Success Secrets from Hillman Curtis:

• There’s a lot to gain by approaching this field as craft that can be developed.
• Do things you love to do. The Artist Series started out as a purely personal project and became a serious part of our business.
• When you have the attitude of looking at the client as a collaborator and not as a hurdle, you’ll often find that every client is a good client.

Early beginnings:

Both my parents were high school teachers, my mother an art teacher and my step dad, history. My step dad also collected books and as a kid I was drawn to these huge poster books in his collection…mostly dealing with world war two propaganda. I would spend hours looking through the images. Big bold posters with strong imagery and often little or no text. I didn’t know it at the time but I was looking at graphic design. Later in my twenties, I was a Rock and Roll musician in San Francisco. I was on a couple of different labels, MCA was the last one, and my story is not uncommon; built up by A and R people, managers and agents and then unceremoniously dropped. I was 30 years old when MCA pulled the plug… I’d just gotten married, and after chasing the music thing for 10 years, working the odd jobs that go along with that - waiter, bartender, house painter, all that stuff - I decided that I was done. It was time to get a career of some sort.

The problem was I didn’t have a clue as to what that career would be. But during the time that I was in bands I was also the guy who made the posters and the flyers. I started with rub-on letters and so on and some of them were actually pretty good. I definitely drew on the bold and simple imagery of the propaganda posters I’d seen ten years earlier in my step-dads books. Other bands started asking me to design their posters and fliers and so when I got dropped I took what little money I had made in music and enrolled in a Photoshop class at a night school.

Because I was older than everyone there, even the teachers, I was desperate. When I started, I couldn’t move a mouse, but I picked it up really quickly. I got some internships and worked my way up. And after a year or two got hired as a contractor at Macromedia and eventually became the Art Director at there.

Hillman’s thoughts on going into business:

When I was at Macromedia, I learned a lot. It was really my first real job. And it was exciting. After six or seven months, I met Neville Brody, who came in to redesign the brand and identity of the company. Neville had this confidence and a sense of purpose. You immediately sensed that design was serious and that your work, the choices you made, had to be justified. He showed me that design was not to be taken lightly, and that if your were going to do you needed to do it without compromise.

What I experienced working briefly with Neville made me think about next steps. I’d been at Macromedia three years at this point…and I felt that I’d done what I could do there.

At the same time, my wife and I decided we wanted to live in a world city. San Francisco is a beautiful city, but small, slow with a provincial mind set. So we moved from san Francisco to New York city. I stayed at Macromedia, working long distance for a few months, but that clearly wasn’t going to work so I decided I’d give my own business a go. I sold what little stock I had in Macromedia and used it to fund the start of my company.

First clients:

In 1998, every one was interested in flash, and my business grew by word of mouth. Having come from Macromedia, and having been there when they acquired Flash, I knew a lot about the then new software. I had also designed and implemented the first Flash website for Macromedia, and I had a few other, high-profile Macromedia jobs under my belt that were Flash-based. It was a small portfolio, but it made it easier to get projects .

When I got to New York, I rented a desk at a design company called RazorFish. This turned out to be extremely beneficial to me both as a designer and as a person new to new york. The people at Razorfish welcomed me into their community and I remain grateful for that to this day.

It became very clear, very quickly that New York City was a big and intense place, but it had this incredibly tightknit and very supportive design community. As soon as I entered the community, I started to make contacts and get referrals and advice.

The first job I got was making small web ads for Intel through an ad agency called DSW out of Salt Lake City. I did those ads for a couple hundred bucks a pop.

This was around 1999-2000 and the dot com boom was just getting fired up. Pretty soon the projects got better and the rates got higher.

I’d worked hard to put myself in a good position and was able to take advantage of some of the opportunities. The dot com boom allowed me an opportunity to move from small flash ads to larger site design. And that’s where it continues today. I rarely do Flash anymore, just for prototyping and for components on larger website designs.

Business development today:

I’m in a fortunate position in that I’ve done some large jobs and they’ve turned out well. That has led to new design opportunities. My film work is growing quite well too. It’s followed a similar course starting small - with short personal films - and growing into commercials, and directing.

Influential figures in design:

I’ve been influenced by everyone who’s profiled in The Artist Series, a series of short films I did on designers. They were chosen specifically because of that.

I fund the series myself, and it’s a very personal work. One of the rules I made was that I would only interview people who had a direct influence on me as a designer, or somehow made it easier for me to become a designer.

I haven’t had time to interview a lot of the people whom I’d like to include in the series, though. One would be Neville Brody. Another would be Kyle Cooper. Another would be, if he were alive, Tibor Kalman.

Marketing to diverse audiences:

Quite often, people look to us or to me specifically for web design, or they come to the site simply for the films, and they have no idea we do both. But we just launched a redesign of our site…Hopefully it will be easier for people to understand that we do design and film (and occasionally write a book). http://www.hillmancurtis.com

On my site, in the section on film, you can watch all of The Artist Series videos as well as short films and commercials. AIGA is also a good place to go to see The Artist Series, but it’s not the most current.

Turning personal work into serious business:

The Artist Series started with design, and now it’s expanded. I’ve produced shots on a film maker — Mark Romanek — and the one on the conceptual artist Lawrence Weiner. I am always looking to expand.

The Artist Series has led to commercial work as well. We probably did 10 or 12 web commercials for Adobe’s CS2 about a year and a half ago, plus one for BMW, a series for SVA, and four for Blackberry. This thing that started out as a purely personal project has become a serious part of our business.

Most outstanding accomplishments:

The Artist Series on Milton Glaser certainly is one of my favorites. It turned out particularly well. The new one on Sagmeister is very good. I particularly like the Mark Romanek piece. And the latest - Lawrence Weiner - is quite good. I am also excited by the dramatic films we’re doing.

So far we’ve done about 6 or 7 short films. We won “best dramatic film” from the last year’s Webby Awards. And this year we have three competing against each other.

I’m trying to focus on writing scripts and working with actors at this point. I’m still doing The Artist Series and the commercials, but my goal is to make a feature length film.

Hillman’s thoughts on the keys to success:

I’ve found something that I’m good at. I think that was part of it. Design and Film both utilize a lot of the skills and talents that I was fortunate enough to be born with. That’s not to say it always comes easy. It doesn’t. I’ve worked very hard over the last ten or twelve years. I often tell students or my interns that one reason I’ve been able to do what I’ve done in this industry is simply because I worked harder than other people. That’s changing as I get older, but for the first five or six years of my running my business was often 6am to 8pm, 5 or 6 nights a week.

I like doing commercial work, but I often struggle with it. I think all commercial artist do. There’s always a time in any given project where you question your values…or your choices.

Commercial work encourages me, or maybe even forces me, to explore other purely personal and artistic endeavors, such as the documentary film work and now the dramatic film work, which then in turn… feeds the commercial work.

It’s been an effort to move in directions that are pro-active and not reactive. In this business it’s easy to be reactive and go where the work is. For example, we designed the Yahoo! Home page and we worked with Yahoo! for three years designing or helping them conceptualize many different things.

That brought in a lot of phone calls from other companies that wanted the same thing. They wanted that same sort of portal design. And it would have been really easy to aggressively pursue that business, and probably quite profitable, and possibly very beneficial to the company. But it didn’t seem like the right path for me.

I fear complacency. It’s important to question your work, stay involved and engaged in the work.

On working with consultants:

Sometimes I question my need to keep my company very, very small. I’ve certainly had opportunities to grow bigger. And I suppose, I probably could have managed the business better and not had as much worry or stress. But I like the way a small company works and I still love the hands on designing, directing and editing. I’ve never been a natural manager.

Hillman’s thoughts on building and sustaining a career:

All I know is how I built my career. I may have benefited by coming in as an outsider, someone who hadn’t had schooling. I was always, and still am open-minded about the craft. I’ve never gotten cynical, and I know I’ll always have a lot to learn…which is good. For example I still have trouble identifying a lot of fonts. (Laughter.)

I always try to remind myself that whatever situation you find yourself in, there’s something there for you. There’s some building brick there for you personally, or for your career… something to learn. And that’s how, that’s really how I’ve always approached it.

It’s really about maintaining humility. It’s coming in and being quiet and very careful and thoughtful with the work and your responsibility to whatever brand or person you decide to work for.

On getting good clients:

That’s harder. I would say that almost every client is a good client. Some people might argue with me about that, but it’s how you relate to the client. I’ve always advocated including the client in the early stage, the middle stage, and the late stage of the design process. That seemed to work for me. I know that it doesn’t work for everyone, but it’s an attitude of looking at the client as a collaborator and not as a hurdle. That has made most of my clients really good clients.

If you’re looking for marquee clients who have big brands behind them, and are going to look really nice in your portfolio, that’s something that I don’t know that I can answer. I am attracted to that as well, but usually I am influenced more by how open or just plain nice someone is. I want to know I can work with someone…that’s the most important thing.

I think that no matter who the client is, we need to include them as creative partners in the process. I believe that everyone is creative and sometimes their creativity is manifested in different ways than my own. And, I shouldn’t take them for granted, and I should approach them with respect and be open to their ideas…to a point. Part of my job is listening and considering ideas and feedback and part of it involves saying no from time to time.

Outside activities:

Family is most important.. So my life now is maybe 9 to 6:00 at work, and then it’s all family.

I don’t play golf, and I don’t hunt or ski or anything like that. The main thing I do as a hobby is make my short movies. Working with the actors and writing scripts has become my main outlet.

I still do accept some speaking engagements. They help keep me on track too, because I have to think about what I’m going to talk about, and thinking about my speech reminds me of what’s important to the design or film that I’m doing at the moment.

Meeting new people is also refreshing.

Additional thoughts:

It’s a wonderful craft. There’s a lot to gain by approaching this field as craft that can be developed. It’s something you can grow with. And I think it’s a wonderful thing to be able to do as your life’s work. You just need to find ways to fight the cynicism that can come from doing commercial work. It’s easy to get cynical.

You have to believe that even in the driest and most bland corporate work, you can reach someone. And that’s sometimes hard to imagine or remember, but it’s there. What we do is concerned with communication…reaching people…and if you’re lucky, moving them.

About Hillman Curtis:

Hillman Curtis is the Principal and Chief Creative Officer of hillmancurtis.com, inc., a digital design firm in New York City. His expert and innovative design solutions have garnered him and his company the multiple Communication Arts Awards of Excellence, the One Show Gold, Silver and Bronze, the South by Southwest Conference “Best Use of Design” and “Best of Show”, the New Media Invision Bronze, a Web Award, How magazine’s Top 10, and multiple Webby Awards.

Hillman was named as one of the top ten designers by the IPPA, included in the “ten most wanted” by IDN magazine, and as one of the “Worlds best Flash designers” by Create Online.

He has appeared as the keynote and featured speaker at design conferences worldwide and his work has been featured in a variety of major design publications. Hillman’s first book, Flash Web Design (New Riders, USA) has sold over to 100 thousand copies and has been translated into 14 languages. His second book, MTIV, Process, Inspiration and Practice for the New Media Designer, has become required reading at design schools worldwide. It’s currently in its third printing, and has been translated into 5 languages.

Hillman’s recent work includes major projects for AOL, Yahoo!, the American Institute of Graphic Designers as well as a documentary series on designers and artists and a series of short narrative films. Additionally, his music videos have been added to MTV2 USA, MTV Nordic, MTV European, MTV France, MTV Italy, and Much Music Canada.

His latest book, Hillman Curtis on Creating Short Films for the Web was released in September. Hillman is currently busy leading multiple design initiatives for Yahoo!, including the recent homepage redesign and My Yahoo concept designs. He is also producing online commercial documentaries (documercials) for Adobe, BMW and others and continues to write, direct and produce personal films.

Filed under: Interviews, advertising, advertising success, art direction, blog, blogs, business, business success, buzz, connectivity, copy writing, creative business, creative direction, design business, development, education, Facebook, free, graphic design, graphic design success, graphic design superstars, howto, illustration, illustration business, illustration success, inspiration, LinkedIn, reference, RSS, social media, social networks, success, success secrets, superstars, technology tips, tools, tutorial, Twitter, viral, word-of-mouth | 7 Comments

Success Secrets from Mirko Ilic:

• If you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, they can never pay you enough.
• It’s much easier to think for 8 hours and work for 2, than the opposite.
• Follow your dream. Do whatever it takes. If it happens, that’s great. And if it doesn’t, at least you’ll know you tried. That’s how I built my business.
• Getting good clients is like dating. It’s about building a personal relationship, building trust.

Torture
—————————————————

Early beginnings:

Going into art was just easier. I was not good at sports. I’m okay in mathematics and in most other things, but somehow art was much easier for me than anything else.  It was a simple decision.

When I first started out, at that time I was living in Yugoslavia, I was leaving my illustrations at different newspapers.  The first illustration that was published, didn’t even have my credit line. I was so eager to publish, that I was leaving the illustrations around without my name on them.

They liked them, (Laughter) but they didn’t know who to give the credit to. I showed up a week later and said, “Oh, that was my illustration.”  They said, “Great, do more.”

That was basically how I started, going round and knocking on the doors.  When you’re young and arrogant, you don’t have anything to lose. So why not?

Pafko at the Wall
—————————————————

Broadway Book War
—————————————————

Russia Comes Apart
—————————————————

Starting his career:

I was born in a Communist country and the only employment available at that time was working for a government controlled company. So instead, I chose to freelance. I was one of the few, maybe even one of the first freelancers in my country.

Since I didn’t want to work for the government, it turned out that my first full-time job was when I became art director at Time magazine for all the international editions. I was 31 at the time.

I was there only 6 months. I quit, disagreeing with the look of the redesign of Time magazine. I was supposed to use the new look in Time International, which I was in charge of.  A few months later, I got an offer from the New York Times op-ed pages.

Germany
———————————-

Influential figures from design:

During different periods, I’ve been influenced by different people.  As I grew up things changed, and over the years, I enjoyed many styles and many professions.

I gained lots of influence from European designers and illustrators because I was born there, but also from Americans.  I didn’t know much about famous designers, but the American underground had quite a huge influence on me too.

In 1972, I saw the illustration work of Brad Holland published in a Graphis Annual. It was so powerful. I figured that illustration was serious business and I started to pay much more attention.

Then around 1974 a friend of mine showed me Milton Glaser’s book. When I saw his work I thought, “Wow, I could be an illustrator and a designer at the same time!”  After that, I found my passion.

The Anatomy of Design
Gate-fold book by Mirko Ilic & Steven Heller uncovering the influences of graphic design (Rockport).
—————————————————

Thoughts on planning:

When I was 19, I made a list of the 10 most important comics. I promised myself that I would publish my work there, and everybody was laughing.  But by the time I was 26, I had published in all of those magazines.

When I came to the United States, I had a list that included The New York Times, Time magazine and Playboy.  (chuckling)

Apple’s Growing Ecosystems
—————————————————

This is a funny story.  My first week in New York, I got to do cover sketches for Time magazine.  During my second week I got to do an illustration for The New York Times.  But Playboy was in Chicago. So I didn’t get to do Playboy at that time.

Then, maybe three or four years ago I mentioned this fact to someone in an interview and I got call from Playboy! Now I’m regularly drawing and doing illustrations for them.

Darfur poster
—————————————————

Mirko’s thoughts on changing directions:

I get bored doing one kind of thing for too long.  For example, I was doing editorial illustrations for a long time, but I wanted to do book design. And somehow I muscled myself into designing books.  Most often you need to have designed a book to be able to show around because everybody wants to see something before they give you a job. Fortunately for me, I stumbled into that first assignment and it got me started.

Then because I was designing books, I started to write books.  Then one of the people for whom I was designing a book, architect Adam Tihany, asked me if I wanted to graphically design a hotel with him. Of course I said, “Yes.”  And now I’m designing hotels, buildings and restaurants, and that is something that, if you’d asked me at that time, I would have said, “Are you crazy?”

But I like it.  And now I’m pursuing that.  And I’m getting some awards, and publishing some work here and there.

Le Cirque (restaurant)
—————————————————

Favorite accomplishments:

There is no one thing that’s my most favorite accomplishment.  The most exciting things, for me, tend to happen at first: my first illustration, my first designed book, my first cover for Time magazine, my first illustration for The New York Times. It’s all quite amazing. Those sorts of thrills allow me to run empty for quite some time.  (Laughter.)

There are some things that I like more than others, of course.  But I’m quite happy with a few of the books that I wrote. The Design of Dissent: Socially and Politically Driven Graphics, which I co-authored with Milton Glaser, is a kind of achievement which is very dear and important to me. Not to mention the pleasure of working with Milton.

Also, I’m very pleased with my latest book, The Anatomy of Design: Uncovering the Influences and Inspirations in Modern Graphic Design.” I did that one with Steven Heller. We managed to squeeze almost 2,000 pieces of art into the book, which is quite an achievement.

Energy Roundtable
—————————————————

Energy Independence
—————————————————

Mirko’s thoughts on lifelong education:

Throughout my life, I’ve done what I call continuous education – educating myself whenever I can. I notice how lots of kids, especially here in the United States, don’t know much about design history. We all stand on somebody’s shoulders.

I decided to create books for kids so they can learn a little bit about the past. And it’s quite achievement for somebody who can barely speak English and is dyslexic. (Laughter.)

The Sexual Male
—————————————————

Mirko’s thoughts on the keys to success:

In my class in school, there were two extremely talented kids who became my friends.  They were able to draw blindfolded. I figured that only way to equal them was to work harder and try to be brighter. Then I discovered that working is not enough.  One needs to think about what one is doing. I discovered that it’s much easier to think for 8 hours and work for 2, than the opposite.

Thinking about what I do before I sit in front of a white table or computer screen is really, really important. Then once when I have the idea, I work like a dog.  (Laughter.)

The Scent of War
—————————————————

Not Much Has Changed in a System that Failed
—————————————————

The Havoc in Yugoslavia
—————————————————

On doing things differently:

I would love to build, be an engineer and build bridges.  I think bridges are amazing.  They’re like birds that fly on the ground.  They connect people. They’re such positive things. They’re like sculptures, floating in air.  It’s quite amazing.

Mirko’s Toughest Challenge:

Probably the toughest creatively challenging period was in 1991 when civil war broke out in the former Yugoslavia. I managed to see my primary school in my small home town in Bosnia on CNN, which was showing Serbian militiamen killing women who lay face down on the sidewalk in front of the school. As war was spreading, I was glued to the television set for days and nights, trying to reach my mother on the phone, who was still living there. It was very hard to find reasons to draw or create pretty images.

Liberty and Justice
—————————————————

Mirko’s hobbies:

I collect old books.  I visit all the book fairs, and collect magazines.  I do research.  I’m especially interested in the 20’s and 30’s.  I have lots of Russian Dada. I enjoy old papers.  I enjoy touching them and playing with them.  And I think that’s my biggest hobby.

Thoughts for someone just starting out:

It’s very tricky because our industry is in a big shift. It doesn’t seem to have a clear future at this point in time. We are now focused on the promise of new technology while we’re forgetting that there are still ideas that might be left behind.

There seems to be too many vice presidents making the design decisions instead of the designers.

But one thing’s for sure, if you don’t enjoy what you’re doing, they can never pay you enough. You must feel pleasure.  You must feel like you want to wake somebody up and show them what you’ve done.  You must feel like you’d like to run out and say, “Look, look, look, look what I did.”  That kind of feeling is more important than any amount of money.

I think when one sees the design of another person and thinks, “Wow, why didn’t I come up with that one?”  That’s the kind of design you should strive to create.

SVA: To Help See Possibilities
—————————————————

Thoughts on getting good clients:

Getting good clients is like dating.  It’s about building a personal relationship, building trust.

It’s tough, especially today, when most of us communicate through the internet and we don’t even see the faces of the people we’re working with. And sometimes they’re just two blocks away.

If you like what your client is doing, if you like their product, and if they like what you’re doing, if they feel the same kind of honesty from you, I think you have a chance to build a relationship.  And look, I arrived in this country in 1986, and I still work with 5-10 of the people whom I met during the very first year.

Tihany Design (booklet)
—————————————————

Ideas for people just starting out:

Follow your dream. Do whatever it takes. If it happens, that’s great. And if it doesn’t happen, at least you’ll know you tried. That’s how I built my business. Now, of course, I’m old and tired, actually mostly lazy; I wait for the telephone to ring or the internet to beep.  Here and there I push a little bit, but mostly the telephone rings or the internet beeps.

Additional thoughts:

It’s very important to introduce new ideas into your design. When you’re listening to music, going out to the theater, visiting museums, socializing with friends, and so forth, you will accumulate additional ideas, and from some place other than looking at other designers’ work or at the design annuals. The best ideas come from cross-pollination. Not from just recycling the same crap again and again.

Sav Taj Crtez (All Those Drawings)
—————————————————

About Mirko Ilic:

Mirko Ilic published his first works in 1973, and has since been publishing comics and illustrations in magazines, such as Omladinski tjednik, Modra Lasta, Tina, Pitanja, and has become the art and comics editor of the students’ magazine Polet in 1976. That’s when he helped organize an informal organization of the comic book creators Novi kvadrat (The New Square), that has been widely connected to the Novi val musical movement in Zagreb. That connection also allowed Ilic to design album covers for some of the most prominent Yugoslav bands of the time, such as Bijelo dugme, U škripcu, Prljavo kazalište, Parni Valjak, Parlament, and many others. He also wrote the song Covjek za sutra on the first album of Prljavo kazalište, but he wasn’t given the credits for the authorship. Ilic appears in Sretno dijete, Igor Mirkovi?’s documentary about the Novi val movement in Zagreb, as one of the most prominent figures of the movement.

In 1977, Ilic started publishing his works in the established comics magazines outside Yugoslavia, such as Alter Alter, Métal Hurlant and Heavy Metal. In 1980, Novi kvadrat ceaseed to exist and Ilic entirely stopped working on comics, focusing upon illustration and graphic design. In 1982, he started working for the Italian magazine Panorama, as well as for the Croatian magazine Danas. in March 1986 he left Yugoslavia and went to New York “with $1,500 in the pocket and no idea what to do upon getting there.” He soon started publishing his illustrations in Time, The New York Times, Los Angeles Times, Wall Street Journal, and many other prominent and influential newspapers and magazines. In 1991, he became art director of Time International, and the following year he became art director of the op-eds in The New York Times.

In 1993, Ilic became one of the co-founders of Oko & Mano Inc. graphic design studio, and in 1995 he founded Mirko Ilic Corp., a graphic design and 3-D computer graphics and motion picture title studio. In 1998, he created the title sequence for the romantic comedy You’ve Got Mail.

He is a co-author of several books about graphic design: Genius Moves: 100 Icons of Graphic Design, Handwritten - expressive lettering in digital age, and Anatomy of design (all of them co-authored with Steven Heller) and Design of Dissent (with Milton Glaser).

Filed under: Interviews, advertising, advertising success, art direction, blog, blogs, business, business success, buzz, connectivity, copy writing, creative business, creative direction, design business, development, education, Facebook, free, graphic design, graphic design success, graphic design superstars, howto, illustration, illustration business, illustration success, inspiration, reference, RSS, social media, social networks, success, success secrets, superstars, technology tips, tools, tutorial, viral, word-of-mouth | 4 Comments

Success Secrets from Michael Schwab:

• If you’re lucky enough to find something that you’re inspired by, enjoy and that you truly have a talent for, that’s a magic combination.
• You cannot be shy.
• You have to be aggressive.
• It helps to be obsessed and driven.
• When you’re starting out, strive to work for people who really inspire you, and who you admire not only creatively, but ethically.

About Michael:

One of America’s most recognized and beloved illustrators, Michael Schwab focuses on the interplay of positive and negative space to create iconic images that are strong and simple yet always contemporary. His resonant images codify his work as thoughtful, lasting, and sustainable; characteristics that are increasingly rare and highly appreciated by clients that include: Nike, Polo, Wells Fargo, Amtrak, Sundance, Pebble Beach, Muhammad Ali, Robert Redford, and the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy.

From his studio in Marin County, Michael is currently winning awards in virtually every major graphic design and illustration competition and is regularly featured in publications worldwide.

Early beginnings:

Growing up, I think we all had a class ‘artist’ in school -in whatever grade we were in. I was that kid. I was the kid that people would ask to do posters, or drawings for their reports, or posters for sports rallies, or whatever. I was always available. People would say, “Oh, get Mike Schwab to do that. He can draw.”

I can’t tell you why exactly, but I was always excited about lettering design and wild illustrations. It goes back to that whole 1950’s hot rod era - flames on cars and artists like Big Daddy Roth and the Mad Magazine guys. It was then that I was probably first inspired graphically. And, of course, when the 1960’s evolved into flower power, Fillmore posters and record album covers, I became very inspired as an illustrator / designer.

I grew up in Oklahoma. Someone mentioned this little school in Texas, East Texas State University. Apparently they had a graphic design department. It was one of the first times I’d heard the term “graphic design,” and it sounded intriguing. I studied under 2 very inspiring instructors there - Jack Unruh for illustration and Rob Lawton for design and advertising. Rob really opened my eyes to the art of typography.

During my 2 ½ years at East Texas State, I kept seeing work coming out of New York, most notably from Pushpin Studios, Charlie White and Paul Davis. I also started seeing the cool images promoting the School of Visual Arts on 23rd Street.

Soon, I was actually attending school there—living in the Chelsea Hotel. But, it got to be summertime in New York. I couldn’t see the sky. It started getting hot and I realized I was ready to go back home. So I returned to Oklahoma for the summer. That year, in the fall, I ended up attending Art Center College of Design in Los Angeles. That would have been in 1973.

I was entered as a 5th semester student. At Art Center, I was able to study under John Casado and Jamie Odgers. It was competitive and intense.

I still hadn’t decided if I was an illustrator or a graphic designer. I’m actually still in that quandry. I think illustrators consider me a designer and designers consider me an illustrator, but I’m happy to ride the fence. I have found my own voice.

After graduation, I worked a little bit in the Hollywood area and assisted a few different people. I considered myself privileged to be John Casado’s assistant for awhile. I also assisted Los Angeles illustrator, Dave Willardson, one of my early role models. In addition, I was working on jobs for the art directors who had been my heroes - art directors like Mike Salisbury of West magazine and Rolling Stone magazine. I worked occasionally for Roland Young, the art director at A&M Records. There was lots of new, exciting design happening in LA at the time.

Then, I visited San Francisco.

Now, please understand, I loved LA, but once I got to San Francisco, I realized that this is where I belong.

Once there, I approached Chris Blum, the creative director for Levi Strauss & Co. via their agency, Foote Cone and Belding. He was famous for the very artistic, award-winning Levi’s posters and animated commercials. Chris was a mentor that I had always wanted to work for, and I created several historic posters for Levi’s with him.

By 1976, I had my own studio. I was living and working in a loft setting on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco. With a view of The City, I was very comfortable there.

On making the transition from assistant to freelance to studio owner:

I watched and listened to my mentors and saw how they talked on the phone with clients and art directors. Truthfully, being in art school, you don’t learn anything about business. I didn’t take any MBA courses. I had to make up my own rules and keep track of what I was getting paid. No one was really there to tell me how to do it. I treated my apprenticeships as learning opportunities — like graduate studies.

I was very careful to work for people who not only inspired me creatively, but who I admired, ethically. I wanted to just be near those people who were my heroes. I wanted to be around them and watch them. I was obsessed with my work and my craft and the people around me. I wanted to study under my heroes. It’s like an actor wanting to be working with someone that they respect so they can watch and learn from them.

I had nothing going on at that time except work and my passion for it. There’s a point where it becomes almost an obsession. To get somewhere, however, you really need to be obsessed and driven, at least for a while.

On developing business contacts and relationships:

I was meeting several photographers, art directors and designers - everyone was inspired. It was a very exciting time and people really communicated about their craft with each other. There weren’t that many people that were part of this community, so everybody knew and respected each other. There were healthy rivalries, but everyone respected each other’s work and enjoyed discussing it.

Thoughts on developing new business:

As far as getting work, you can’t be shy. I would go to art directors’ offices. I would sometimes just show up with my portfolio. I wanted them to know my work. Surprisingly, or not surprisingly, they would call me back and have a job for me. You cannot be shy. You have to be aggressive. And if you’re truly inspired, nothing will hold you back.

Favorite accomplishments:

Most recently, my portrait of Lance Armstrong was selected for inclusion in the National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C. That felt good. I’m also very proud of the Environmental Leadership Award from the San Francisco AIGA that I received several years ago for the Golden Gate National Parks logo series. Truthfully, I feel privileged to have worked with so many creative talented art directors and clients through the years.

New business development today:

At this point in my career, I seldom call people to get work (luckily). There are even times when I have to stop myself from saying, “I wish the phone wouldn’t ring so much.” That’s a frightening thought. The alternative is not very pretty.

The phone does ring a lot, and the thing is, it’s hard to rein my enthusiasm in. Once someone describes a project — and usually they’re not calling me unless my work is appropriate — it’s very hard to say no because the creative wheels start turning and it’s hard to turn it off.

Thoughts on having assistants:

I have two incredible assistants that help me out, Lisa and Carolyn. They bring digital production skills to my studio, which I have none of. I can’t do it alone. Their presence makes my work more fun. They are my ‘studio wives’.

On the power of ink on paper:

I draw on my drawing table. I do not have a computer on my drawing table. I was inspired to draw, I think, partially because of the equipment. I love the drawing table equipment. I’m very comfortable working with T-squares, triangles, and compasses. I love the drawing tools, even the French curves. In grade school, I wasn’t really sure what a French curve was. I’d see these old things laying around and now I know every curve on every one of them. Personally. (Laughter)

I never wanted to be a typist. I like to draw. I enjoy paper and pencil and ink. There’s something about ink on paper and multiple images of it that is powerful. It’s like theater. It’s like performance art. There’s something powerful about it. It’s communication - the ability to affect and influence people

On the flow of work:

I feel privileged to be working for the people I work for now. I’m creating images for huge corporations, wine companies, athletes and movie stars. It’s very exciting. The National Park series really was a defining family of images for me.

On inspiration:

I think it’s great for people to be inspired by many different genres. I get inspiration from many urelated places, whether it’s theater, travel or nature — inspiration from lots of different resources.

On attending seminars and trainings:

I’ve been asked to speak at events like that, but I never really attend seminars. It is probably my loss, but I’ve just never really found time to go. Again, I learn more from other people who are doing other unrelated things than just talking to other designers—at this point in my career anyway. Classes or seminars, when you’re young, are probably terrific, but be careful to whom you listen.

Thoughts on outside activities:

I go mountain biking here in Marin County. I do yoga. I go rock climbing. I like snow skiing, water skiing. I really like to get outside. I’m not the type of person that can sit at a drawing table all day, every day.

I have to get out and be physically active. I really pull a lot inspiration and ideas from being outdoors.

Tips on building and sustaining a successful career:

Do those things that you are passionate about. Concentrate on one powerful and memorable thing you can offer to people and do it better than anyone—instead of spreading yourself thin doing many different things. Strive to be memorable and powerful. If you’re lucky enough to find something that you’re inspired by, enjoy and that you truly have a talent for, that’s the magic combination. If you love what you do and you’re good at what you do, that’s the key. That would be the ideal. I still crave working. I enjoy it.

However, occasionally, I need time off — going skiing and spending time with my family. Traveling together with my wife and my sons nourishes and fulfills me.

But, you know - there’s a part of me, a couple of days before we go home, when I’m thinking, “Wow, I’m anxious to get back to the studio.”

Filed under: Interviews, advertising, advertising success, art direction, blog, blogs, business, business success, buzz, connectivity, copy writing, creative business, creative direction, design business, development, education, Facebook, free, graphic design, graphic design success, graphic design superstars, howto, illustration, illustration business, illustration success, inspiration, LinkedIn, reference, RSS, social media, social networks, success, success secrets, superstars, technology tips, tools, tutorial, Twitter, viral, word-of-mouth | 1 Comment

Success Secrets from Tim Girvin:

• Work on what you can personally relate to, work with those that you can personally connect with, explore that which makes you happiest. Clients will appear.
• Look at design as being holistic – not just where you live, creatively speaking, but nearly everywhere, in context. Explore it beyond your chosen medium.
• It’s easy enough to hire a consultant — but from the beginning, are you really doing everything that you can to strategically — and tactically? Focus on outcomes and implementations.

The 15 questions:

1. How did you get your start?

My start? Raw curiosity for one. That’s where it all started, that drove, and drives everything that I am made of. I am one that is easily enchanted by content. I can be ignited in a moment, if the right spark is there. A love of the exploration of many things. Many, many things — so much so that my real beginning was as a biologist, a naturalist, with a leaning marine natural sciences . And from there, my professor suggested that I take the lab journals and drawings that I’d done, and explore art, history, writing, culture — and merge them somehow. So in the beginning, my work was about fine printing, papermaking, press work, book design and customized typography and type design. That was, literally, the design of typefaces — the art of conceiving the letter form as an object of potent scrutiny. But doing that meant that I could also do signwriting and truck lettering, painting on boats. Windows. Retail and shopfronts. And from there, that love combined to emerge in a grouping of ways for working with my clients (friends) to take all of those things, like printing, calligraphy and the fine arts, and make them into something that could be retooled and remade as a kind of specialist designing and consulting service. The beginning, alone, later, to small teams — and finally out to nearly 90 employees. Then back to a more manageable size. Something better, that would be my goal, in strategy and scale: 40 people — more capable of visioning and surveilling the work — as a creative leader.

2. What were the deciding factors about going into business for yourself?

Deciding factors? I like to work alone. That’s how I started. And while I can still work alone, there’s greater pleasure working in partnership with the minds of others. But I never had a job, interestingly enough. I never, ever, worked for anyone. I started alone, but the practice, the size of the team, then evolved. The real issue was, for one, proving to myself that I could do it, make the business from what one might deem an artful formalism. And two, that I could find the clients to do that with. What I learned was that in maintaining the discipline of focused marketing, I could find the right relationships by being clear in my offering. The work that I did, in the beginning, was really about what one might define as classical design — letterpress printing, custom packaging, bookbinding, broadsides, typographic and book design, silkscreened posters, limited edition folios, porcelain enamel signing, hand lettering and calligraphy, complexly printed stationery. That tradition, in a way, expanded to much more conventional design, partnering with architecture firms, advertising agencies, even other strategy or design firms (big ones), but the character of the handmade still is at the heart of the work. The listening, the observing, the mind, the hand, the craft, the made. That’s where I started; that’s where I still live.

3. Are there any influential figures from design that have had an effect on your work? And if so, how?

Spheres of Influence: Early on, I worked in college – the college that I went to, among others, was The Evergreen State College. There, it was possible for students to literally plan and create their own programs. So, in exploring that, I could find the options to work with the faculty leadership to study what I wanted. Asian, Medieval Western and Middle Eastern art history, architecture, type design, calligraphy — and the cultural elements that influenced them. That formed the basis of my education in design, creative development, writing and the notion of strategic illustration of intention. Cultural expressions are like the explication of branding. They’re both human orientations of character and fulfillment. My approach, therefore, is more about listening and learning from people, from the inside, to catalyze manifestations on the outside. So too, my connections with influencers and visitations, study, travel and learning. In the 70s, during the times in college, I met, worked with, studied or connected with these people. Hermann Zapf, Lloyd Reynolds, David Kindersley, Will and Sebastian Carter, Villu Toots, Maxim Zhukov, Herb Lubalin, Milton Glaser, Ed Benguiat, Massimo Vignelli. Others. While learning from them, I was exposed to, connected with Steve Jobs, Paul Brainerd, Richard Meier, Ivan Chermayeff, Annemarie Schimmel, Pir Vilayat Khan, James Turrell, Joseph Campbell, Mircea Eliade, Richard Sapper, Mihaly Cskiszentmihalyi. Others. There are layers of study. And you get what you came for. And you are what you make. You make what you are.

4. How did you acquire new business when you first started out?

Business relationships. Getting business is never easy. For some, it might seem to be that way. But for me, getting business is always, seemingly, about curiosity. Being curious, explorations emerge, paths are uncovered, potentials unearthed. Sure, there are relationships that spool to other relationships. People connect with you, they connect you with others. But my world is seemingly more about finding people to partner with — from the hunger of curiosity in learning more about people, how they think, what they are doing, what they are working on. So linking with Steve Jobs, for example, was never about that just happening. It was more about getting to a point where I had a story to tell that he was interested in. And it’s all about story telling — new business is based on a layering of stories, the leveraging of experience and expertise that filters to new things that are, in a way, catapulting to others. It’s all about that. One story leads to another. But you have to have the capacity to examine the story in the context of relevance, resonance, connectedness. The story that is told has to have a connection to be reflectively cognizant — your story is meaningful. People relate, because they are facing similar challenges. They’ve been there. And there you are.

5. How do you currently acquire new business?

And now, business development? The same. I’m still out there looking for connections that link to my sense of the curiosity, as well as leveraging the relationships that come into play. Finding relationships, still, is about resonance. In all things.

6. What one thing are you most gratified that you’ve accomplished?

Living gratifications. While there might be awards, gifts from community, celebrations, life passages of significance, there’s real satisfaction in doing the work that I do — which is, fundamentally, about helping people emerge in their dreams and visions. And in a way, my vision is about that. So any string of potentials to accomplishment is about doing just that — helping people emerge and evolve in the visualizations of their dreams. And that’s a beautiful thing. And there are some dreams to the notion of human brands that is about more levels of potency than others, in their contributions to humanity. So working with Richard Gere on the Gere Foundation, working with the Kranzler’s on the creation of the Seeds of Compassion, Heifer International and finally, perhaps most personally powerful, working with my brother, Matthew Girvin, on the creation of the elimination of iodine deficiency disease (IDD) with Unicef and the Chinese Ministry of Health, Beijing. Matthew was killed in a helicopter crash, on a rescue mission, in Mongolia in 2001, one year after achieving that very goal. So that’s the most powerful legacy that contributed to the sense of powerful meaning in my life. That was, that is, a blessing to have experienced. A grand and memorable consortium of amazing people, clients, friends, employees, have emboldened the enrichment of my path. I hold those close to heart.

7. Is there anything that you can identify as a particular key to your success?

Curiosity. A willingness to risk. Listening. Learning. Observing. Savoring. Creative evolution. Enthusiasm. Passion. Commitment. Stamina. Drive. Attention.

And finally, a point of view. Any vision to leading, or partnering in, a relationship to a constructive advancement and outcome is about having a sense of principle to stand on. What do you stand for might be the query to a client — but to ask that question, first, you must have the vantage that suggests you know the vista from where you look

8. What would you do differently if you had it to do all over?

A change in life path. I think that I’d like to keep going to school. I’d like to keep on the path of exploring culture and expression — how art, literature and civilisation intertwine — and what is the meaning of that layered weaving.

I think that I’d like to live in more foreign cities. I’ve spent plenty of time in Paris, in Tokyo, some in Seoul, Jakarta, Hong Kong, Beijing. But I’ve not lived there, digging into the culture and the language to the degree that I would desire.

And I’d like to learn more languages. So far, my exposures have been to Latin, German, Japanese, French — with some explorations of Arabic, Turkish, Indonesian. Fluency in anything but English — but exploring language and words is deep in my psyche.

9. Have you ever worked with business coaches or consultants?

Consultants and counsel. My experience with consultants has been broad. And in a way, it’s a matter of learning what you might already know, but having someone help redefine or more deeply embed answers to the challenges that you face. So you can embrace them, and advance. So while I’ve not worked with coaches for performance, per se, I have consulted with talent in exploring Girvin positioning and marketing, examining strategic direction, exploring internal relationships and dynamics, revisiting textual and visual context of the Girvin brand, and studying operational or acquisition considerations. There’s some learning in virtually everything. But, to deepening the impact of the engagement, the point is that you need to consider how the learning — how that exposure — can be vitalized. It’s easy enough to hire a consultant — but from the beginning, are you really doing everything that you can to strategically — and tactically — focus on their outcomes and implementations.

10. Have you attended business seminars or workshops to sharpen your business skills?

Learning communities. I’ve been exposed to an extraordinary array of learning opportunities. And I keep searching for more. I would say, however, that there are many learning exposures that simply sit in front of us, that are underutilized. Like seeking inspiration from doing something that is, perhaps, unrelated to the immediate creative solutions at hand. I look for these. Museums. Musical explorations. Study of history. Film. There are threads there that underlie the basics of what we do, but seen in the context of the passage of time, you find just that — the threads and movements that conform creative expression. And sometimes, simply going to conferences doesn’t get you there. But there are surely events that, by the nature of their exposition, teach you. I’m a member of the TED community, for example. That’s an incessant learning proposition — and the lessons and exposures are far-reaching. To conventional outlets, the notion of the Design Management Institute, strategic and trend forums, connections with learning communities — like the University of Washington, for example, help me explore and expand my creative consciousness. And another component is the reflective character there — teaching is perhaps an even more intense form of learning. That’s what I seek. Expansion of context in the framing of creative action. And I find that examining these explorations is helpful — no, deeply meaningful.

11. Do you have any activities or hobbies that you use to help you stay balanced? (Exercise, meditation, etc.) If so, what are they?

Seeking balance. I look at practice as a mix of balancing components. And surely meditation and reflection are among them. As well, as a Buddhist, I’m exploring the dimensions of that world, the art, the spirituality, interleaved. The power of a spiritual sense drives everything that I do — for every thing that I am involved with inherently links an essential spirit with articulation; it is, in a way, the lustration of ideas. I’m also a squash and tennis player, I box, run, train, hike. Writing and photography, interlaced with drawing is another layering to meditation on creative action. By weaving them, it’s a way of exploring contentment. And I mean content and containment. In a manner, that gestures to fullness. But the sleeves of meaning resonate to other parts of that — something contained, forms of expression, significance and profundity, an object of perception, holding capacity, the sum of attributes, volume. As a designer, being content can obviously characterize tints of meaning. If you speak content, are you?

12. If someone new to the industry were to ask you how to build and sustain a career, what would you say to them?

Direction. Look at design as being holistic — not just where you live, creatively speaking, but nearly everywhere, in context. Explore it beyond your chosen medium.

Be fluent. Be willing to flow from one range of direction to another; design will always be about your interpretation, your illustration, but be ready to tell a story in a manner that actually relates to who you are speaking to.

What patterning is there, to the range of design, culture, people and history? Rather than merely familiarize yourself with the hippest present, what consciousness of the past is there? Rather than conforming to trends of the last ten minutes, what of the last 4,000 years, or more? For me, it’s like building a vocabulary — your fluency becomes expansive, rather than merely focused on developments of the last 20 years. Or less.

13. If someone new to the industry were to ask you how to get good clients, how would you respond?

Openings. I’d offer: go where you want to work. Work on what you can personally relate to, work with those that you can personally connect with, explore that which makes you happiest. Clients will appear.

14. Is there any additional advice you might give to someone just starting out?

Beginnings. My phrasing, to beginning is: be intense. There are linguistic connections to that this word that are largely forgotten, or misused. Think of it in this new light. It’s a word that began 2000 years ago. And it’s tied to the concept of intent and intention. Set a path, form a principle of intention and action. What path, mapmaker?Consider this, the movement of the word in the last 700 years. 1350–1400; Middle English < L inténsus, var. of intentus intent, ptp. of intendere to intend. Look back, several hundred years to the source phrasing — 1175–1225; Middle English < Late Latin intentus an aim, purpose, Latin: a stretching out (inten(dere) to intend + -tus suffix of v. action); r. Middle English entent(e) < Old French < Late Latin. And finally, tense, the later iteration of the branching of this word. 1660–70; < L ténsus ptp. of tendere to stretch. Why do I continuously reference this etymological sequence? Because to be intense, is about having intention in action; aim and purpose, and finally it’s about tension — the tensile character of stretching. All profoundly meaningful.

About Tim Girvin:

Tim Girvin is the Principal of GIRVIN | Creative Intelligence, a strategically focused design and communications group based in NYC and Seattle, with an alliance in Tokyo. GIRVIN is privately held and has been in practice, operating world wide, continuously for more than 30 years. Tim Girvin acts as the Chief Creative Officer for both offices, that are supervised by Creative Directors managing the design solutions and teams of each location. The firm works from the premise of storytelling as a vehicle to enhance the portals of connection with people. The forum for creative is based on collaborative workshops that it has been honing for nearly 20 years, formalizing tactics and robust business strategies in aligned visualizations that form naming, message, identity, packaging, print, interactive and built scenarios to embrace culture and image, coupled in community, to reach one to one, or one to one billion. Their clients include Microsoft and Paramount Studios, Wynn and MGM MIRAGE, Kerzner and Boyd, Procter & Gamble and Johnson & Johnson in brand innovations, product development, retail design and interactive communications.

Their corporate site is girvin.com

Tim’s personal site is tim.girvin.com and their blogs are at blog.girvin.com/ and tim.girvin.com/Entries/index.php.

Tim Girvin can be reached at girvin@girvin.com.

Filed under: Interviews, advertising, advertising success, art direction, blog, blogs, business, business success, buzz, connectivity, copy writing, creative business, creative direction, design business, development, education, Facebook, free, graphic design, graphic design success, graphic design superstars, howto, illustration, illustration business, illustration success, inspiration, LinkedIn, reference, RSS, social media, social networks, success, success secrets, superstars, technology tips, tools, tutorial, Twitter, viral, word-of-mouth | Post a comment