Art 220: Entry 18

On Tuesday, one of the students in our class shared her experience of AIGA's Student Portfolio day. The keynote speaker for the event was Robynne Raye, one of the co-founders of the design company Modern Dog. Jimmy gave us some background about the company and showed us their website. The information presented on the design company's site is written in a way that caters to businessmen and corporations but the art that was displayed was jocund and vibrant.

Modern Dog is known for their playful poster designs. They enjoy creating posters but, unfortunately, it does not pay well. Jimmy told us that what keeps the company afloat is their corporate work. The corporate money they earn is enough to allow them to take on projects where the pay is little to none. I think many creative people search for this. They want to live their dream, producing fun artwork they enjoy but they need to strike a balance and bring home a paycheck.

"All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy."

Some entertainment companies have a no-moonlighting clause in their contracts. Legendary animator Chuck Jones was fired from Warner Bros. when they discovered he had broken their exclusive contract to work on a UPA film he had written with his wife. Despite working at a renowned company, Jones had the desire to do his own side project. As awesome as it is to have art projects for homework, there are moments when it's still work. I'll be painting in a very specific technique that the professor desires and I'll want to doodle in my sketchbook. I expect it will be similar once I get settled in my career. I'll be working on a project that may not necessarily be my original idea. I'll love that it's art but every once in a while, I'll want to do my own thing.


descriptor collection
anhedonic: inability to feel or experience pleasure
jocund: full of humor, cheerful
fallacious: mistaken idea, deceptive