1、How toGrow as aGraphicDesignerHow to Grow_GD Title Pages 11/9/04 12:27 PM Page iPrelims.qxd 02/11/2004 04:40 PM Page iiHow toGrow as aGraphicDesignerCatharine FishelALLWORTH PRESSNEW YORKHow to Grow_GD Title Pages 11/9/04 12:27 PM Page iii 2005 Catharine FishelAll rights reserved. Copyright under Be
2、rne Copyright Convention, UniversalCopyright Convention, and Pan-American Copyright Convention. No part of thisbook may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form,or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise,without prior permission of t
3、he publisher.080706050454321Published by Allworth PressAn imprint of Allworth Communications, Inc.10 East 23rd Street, New York, NY 10010Cover design by Derek BacchusInterior design by Sharp Des!gns, Inc., Lansing MIPage composition/typography by Integra Software Services, Pvt. Ltd., Pondicherry,Ind
4、iaISBN: 1-58115-394-5Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication DataFishel, Catharine M.How to grow as a graphic designer/Catharine Fishel.p. cm.Includes bibliographical references.ISBN: 1-58115-394-5 (pbk.)1. Graphic artsVocational guidance. 2. Graphic artistsInterviews. I. Title.NC1001.F558 200
5、5741.6023dc222004025187Printed in CanadaPrelims.qxd 02/11/2004 04:40 PM Page ivContentsIntroduction ixPART 1: Who are you? 1Defining YourselfLaura Zeck, Short Stories 3Glenn Mitsui, Glenn Mitsui Design 9Earl Gee and Fani Chung, Gee + Chung 15Defining SuccessLana Rigsby, Rigsby Design 19Tim Larsen, L
6、arsen Design + Interactive 23Steve Liska, Liska + Associates 29Prelims.qxd 10/11/2004 11:55 AM Page vConfidence and Other Leaky BoatsIngred Sidie and Michelle Sonderegger, Design Ranch 35Diti Katona, Concrete 41Noreen Morioka, AdamsMorioka 47James Lienhart, Lienhart Design 53PART 2: Where do you wan
7、t to go? 61Finding Time to ThinkTelling the Truth About Yourself: Paul Rodger, Bull Rodger 63Slowing Down: Kevin Wade, Planet Propaganda 69An About-Face: Terry Marks, Terry Marks Design 75Staying Small: Scott Thares and Richard Boynton, WINK 81Growing: Jim Mousner, Origin Design 87Defining the Quali
8、ty of Life: Brian Webb, Webb they are people who I admire.If I had only viewed them once, and from a distance, thatsall I would have known.But when I began to speak to each artist, I discovered thatin many cases hardship and real trouble had wrought a majorrole in their growth and progress. All had
9、faced dramatic tran-sitions in their lives, and each had struggled with what to donext. Many were fired. Some experienced floods, literally.There were chest pains and exhaustion and bankruptcy andtears and lost relationships, all in the name of design. Still,they grew.So while this book was never in
10、tended to be a laundry listof accredited design schools or a treatise on clever careermoves, it very quickly transformed. It kept its original title,How to Grow as a Graphic Designer, but it could just as easilyhave been renamed, How to Be Brave as a Graphic Designer. Thestories that are shared here
11、 are testament to what people justlike you endure for their art.The artists interviewed in this book are to be admired notjust for surviving and prospering, though. They have shownanother flavor of bravery. They were willing to share theirstories with me and with you, so that their catharses couldal
12、so become ours. Letting others see how you really arenotjust a pretty landscape portrait painted from a distance, buta real person who hasnt done everything perfectlyis tough.How to Grow as a Graphic DesignerxPrelims.qxd 02/11/2004 04:40 PM Page xSo once you are finished with this book, consider thi
13、sadvice, offered over and over again in the interviews that follow:Open yourself up to the world. Embrace whatever you aregiven. Growth will come.CATHARINE FISHELxiIntroductionPrelims.qxd 02/11/2004 04:40 PM Page xiPrelims.qxd 02/11/2004 04:40 PM Page xiiWho are you?1Defining YourselfDefining Succes
14、sConfidence and OtherLeaky BoatsHow to Grow as a Graphic DesignerPart1 Sec1.qxd 25/10/2004 07:41 AM Page 1Part1 Sec1.qxd 25/10/2004 07:41 AM Page 2Defining YourselfLaura ZeckSHORT STORIESLaura Zecks life changed forever when she lost a bet toa college friend.A photography major at the Kansas City Ar
15、t Institute atthe time, Zecks loss meant that she had to take an elective ofthe winners choice. Her friend chose printmaking, an artform Zeck considered “grimy.” However, once she got herhands in the ink, everything changed.Ultimately, she graduated with an MFA in printmakingfrom the University of W
16、ashington, she taught drawing classesthrough the extension program and K through second-gradeart at the Bertschi School. It was 1994, and the Web was takingoff. She partnered with a friend to coproduce a Web site thatrevolved around kids. Together they pitched the project and 3Who are you?Part1 Sec1
17、.qxd 25/10/2004 07:41 AM Page 3wrote the content while Laura art-directed and shot photos forthe online zine. She also considered the possibility of openinga gallery in order to represent other artists.But another, seemingly custom-fit experience soon presenteditself: Zeck interviewed for a rep posi
18、tion at Creative Assets,a Seattle-based agency that specialized in placing creatives withcompanies.“I had applied to be represented, and then all of a suddenthe owner was calling me and asking me if I had ever consid-ered representing artists? I met with her the next day.”She was hired on the spot.“
19、There was an AIGA meeting that same night, and theyasked me to go. I didnt know anything about the AIGA, andI was so afraid of not getting a parking place that I arriveda half hour early. I walked into the condo, where I saw a guycleaning his place like mad in preparation for the meeting.That person
20、, Jesse Doquilo, eventually became my husband,”says Zeck, who has had more than her share of turning-pointmoments in her life.Getting involved with the AIGA and Doquilo pulled herinto a central role in the Seattle art and design world. Duringthe day she helped artists find jobs, and at night she hel
21、pedorganize events that furthered their talents and careers. Shebecame codirector of Art with Heart, then an AIGA-sponsoredarts program designed especially for at-risk youth. Zeck alsohad the opportunity to serve as president of the Seattle chapterof the AIGA.Life was good and exceptionally busy for
22、 Zeck. But shewas incrementally giving away more of herself than she real-ized. After about five years at Creative Assets, she felt fatiguedand actually began to have chest pains, a sign she took veryLaura Zeck4Part1 Sec1.qxd 25/10/2004 07:41 AM Page 4seriously since her father had already undergone
23、 bypasssurgery. She was only thirty-two years old.“I had run on adrenaline for five years. I thought thatperson was who I really was,” Zeck says. “I asked my doctorwhat was wrong, and she asked if I was depressed. I saidNoI work hard, I do this, I do that. And then just startedcrying. I finally real
24、ized that I had worked myself into a hole,and I really was depressed.”A simple prescription helped her hold her head up andtake a look at where she was. “I looked perfectly happy. Noone would have guessed. I was the one who said, Lets go out.Lets plan another event. Lets charge ahead. But I know now
25、how crippled I was,” Zeck recalls.Still, it took one more dramatic event to push Zeck outof her harried but familiar track: an earthquake in Februaryof 2001.“The entire Pioneer Square building was swaying andshaking from side to side. Everybody was yelling. I realizedthat I didnt want to die in this
26、 office. I didnt want to spend$100 a week on dry cleaning any more. I almost quit that day,but instead began making plans and quit two months later.”Within the first week, she set up a darkroom and startedprinting photographs that she had set aside long ago. Soon,she was working with designers again
27、, this time on thecreative side, one of whom introduced her to a printmaker intown, who in turn told her about a co-op printmaking shopthat was short a member. She joined the co-op immediately.Somehow, her journey had gone full circle: she was back togetting ink under her nails and making art.She be
28、gan by making little two-by-two-inch prints, whichas a collection formed a visual vocabulary that could be 5Who are you?Part1 Sec1.qxd 25/10/2004 07:41 AM Page 5assembled in many different ways. But instead of going thegallery route, where she could only show her work everytwelve to eighteen months,
29、 she decided to take a retailapproach and get her art in front of more people. This led toShort Stories, a company that she now runs with the help ofseveral part-time staff members. Short Stories produces com-binations of etchings that together form a visual story. Eachstory is unique, and buyers of
30、ten “write” their own stories byselecting the images that mean the most to them.The concept proved so successful that it was selected as afinalist for Best New Product at the 2002 New York StationeryShow. Consequently, Short Stories was immediately acceptedinto the New York International Gift Show,
31、rumored by manyto have a six-year wait list.Today, the chest pains are long gone. She and Doquilo aremarried, have purchased an enormous project of a house inSeattle that also has room for their studios, and she feelsbraver and more settled than at any other time in her life.“I have learned that to
32、make yourself open to opportunity,you have to take risks. If you are fully in the mindset to beopen to the universe, things will happen. And if an opportunityarrives, you should take it. If you dont, you may be fightingagainst what is supposed to happen. This is exactly what I didat Creative Assetsg
33、ot people excited about what options areout there, created optionsbut I didnt do it for myself; I didnthave time to be open,” she says.“Pay attention to your dreams,” Zeck advises, “and even ifit feels strange, it is crucial to have a ritual or two that makesyou remember what you want. Sometimes I w
34、ill throw myarms out and say to myself, I am open to the goodness andabundance that the world has to offer me.” She laughs a bitLaura Zeck6Part1 Sec1.qxd 25/10/2004 07:41 AM Page 6self-consciously and adds, “I do feel a little strange, especially ifsomeone sees mebut that is the truth. It really doe
35、s help.”It is also very important not to let other people or onesown preconceptions steer the ship. Zeck resisted being calledanything but a fine artist for a long time. Then she felt stronglythat she was solely a rep, with no other options.“Try hard not to define yourself. The more you defineyourse
36、lf, the more afraid you are to branch out and explore.A person might define himself as an art director, and he willwork to be the best at thatwork at the best firm, make themost money, win the most awardswhatever. He will becomeso focused on success and status, that there is no room foropportunity o
37、r risk to present itself,” she notes.When Zeck lost that bet in college, she never dreamed itwould someday provide her with a livelihood. Whats more, itallowed her to let go of labels and limitations.“I do not think of myself as a designer or a fine artisttoday,” Zeck says. “I just make things that
38、reach people andgive them pleasure.”7Who are you?Part1 Sec1.qxd 25/10/2004 07:41 AM Page 7Part1 Sec1.qxd 25/10/2004 07:41 AM Page 8Defining YourselfGlenn MitsuiGLENN MITSUI DESIGNOne day, Glenn Mitsui was a principal in a highly respectedSeattle design firm. The next day, the business was wiped outl
39、iterallyby a flood.One day, he was a single guy able to work or play at anyhour. The next day, he found himself standing mystified in thegrocery store, wondering what the baby he was adoptingmight want to eat.One day, Mitsui thought he knew where he was going.The next day, he discovered that having
40、a complete map of hislife wasnt as important as he once had thought.Mitsui came to design without a complete plan. In 1980,his basketball coach, concerned about his players poor gradesin high school, got him into a junior college program, two 9Who are you?Part1 Sec1.qxd 25/10/2004 07:41 AM Page 9wee
41、ks after the semester had started and with people almosttwice his age. He says he took it seriously enough to “almostgraduate,” then he landed a job at Boeing, producing slides ona genographics system.“On the graveyard shift, I learned computer graphics, andthat the womens bathroom had a couch,” he
42、laughs. “A typicalweek would consist of not sleeping for two or three days,partying with my friends, and going to work at night,” he says.He and designer Tony Gable also shared an office space forfreelancing during the day, but barely made enough to go outto lunch together once in a while.Next, he w
43、orked at Magicmation for a short time, wherehe discovered the Mac. Very quickly, a plan developedit hadto, because freelance work was coming in just as quickly. Hefounded Studio MD with friends Cindy Chin, Randy Lim, andJesse Doquilo, and their office was one of the first firms to usethe Mac for des
44、ign work. The local computer market wascharmed by their ability with the new tool. Much of theirwork came from heavy-hitters such as Aldus, Microsoft Press,Letraset, and ThunderLizard.They did not always know what they were doing, but theyhad confidence. “If I had a 30 percent comfort level with a j
45、ob,we would take it, and wed figure out how to do it later. Oncewe did it, we were that much more confident for the nextjob,” the artist explains.Their four-person firm was a tight-knit family that madecoming to work every day a pleasure. They were achievinga definite degree of notoriety among clien
46、ts, and in thedesign field, he and Doquilo were being asked to speak togroups, be interviewed for articles, and head up major localAIGA events.Glenn Mitsui10Part1 Sec1.qxd 25/10/2004 07:41 AM Page 10Then came the flood. In April of 1998, a broken waterpipe in downtown Seattle caused a million and a
47、half gallonsof dirty water to cascade through the studio, which the StudioMD team had worked so hard to make beautiful. Everythingwas gone. It seemed like the end of everything Mitsui hadworked so hard for.But as he was standing amidst the devastation, friend anddesigner George Estrada put his arm a
48、round his shoulders andsaid, “This is a baptism, baby. Its time to start over.”“I thought about what he said, and he was right. We couldstart over,” Mitsui says.The design team went into emergency survival mode andtried to work out of hotel rooms for a while. But eventuallythe strain became too much
49、 for all of them, and they decidedto disband. It was a tough hit for Mitsui, but he was young,and he now had the business, technical, and artistic skills heneeded to define a new role for himself.The wrinkle in this plan was that, at the same time he wasdealing with insurance agents and trying to do design workwhile sitting at a hotel-room desk, he was also in the process ofadopting a baby. He was about to become a single dad, andsomewhat unexpectedly. He had been serving as a foster parentto the little boythe child of a friend who could no longercar
