Meet Death Wish: Thomas Dragonette, Art Director

Death Wish Coffee Company is made up of a small but growing team. We want to take you inside our headquarters and introduce you to some of the team members that make it all come together. 

When you look at all of the freebies and cool products that you get from Death Wish, what do you think about? If you said Thomas Dragonette, then you got it right. Thomas has been with Death Wish for a little under two years, and in the time he's helped shaped the look and feel of the company. On top of his amazing design skills, Thomas is a lifelong skateboarder (and enthusiast) and he loves a good nerf gun fight. 

How long have you been working with Death Wish and what do you do here?

I have been with Death Wish since September 2015. I am the Art Director. What does that mean? Well, I'm glad you asked, Alyssa. Basically, I'm responsible for making sure that the stuff you see coming from Death Wish reflects the brand and what it stands for. I have my hands in everything from bag design, to video and photo direction to product design, and development. 

What have you learned about the coffee industry that surprised you?

The thing that surprised me most is how quickly drinking coffee becomes a special part of a daily routine. I never drank coffee before I started working here. I'm a pretty energetic dude so I never needed a pick me up in the morning. To be honest, I still don't but after starting here and slowly sipping coffee to learn about the industry I was working in, the flavors, roasting process and brewing methods, I slowly introduced coffee into my morning routine. Of course, it quickly became a staple in my day. I guess that's why it's the second largest commodity in the world—surpassed only by oil. 

What does a typical day look like for you? How much coffee do you drink?

No day is typical. I'm not Bill Murray in Groundhog's Day. Every morning is a brand new day and with that delivers its own set of highlights and challenges and I look forward to those. It's what makes life worth living. My worst nightmare is getting stuck in a routine that is predictable and mundane. It's like those heart beat machines. Ups and downs are part of a healthy life. When you flatline you're dead. 

I usually drink one or two small cups of coffee in the morning, I don't need much to get me strung out. You can ask my coworkers. There are days here where I drink a little to much strong brewed Death Wish and I turn into a laughing maniac. Sometimes on the weekends, I will have a cup of coffee with dessert after a good dinner. I love pie, so if I can get a piece of pie and a coffee after dinner I'm a happy dude.

What do you do for fun?

I love eating. It's pretty much my favorite thing to do. Not just the act of stuffing food in my face but the experience. Some of my favorite memories were shared over food. There is something special about sitting down with people you care about and celebrating that exact moment in time while partaking in one of life's most essential functions.

I also really like skateboarding. More years of my life have included skateboarding than not and it's forged some of my greatest friendships. It also took me places in this country that I may have never ventured to, opening my eyes to different perspectives and cultural differences. 

What’s something that goes on at HQ that people would be surprised to learn?

The amount of work that gets done in a day. There a lot of visitors and meetings and activities going on around here all the time. We have a really open office space, so sometimes it's noisy and buzzing with activity, which results in your work day getting broken up a lot, but we cram so much work into those lulls of activity. I think sometimes we display this environment of free-spiritedness and almost lawlessness, but when it comes down to business we handle our shit.