I thought it was about time I introduced you to me. You’ve seen some of my photography, read a little of my writing, and some of you know I make my living as a graphic designer. So here’s my artistic journey.
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I’ve always been the verbal, high-strung, sing-songy friend some of you know. It feels like I’ve got a fireworks stand in my head, and I’m always either singing, writing on scraps of paper and sides of cups, or just trying to find an ear to listen and join my little escapade. To say I’m energized by the thought of creating is an understatement.
My first real creative experience was probably writing the song “Take the Money and Run” in the third grade. Lyrics like “I don’t want a fancy divorce/I don’t want a fancy separation/I don’t want any of your money/All I want is for you to be gone, so…” showed I was definitely not writing from experience, had some good ability to empathize, could unbalance a lyric, and maybe skipped childhood altogether. But I felt compelled from that point on to create. Just create.
In the seventh grade, I won a writing contest, and the prize was 6 sessions with a college writing professor. Oh, I thought I had won the world’s most abundant lottery. And I didn’t even mind that all we did was talk about Edgar Allen Poe (although later on I would lament it). My roots in story grew deeper with the intricacies of Poe and Agatha Christie. I loved plot, loved story. My English teacher gave me a journal at the end of the year, with a note that encouraged me to keep writing. Immediately I began an extensive plot development of a castle and many dinner guests and murrrddddeeerrr. I’m still mulling it over at times, actually.
But writing wasn’t the only passion developing. In junior high, I fell in love with the darkroom and photography. My Pentax K1000 is still one of the joys of my life. Understanding focal point, the rule of thirds, flow, story in a photograph, and then in a layout. Whew. Dude. I love that stuff.
I plunged myself into the junior high yearbook, then the high school paper, and then one of the the crowning moments of my life, winning the national competition for yearbook copy and caption writing my senior year. Yes, ladies and gentlemen, I could write cutlines like no other. But it was my love for the dominant photo accompanied by just the right caption that did it for me. That same yearbook won first place in the nation.
That was it. My heart was absolutely set on this stuff. I jumped into journalism in college. I designed the school’s magazine, and got a job laying out tehnical papers for the school’s IT department (on Pagemaker Ice Age, with a rock for a mouse). I gravitated towards advertising and graphic design as my emphasis, where I was going to be the next great ad creator of the world. That 1984 Apple ad had me entranced, and that’s what I wanted to do. The way ad copy sizzles, takes you on a 2-minutes journey. The way a dressed-up photo or 30-second spot makes you decide then and there that you are going to be “that kind of a person.” I am still fascinated.
For my internship, I worked with InterVarsity Christian Fellowship on their Urbana 90 convention. Any of you who were there might remember the big world map and magenta “Urbana” that was the stage backdrop; or the cyan, magenta and black posters that blanketed the stadium with the words “Jesus Christ, Lord of the Universe, Hope of the World” in 6 or 7 languages. That was my handiwork. And I will never forget walking out into the arena the first night, with 20,000 people looking at that backdrop, those posters. And no one knew it was me. That sense of anonymous accomplishment is very important to me, and I got addicted that night.
After college, I ended up getting a job at a home plan design company. I worked on magazines and catalogs, and learned all there is to know about print production. And I worked with my (still) dear friend, Bruce, on advertising. We wrote such epic ads as “Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch (or the 1-story . . .).” We would break into pun contests on the fly, and even now have a long, nonsensical greeting full of story and meaning. Good creative stuff.
After a few years there, I went on to run the art department of a fundraising company, designing 40 brochures a year. And I ran a freelance business on the side, where I liked to do graphic design for causes I care about, like the Crisis Pregnancy Center, and Omaha for Decency — and anti-pornography group. Then, wonder of all wonders, I was plucked from obscurity to move to heaven, and design Citizen. It was a dream come true, and married all of my passions. I felt like I was made for it. And I was able to write and design renewal ads for the magazine for several years.
Now I design much more than I write, so I’ve been working on fiction (back to the old Poe days) and songwriting, to keep my brain from popping open. And I also sell some stock photography on the side. And I blog. Therefore I am.
My advice is just keep doing it, whatever it is. I spit out a lot of stuff that no one ever sees. But it makes me more of who I am, it teaches me something I didn’t know, and it motivates me to continue. Create, and release the outcome. Risk being good or bad, known or unknown. Soon you will see a path forming behind you, and it will be clear what was in you all along.
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Thanks for listening. I hope this makes you want to create in some way. We’ve all got creative corners. Let’s dust them off.
You are so cool!