Eric Stine: A Fort Wayne Hip-Hop Story

Fort Wayne-born graphic designer and beat maker, Eric Stine, has been living in Brooklyn, New York since January 2018.  “I’m out here hustling the freelance life,” Stine said.  When he was here, Stine studied art and visual design at IPFW, “back when it was only a commuter college.”

Stine’s request for commissions increased after designing for hip-hop artist Roleo.  When Eric, a beat maker himself, joined up with Roleo to produce music together under the moniker Roleo and EDS. Stine and Roleo would eventually join the hip-hop collective Underground Coalition that included artists Andromeda, 219, Weatherman, and Sub-Surface at the time.

Stine’s first professional job was working for B&Y Advertising. He later spent ten years at Indy design firm, Lodge Design, producing more cutting edge designs.

“If you go around Indianapolis and see the big interactive “Indy” statue where the person stands in and makes the “I” in the word – that’s my art,” Stine said.  “That thing has been photographed by millions of people.”

Overall, Stine guessed he’s design for about 15-20 musicians. He was asked if it was easier to design for musicians being a musician himself.

“I think there’s a level of easiness that exists working with musicians just on the subconscious comfort level, I know this person is most likely an open-minded creative-thinking individual so that makes me naturally more comfortable to the be open to the entire experience,” Stine said.

“And also either they have good specific ideas, or they’re very open to the creative process to let me do whatever I want. Either way, as creative people themselves, they understand what it feels like to have someone pick apart your creativity, so it’s usually always a good process working with a musician.”