an earthquake or something.

Q. Have you ever been in a food fight?

I have and I will just say that getting Magic Shell syrup out of your hair is way more complicated than you think.

Q. Would you rather eat a live goldfish or a salad without dressing?

Crayola Creativity Cast Design by Christopher AyresGotta go with salad. I had a really awesome goldfish named MacGyver which was the bomb so choosing the goldfish would only bring back or create bad memories.

Q. Airheads or Lemonheads?

Lemonheads. Yeah. I just genuinely like Lemonheads, they just taste good. That answer sucks, but I think I am gonna go buy Lemonheads later today.

Q. What is one taco flavor that you would love to see added to the lineup?

New Taco Bell Logo by Christopher AyresI thought long and hard about this. It would be the everlasting gobstopper from Willy Wonka. I want to invent a taco that changes flavors like a full three course meal, then the commercial spot will bring back Violet from the movie and she will say “Oh boy, a roast beef and baked potato taco”.

Q. What do you think Johnny Depp’s favorite television show is?

(Laughs) I will start out by saying that I freaking love Johnny Depp and because he is so rad to me I would like to guess that it is some TV show that I don’t even know about it. Something the common folk don’t know of.

Q. What kind of shoes are you wearing right now? Single knot or double knot? Socks or no socks?

Nike Design by Christopher AyresThey are Nike Zoom trainers because I am on set shooting and when I am on set I don’t care, I wear workout clothes. Double knots for security and who doesn’t wear socks?

Q. How good are you at giving driving directions in California?

Ahah! You sneaky wordsmith, you! I would give the worst directions ever. I am still a New Yorker at heart and I hate driving. If I were to give directions, it would be like the SNL sketch ‘The Californians’. It’s funny because it’s true.

Q. When was the last time you were asked to make the logo bigger, and what was your response?

It happens more often than I like to admit, and the response is of course, yeah, we will do it, but sometimes we will go in and make everything around the logo smaller and then that feels like a designer victory.

Q. 6-pack abs, love ’em or hate ’em?

New Barrys Bootcamp Logo Design by Christopher AyresOh, I’ve got to find my way around this question. To be honest, I would hate to have 6-pack abs, because I work with all these beautifully sculpted trainers and their diet and exercise life is so hard and I feel like I would be in such a bad mood all the time. Personally, as beautiful as they are, I would not want that for myself, but for design and advertising they look great.

But wait, there's more....
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?
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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?
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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?
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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?