We were lucky to catch up with Andrew Haener recently and have shared our conversation below.

Andrew, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What was the most important lesson/experience you had in a job that has helped you in your professional career?

I worked a lot of crummy jobs before I figured out how to make a living with visual art. There was a lot of dishwashing and coffee making in the beginning and I spent years and years feeling like I was throwing all my time away. It wasn’t until I made it out of the restaurant world and settled into my first desk job as a graphic designer that I realized the value of those kinds of experiences. All my time explaining menus and dealing with line cooks ultimately fine-tuned my communication style with my coworkers and gave my workflow a sense of urgency. I grew some thick skin to deal with angry customers along the way, which has made the occasional criticism and rejection of my work a lot more manageable. I don’t take things personally and really value clarity, both in interacting with colleagues and in composing images. Turns out that delivering an illustration on a deadline and serving an eight-top table during dinner rush isn’t all that different.

Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers

I’m an interdisciplinary artist who does a lot of illustration, animation, design, and interactive work like video games and kinetic sculpture. I really love storytelling and drawing so I’m constantly branching out into as many different ways of doing those things as possible.

I primarily work as a commercial artist drawing lifestyle and editorial illustrations for publications and companies whenever they have a concept which needs to be conveyed visually. Sometimes that’s a design for packaging, other times it’s writing a comic or painting an abstract idea for someone. Whatever the case, I have a particular visual language and tone which comes from my personal experiences growing up in middle America, my unique interests, and my worldview.

My work really champions optimism, humor, and positivity, which I think is really valuable in our visual culture. There’s a lot of dreaming and a lot of wandering through mystical utopian worlds which I think appeals to humanity and compassion for others’ experiences. There’s also a lot of chaos and frenzy too, which keeps things balanced and grounded in reality but heightens the stakes and adds energy. I find that balance deeply rewarding and people seem to respond to it. Hopefully I can explore more dreamy empathetic storytelling in the future and work on some more expansive world building projects.

Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

There’s this notion that creative people have some magical ability to make things – some creative genius – and I’d really like to see that go away. I think everybody has some kind of artistic potential whether they’ve realized it or not. Maybe they just don’t want to be creative per se, maybe they haven’t dedicated the time to pursue their interests, or maybe they haven’t been introduced to kind of art making or influences that have really click with them yet. That’s okay but I think everybody should give themselves a little more credit. I didn’t start drawing seriously until I was in my mid-twenties, in large part because I didn’t think I was good enough or that I had anything interesting to say. Eventually I found the kind of artwork that really spoke to me and gave me permission to make things myself. Hopefully I can do the same for somebody out there.

By this point I’ve worked in a lot of different environments and dabbled in a lot of different media. I can say with some confidence that the same tools are being used by both creatives and self-proclaimed non-creative people everywhere. I’ve seen artists get into coding and assembly line workers making beautiful embroideries on the job. A lot of us are doing the same kinds of things but just some of us feel that pressing need to outwardly express ourselves. I’d really like to see people expand on who and what gets to count as creativity.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

I really wish I would have tapped into creative communities and organizations earlier on in my career. They’ve done a ton of good for me and my professional practice over the last few years and I’d encourage anybody pursuing creative work to try and link up with other like-minded folks even if their work is only kinda sorta relevant to your own. Having a crew to interact with and bounce ideas off of is a big help and even just reaching out to other artists asking them about their work can be a big inspiration. So far nobody has gotten too mad at me for emailing them or DMing them for wisdom or advice.

I’m a big fan of AIGA, although I’m not really a part of it anymore. I’d like to see more illustrators join. They have a lot of resources and good connections. But I’ve found little organizations and collectives all over the place and they’ve all helped in their own unique ways from meeting marketing people to finding new clients and gigs. It really pays to put yourself out there.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.andrewhaener.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewhaener/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/andrewhaenerillustration/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrewhaener/
• Other: https://andrewhaener.itch.io/

Image Credits
Portrait photo by Micah E. Wood