Featured Artist: Benjamin Lovejoy

What is your background?

I got started in the skateboard industry. I was the lead art director for Think Skateboards for a few years. From there I spent some time in City College of San Francisco, studying design fundamentals, typography, printmaking and photography. I really enjoyed being in classes, the diversity of what I was learning and the people I was meeting. During this time I was also developing freelance clients. I eventually left CCSF for a job managing the digital prepress department at Krishna Press. I believe the production environment here as well as the focus on a comprehensive understanding of production processes at CCSF have been invaluable in my career.

I left Krishna several years later to work at Robert Goldberg & Associates, a medium sized local agency focused on the semiconductor and fiber optic industries. Robert became my mentor and in the three years I worked for him I learned an enormous amount. The size of the agency afforded me opportunities to work in many different capacities, designing, writing, creative directing photo shoots, and having work produced in a number of different media. Most of all, the job helped me identify and understand my passion for strategy and using design to achieve measurable business goals.

I had maintained freelance clients since I was in school, and eventually I was ready to set out on my own. And so, 6 years ago lovejoy(creative) was born. Over the years we've expanded and shrank, moved a few times, learned a lot, and produced an enormous amount of work for clients in a variety of industries. Thanks to the Guild I have also had the opportunity to give a few talks and recently taught two semesters in the CCA Continuing Ed department.

What is your technique?

I work a lot from intuition so a lot of it has to do with creating the best circumstances for me to tap into it. I like to steep myself in the assignment. I ask a lot of questions of the client, and when possible the audience. We have a survey that asks for all sorts of details about the assignment, the reasons why they think they need to be doing it, and also as much information as we can get about the audience. I also like to get very specific about what the goals of an assignment are and how they plan to measure success. Once I have as much of the information as I can get I read it, sometimes several times, take notes, usually ask some more questions, and allow myself to start feeling things about the work. Sometimes I do some brainstorming with friends and strategic partners. At this stage of the process I also like to look past what seems to be expected already. I'm a big fan of "thinking wrong", and challenging my own preconceptions about a project, from the concept out to the executional deliverables. I try to always thumbnail, even if it's small and on the back of a napkin. Once I have some concepts I like down on paper I turn to the computer, and begin to design. If at all possible I bring in some hand done elements as well. Projects always feel better when there's something personal happening with them, when they've been touched by a hand.

What is your involvement with the Guild?

I've been involved with the Northern California chapter of the Guild for 5 years now. I joined to get information and resources for "starting out on my own". We were still engaged in the sales tax battle in Sacramento. I volunteered some in that effort, making the trip up there once or twice. It was an exciting time. In less than chronologically accurate order, I have designed the chapter web site as it stands now, was co-chair of the Communications Committee with Michael Wertz. I was the chapter Vice President and served as proxy for the president and traveled to New York for a Guild Leadership Summit. I have attended many, many steering meetings and luncheons. I've spoken at luncheons a few times, and been involved in identifying and securing other speakers. Most recently I served as the Membership Director. In that capacity I answered questions about membership and helped people sign up. The greatest thing I've gotten from my Guild membership has truly been the connections. One of the speaking engagements was a talk about the power of networking. I co-created the talk with Michael Wertz and Michael Winokur, two people I would not know were it not for the Guild. I've met many other people as a result of the Guild and my volunteerism, and my network is all the more powerful as a result.

What is your favorite client story?

One of the things I like best about this business is the relationships we develop with our clients. I got a call the other day from one of the first people I ever did substantial client work for. In the course of our relationship she has changed jobs 4 times. We have had the opportunity to work together the entire time. I like that I've known this person for that long, and that I've had the good fortune to learn about four different businesses that she's been involved in. One other quick one, when we had a sales rep he got us in to see a big prospect. We then turned that prospect into some business, and continued to do work together for four years. The sales rep no longer works for me, though he is a very close friend. The contact at that client no longer works for the company, though we're discussing how we can work together at her new job, and she's engaged to my friend the former sales rep. It's really all about the relationships.

Do you have any other thoughts regarding the design industry?

I am very excited about the way things are moving in our industry. The delivery platform for design and advertising is nothing like it was several years ago. All of the "traditional" mediums are still there, and there is so much more possible now. The integration of print and interactive, and then with the added mix of outdoor and experiential is very interesting to me. The marketing and promotion of the ABC series "Lost" is an excellent example of the kind of thing I'm talking about. In the time between season 2 and season three they staged something they called an "alternate reality game" named "the Lost Experience" that included piecing together video clips via youtube, clues in actual physical locations, a book that was published, and more. You can read more about it here. The fact that clients, designers, and agencies are challenging the way we reach our audience is inspiring to me, and a direction that I continue to push myself.

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To be considered for the Featured Artist members must be:

• An Active Volunteer

• Approved by the committee chair to whom they report

In the event of a conflict the steering committee will decide.

If you are interested, please contact Anastasia Hockinson for more information.

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Graphic Artists Guild members qualify for special offers from the ADBASE Online Custom List Service. Call them toll-free at 1-877-500-0057 to find out what is currently available and what ADBASE can do for you.

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