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 View Von's Slideshow. |
Above: Von and his handiwork. Illustration
and graphic by Von Glitschka.  ucid. A
word perhaps overused by everyone from wine testers to movie critics.
However, there’s no avoiding the timeworn adjective when viewing
the work of designer/illustrator Von Glitshka. Spend
any time at all talking to the unassuming father of two from Salem,
Oregon, and you’ll find that his approach is mirrored by his
personality — half
creative professional and half class clown. Von’s
clients over the years have ranged from IBM to Volcanic Roasters.
A self-described
workaholic, Von seems caught off guard when asked what he does when
not on the clock. After a long pause he confesses that he’s
working with a Pacific Rim manufacturer to develop a self-promotional
pack of trading cards and gum (for the generation whose cartoons were
interrupted by Watergate hearings; think “Wacky Packages”).Q: Tell me about your background, were you formally trained in design? A: Yeah, I went to the Seattle Art Institute back in the mid-80s, and then got my start as a graphic designer and art director. In the early 90s I started getting promo pieces from a Toronto-based art rep and it dawned on me one day that “hey, I should get a rep!” I contacted them and they kind of did the “thanks, no thanks” thing, and asked for more samples. I didn’t really feel the need to prove what I knew I could do to them so I kind of dropped it. About a month later they asked for more samples again. I pulled some old illustrations I had, re-colorized them, and sent them off. They liked them, and I ended up signing with their firm and they represented me for about five years. In 2001, right before the dot.com crash, I was unhappy with their change in ownership and decided to jump ship and run my own business. Q: You’ve got a pretty eclectic list of clients—from the Wall Street Journal to Crazy Shirts of Hawaii—do you do all your own promotion now? A: Yeah, which is mostly postcards and e-lists to art directors, which is how I’ve landed a few of the biggest jobs I’ve ever taken on. Most of the work I get these days is by word of mouth. Q: Describe your niche in the marketplace. A: I package myself primarily as a creative outsource for larger agencies, I’ve done a lot of work for larger ad and design firms over the past couple of years. They can just dump a project on my plate and I just take the ball and run. I make them look good, and I like the work. Q: I noticed some cool logos on our Website, tell me about that end of your biz. A: Logo development has become my real bread and butter, say, 50% of my overall work, because the illustration market has tanked over the past few years. Q: How so? A: Well, everyone attributes it to 9/11, but it really started back during the collapse of the dot.com craze. I had about six publications that were giving me work on a monthly basis go under overnight. The Industry Standard is a good example. In its heyday it was about an inch thick. I could see the writing on the wall when advertising revenue started to dry up and it slowly dropped down to a third of an inch and then started relying on stock illustration, which is a vicious cycle all its own. It kills original work—like “feeding off the dead.” In general, where I used to get two to three illustrations a week, now I’m lucky if I get one a month. Q: Any other factors in the shriveling illustration market? A: Also, Getty 1 has taken almost every independent creative resource that have to do with stock and, like the Borg, has bought every one and they’re flooding the market with stock. Some of it isn’t bad, but the more companies use that to stay under budget the less they farm out to independent illustrators. Q: Back to your logo work, describe how a typical job plays out. A: I get a lot of referrals from larger agencies with whom I’ve established a relationship over the years. If you’re a client that comes to me I’ll first get some upfront information just so I can give you a quote. If you approve the quote I give them a copy of an excellent article from Inc. magazine that tells them what a logo can do for their business. I have them read that first and then fill out a creative brief and then give them a graphic that shows the process I use to develop a logo. This helps take the guesswork out of the process from their perspective and they know what to expect at any given stage. Some might think I’m a control freak, but I give them three options when I’m doing a logo and one of my rules is to not let them suggest I take the type from number three and put it with the mark on number one. (Download Von's PDF forms from his Website.) Q: They can’t mix and match, huh? A: Yeah, no “Frankensteining.” Q: I really like the icons you have on your Website, where do you come up with your ideas? A: If you're referring to the "Avatar" icons, those were from just doodling on my screen in Photoshop. I’m not sure where they came from. That was when I first started, I kind of went gangbusters in a two month period once I figured out the whole world of icons.
A: My favorite thing to do when I go to Disneyland, or any public place, is to just watch people. A friend and I used to sit in the cafeteria in college and try to spot people that look like some celebrity. Q: Are your illustrations always rendered digitally? A: Yes. I always work out my concepts and final sketches outside
the box (computer) using pencil on vellum. Then scan
it in and use that as a template to
build from in FreeHand MX. I rarely make on the fly revisions
as I build because I try to work out those details before I ever
touch my mouse. I still enjoy traditional painting but
the time frames I work under don't allow me that luxury for my
day to day work, so I've continued to expand my work into the
digital realm.
A: No kidding. Q: So what are your other passions? How do you recharge your creative energies? A: A friend and I are working on a self-promo project that’s serving that purpose as well. And the more we get into it the more we’re seeing the potential as a product in and of itself. Black and white photography. Also, I’m a baseball nut so I’ve got tickets for the local minor league team. Q: Who are your influences? A: An art director from the 50s named Jim Flora, the guy was just amazing. About three years ago I stumbled across a Website that had a bunch of his work on it and it hit me like a lightning bolt that “that’s why I draw things that way.” My parents owned all those old LPs that had his artwork on them. Also, all the artists from Mad magazine. I used to sneak them into the house since my mom hated them. Q: Where do you see graphic design going in the next five years? A: They’ve been saying that as a result of the digital revolution that print design will soon be null and void. I just don’t see that. My hope is that Web design becomes as easy from a technological standpoint as making a simple brochure. It’s like the Web started out this barbaric thing where it was all code, and slowly its coming around in terms of applications making it easier to forget about the code and focus on the design, you know. I just hope it continues going in that direction because I really, really hate code stuff. Q: What achievement are you most proud of? A: Probably when I got into CA. Perhaps because they kind of snubbed their nose at digital illustration. They’re very heavy handed with traditional work. Also, I was a little disappointed that I didn’t get in this year because I felt my submission was stronger this year than last, and it had a more traditional look. I had used a lot of textures that I shot with my digital camera to give it all a more organic look. But, they didn’t go for it, I guess. Then again, they have received a lot of scorn from the industry with respect to their choices of what did appear in the publication this year, which I feel is justified. Q: Do you ever see yourself doing anything else? A: (Laugh) Sometimes when the work gets frustrating I joke about going into culinary school. No. I can’t see myself doing anything else. © 2003 Mike Buchheit More "In the Spotlight" articles from the archives:Getting Down to Business with Paul Howalt, by Mike Buchheit The Pen is Mightier as a Sword: Talking with Ralph Steadman, by Mike Buchheit Baseman's World: Interview with Gary Baseman, by Mike Buchheit Nigel Holmes: Simplifying the Complex, by Mike Buchheit Just Making Art: An Interview with Artist/Illustrator Joe Sorren, by Mike Buchheit Wit's All in a Day's Work — Talking Shop with Von Glitschka, by Mike Buchheit Doodling in the Margins: A Day in the Life of Editorial Cartoonist Gary Markstein, by Mike Buchheit Pressing Business: A Conversation with Letterpress Guru Bruce Licher, by Mike Buchheit Mike
Buchheit is a writer, photographer, conservationist, and
avid outdoorsman living in Grand Canyon National Park. His
freelance articles and Southwest images highlight the transformative
quality of wild places, and the aesthetic beauty and social
importance of the arts. When not directing one of the country's
leading outdoor education programs, Mike enjoys discovering
what makes some of the design world's most creative minds tick. |
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