Five in Five* with Erin Kunz, Associate Creative Director

We learned T. Rex isn’t just a dinosaur thanks to Erin Kunz, our resident lover of rock ‘n’ roll and cigarette pants. The associate creative director has spent nearly a decade at Interrupt, stretching her design prowess for clients on everything from ambitious print projects to complex websites.

We sat down with the Toledo native to ask her five questions (okay, five plus a follow-up question) for this edition of Five in Five, where we get to know one of our team members.

Growing up, drawing was my passion. In kindergarten, at McGregor Elementary, every grade had a drawing competition. I drew a swordfish—I beat out all the other kindergarteners. The winners’ drawings became a mural in the cafeteria. I remember being thrilled. That was my first dabble into a design career.

I didn’t have much exposure to music growing up, so I only became aware of new kinds of music in high school, when I went to Whitmer. Walking down the hallways I was very observant looking at other people’s t-shirts, seeing there were other bands besides ‘NSync. I used to write the band names down in my notebook and then search for them on our household computer. Or burn all my friends’ parents’ CDs.

I started learning about Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, the Ramones—all these bands that essentially made me who I am. Hearing those first guitar riffs changed my life.

I try to think of who could be my doppleganger, who has similar hair and features, because to make a good Halloween costume you have to kind of encompass whatever that character is a little bit. Last year I was Stevie Nicks. The year before I was Cindy-Lou Who from the Grinch. For my Slash costume I needed a wig, but it still worked because I didn’t have to change what I was wearing—my brand is always black pants and a leather jacket. That’s the trick to Halloween costumes, being able to use what you have.

Absolutely, I’ve had them my whole life. They have a life of their own. In second grade, I tried to trim them myself using curved toenail scissors. I kept chopping and chopping trying to correct for the curve. It got to the point where I had an inch of bangs left. I was mortified.

My husband and I are complete DIY-ers. We purchased our house knowing that we would most likely remodel the whole thing, and we’ve taken on most of the projects ourselves. We refinished our floors, removed wallpaper in almost every single room of the house, refinished all the walls and painted them. We gutted one bathroom completely and remodeled that. It’s do-able if you take it one step at a time.

*Five in Five is where we catch up with an Interrupter to ask five questions in five minutes. It may have taken us (way) longer than five minutes to have this conversation. Sometimes we even ask more than five questions because we’re self-indulgent. But it shouldn’t take you longer than five minutes to read them, so we think it still counts.