KERNAN COLEMAN
Made Local Magazine Designer
Kernan Coleman is a creative director, graphic designer, and owner of Ranch7 Creative, a full-service branding and design agency. Sadly, he is way too claustrophobic to have been an astronaut.
Photo Credit: Uncle Stabby
Who do you admire and why?
Globally: Jacinda Ardern for modeling a new kind of leadership.
Nationally: Jimmy Carter for modeling service and citizenship.
Locally: Firefighters for modeling courage and selflessness.
What was the last best thing you ate?
The pandemic has meant eating at home so that would be the last thing my husband made. The man can paint with flavors and make leftovers an event. Marry an Italian if you can.
Name something you do or do not regret.
Regrets are natural responses to disappointment and missed opportunities, but they’re kind of poisonous. I try to redirect myself constructively when they pop up. I don’t always succeed.
What 3 things bring you joy?
Big dinner parties under the stars, music, and road trips. Two out of three on hold during the pandemic.
Where else have you lived?
In order, from birth: San Francisco, Tiburon, Sausalito, San Juan (Puerto Rico), Strawberry Point, San Rafael, Pacific Grove, Pebble Beach, Carmel, Half Moon Bay, Poway, Pacific Beach, Del Cerro, San Marcos, San Francisco, Santa Rosa, Sebastopol, Santa Rosa (West End & Burbank Gardens).
What are you good at making?
Grilled anything. French Toast (gotta use day-old Red Bird Levain). Roast Chicken. Salads. Messes.
Recall a time you changed your mind about something.
The biggest shift in my life was at age 46 when I finished a 10-year journey from magical-thinking to scientific skepticism and rationalism. It was a huge shift, and I’ve been a critical-thinking activist since then.
What would you do if you knew you couldn’t fail?
Open a vintage car showroom. I love a life in motion and was born obsessed with cars, planes, and ships. My first words were car names, according to my parents. For me, they’re moving art.
If you could instantly have one skill, what would it be?
Singing (and not just to the dog).
You host an intimate dinner party with up to 4 guests, living or not. Who’s coming?
Dr. Margaret “Mom” Chung, Hugo Eckener, Josephine Baker, and Noël Coward.