Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Colton Branscum. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Colton, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s start with the story of your mission. What should we know?
My mission is to be great; and spread positivity, everywhere, at every opportunity.
May it be in my day job as Senior Graphic Designer at Kestra Financial; in my work as Programming Director for AIGA Austin; in my private Design practice as CCV of The Lightbulb Exchange; or in my personal art and collage work under the moniker @ChudaThunkit; I’m here to get things done, and have a great time in the process.
There are so many things I am working on, and so much more just around the corner; the overarching theme in any 0f these endeavors is to keep positivity at the forefront. Because form follows function, the final execution will always be different; but whether I am branding a high-end corporate event that hundreds of people will attend, or touching up a company headshot for an intern in marketing, I always hope and imagine that at least one person gets to feel the same bright, golden sparks in their chest that I do when good design comes together.
Treating every opportunity as a chance to make something special, beautiful, or important is a great motivator; but can be a double edged sword. As more and more of these opportunities present themselves, it has been difficult to pass some jobs or projects along, but in doing so, I have made room for bigger and what I consider to be more significant work. Thankfully, I have surrounded myself with a community of friends and colleagues that are an unlimited resource of support and inspiration.
To be great is not something I ever expect to achieve, but in moving through my life and work with intention and alacrity, to the best of my ability; I believe I am headed in the right direction.
Colton, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?
Growing up in Corpus Christi, I was always an illustrator; my mom got me started early with sidewalk chalk, I loved coloring books, and had a couple of different series of static cartoon characters. I made jewelry, experimented where possible in art classes, and did some pretty good work on a couple stacks of lifted book covers and those .97 cent poster boards you can get from the grocery store; but art as a career never really seemed attainable as a career path from the limited perspective I had to that point.
I attempted to study business at the local community college for a couple of semesters, but quickly realized that the structure of a “normal school”, and a career in “business” wasn’t for me. I worked various jobs, some of which I really enjoyed, but could tell that none of them were going to be sustainable, either financially or in regard to piece of mind.
So I did a web search for “How can I get paid to draw”, and the Art Institute of Austin came up. Things really took off from there. I made some great friends, learned a lot about life, and truly fell in love with Graphic Design. Barry Underhill was the head of the department at the time, and I think many would agree he was the linchpin that made that time so special. The school was still new, and he did a great job of not only bringing in some amazing professors, but also doing the thing himself. He taught Graphic Design History; hearing all of the stories of how communication and design had contributed to society, to our existence as a species, really helped me to see and understand the impact of what we do as Designers. Going back years later, as an adjunct professor, I taught the same class, and would be lying if I said I didn’t lay it on thick when explaining to my students that the things some think of as simple or benign like paper or a written word will always be one of the greatest of equalizers. That before electricity, before fabricated type; having a means to record, disseminate, and receive information, other than in the immediate, joined cities and continents together; brought down kings and despots; raised good people up; and empowered every person with the capability to comprehend, to communicate more efficiently, and effectively; and on a much more even playing field.
Pretty much immediately after leaving Ai, I began my studies at Texas State University, where I achieved an MFA in Communication Design. My thesis focused on communication and information retention through new media; but my favorite parts were learning different methods for print making (letterpress, screen printing, risograph) and experimental book making/publication design. At the outset, I was worried that going to grad school rather than directly into full-time graphic design was going to be a mistake, but from this side of it, I can say that it was an invaluable experience, and given the chance, I would absolutely make the same decision. It allowed time to explore lots of different avenues of design. I learned about a variety of things I liked and wanted to pursue, and I also learned the things I didn’t want to do in design. But one of the most important things I did while at TXST was to insert myself into the Austin Design community. I began attending events by AIGA Austin, The Austin Initiative for Graphic Awesomeness, Fresh to Design, and any art shows I could find.
I joined the board of AIGA Austin in ’17 in a junior capacity, but soon after became chair of Creative Mass, AIGA’s monthly happy hour for designers; and held that position with my design partner Carlos Menchaca (The Lightbulb Exchange), for about three years. In addition to Creative Mass, I also headed up Canvas Battle ’18 + ’19, Art Directed the three most recent iterations of our annual bowling tournament, as well as the two most recent Design Ranch events (working on ’23 now), and have contributed to various other initiatives. Today, I am the programming director for our chapter, and am helping to facilitate some pretty exciting stuff for the end of ’22 and beginning of ’23.
In the mean time, at the beginning of ’20, I began a collage initiative called @ChudaThunkit, and declared that “Everything I do gonh be funky, from now on”. Little did I know how that might be challenged in the years to come…
A friend turned me on to “Scan This Book”, a series of static clip art books, and my mind was set on fire. I was already a huge fan of Charles S. Anderson of CSA Designs, and Bradbury Thompson before him; but having the barrier of having to pay for a single piece of clipart was more than a deterrent. Being a frugal person, it made so much more sense to buy the entire catalog outright. I began collecting clipart books that were in the public domain, from publishers like Dover, Scan This Book, and Craphound, and eventually found myself the keeper of a collection of books that stacks to be nearly as tall as I am. I stopped counting at 100,000 unique cuts.
With this collection of clipart I have completed numerous series of photo collage/montage compositions as ChudaThunkit, designed collateral for AIGA Austin as well as my own practices, and most recently completed “New Speedway Boogie” which is “an exploration in typography, space, & time”. You might call “New Speedway Boogie” a music video, but I consider it to be the elevation of my experimentation in typography and collage. By changing the venue in which the media is created, and introducing time as a key component in the piece’s composition I was required to empathize and anticipate a viewer’s needs and nature in a new way, to make the content most effectively palatable. In all, the full process of creating the video took about a year. I didn’t know what to expect when beginning the process, but it just seemed like the thing I needed to do. Every letter was set by hand, digitally, then sequenced to sync with the lyrics. Every image was chosen and arranged with intention, and set to the rhythm of the drums. Everything but the song itself was sourced from the public domain.
We’d love to hear a story of resilience from your journey.
Like everyone, getting through the events of 2020 and the subsequent fallout over the past few years has been challenging. Between work that pays the bills, maintaining personal/professional relationships, and all my other obligations, it hasn’t been easy to find time to produce work that is just for me. Priorities shift based on workloads and timelines, and the sometimes you just lose momentum, even when the subject is something you care about.
I think I have been able to keep producing art because I allow the time required to be one of decompression and sorting things in my head. I don’t always walk away from a 3–5 hour jam session feeling refreshed and energized, but most often feel accomplished, and that I moved the marker a little farther down the line.
There is something special in knowing that in the decisions and little instances of my process, I am doing something solely unique, that could never be done in the same way by another person. That each gesture of my hand is driven by a lifetime of experiences known only to myself; and that if I didn’t make that time, in that moment, the result could be lost into boundless infinity. The difference between “now” and any time after could mean the difference between the best thing I’ve ever created or mediocre shapes on an uninspired canvas. There is no guarantee that either will be the result; but I’ll be there to find out. How could I not?
What’s a lesson you had to unlearn and what’s the backstory?
As a beginning designer, in school or new to the field, there are always going to be certain design styles, affectations, or methods that are considered unfashionable, poor practice, or out of date. I think a lot of it comes from people looking at design from the past and comparing it to contemporary standards. Tastes change, styles fluctuate, but the key components are evergreen if used correctly.
My personal belief is that for each and every typeface there is an applicable venue and means in which to portray it. Form follows function always. The typefounder will have set each and every cut with intention; things go wrong when a font is asked to do a job for an audience it was never meant to perform.
Gradients and drop shadows can be essential when used correctly, and sparingly.
Often, going against what is considered to be good practice is the only way to innovation. Sometimes you just end up with a bucket of junk that’s good to no one; but the process in finding out why the thing doesn’t work, greatly helps to understand the needs of the matter at hand. And if a component doesn’t work, you have a better idea of how to use it correctly next time.
If someone tells you not to do something in Design, find out why before closing that door completely; there’s a chance that a different perspective will render different results.
Contact Info:
- Website: http://coltonbranscum.com/
- Instagram: @chudathunkit
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/colton-branscum-5744a445/
- Youtube: https://youtu.be/MQvE1J1oKvI
Image Credits
Carlos Menchaca