2024 Designer Dozen: Jacob Tyler

Jacob Tyler
Senior Designer, Arcadis
Age: 30
Favorite Snack: Homemade salsa verde and chips
Favorite Time of Day: Golden Hour

WHY JACOB?

Whether it’s learning new technologies, teaching himself new techniques or striving to improve his skills, Jacob’s co-workers describe him as a self-motivated, self-starter with great attention to detail. From large-scale design projects to visual merchandising moments, some retail projects he’s worked on include REI, Toys “R” Us, Capital One Café and Petco, among many others. Beyond mentoring younger designers at Arcadis, he’s also active in his local design community, sitting on the board of the Retail Design Institute’s Pacific Northwest Chapter as its Events Co-Chair since 2021. Jacob also leads his firm’s Culture Club, engaging the entire office to organize events and activities that aim to cultivate an “office culture for all.”

📷 Trish Badger

What do you enjoy most about your job?

I enjoy the fast-paced nature of retail design. The ability to design and build multiple retail stores all within the same year gives me the biggest rush of dopamine.

Retail changes every day. What role do you see physical stores playing in the future?

I see physical stores continuing to be beacons for brand and product education as well as immersive storytelling experiences, specifically for DTC and start-up brands, something that cannot be replicated to the same degree online. It will be interesting to witness how the sudden curiosity in VR/spatial computing will play a role in retail. We may finally see the blending of the digital and physical worlds that has been long talked about and hopefully, it is not some sort of dystopian-like future.

What place that you’ve visited has made the biggest impression on you and why?

After years of saving, I was able to plan a trip outside the country for the first time and travel to a few places around Germany and the Greek Islands. While growing up, I never thought I would ever be able to achieve something like that. That simple trip marked a transformational moment in my life where I felt in control of my direction for the first time and I could set my aim at whatever I wanted to be or to achieve.

Describe some of your outside-of-work initiatives.

I am currently Events Co-Chair for the Retail Design Institute Pacific Northwest Chapter. My role involves planning out the logistics and execution of our monthly events, which can range from retail store tours to panel discussions, award shows and more. Being a part of this organization has taught me the importance of connecting with others inside the industry and breaking out of my introverted shell.

The best part of my day is…

…pretending I am on ‘The Bear’ and cooking myself dinner.

My favorite thing to do when I leave the office is…

…biking to the park.

If I had a completely unlimited budget for a project, I would…

…design a clothing and shoe retailer inside of a greenhouse or conservatory (thinking Amazon spheres level).