We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Antony Rozwadowski a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Antony, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. What’s been the most meaningful project you’ve worked on?

In 2017-2018, the Milwaukee Bucks hosted an open call for artist submissions as part of the opening of their new arena, Fiserv Forum. The group in charge, Sports & the Arts, wanted to include as many homegrown artists for Bucks-inspired paintings, photography, sculptures—you name it—in order to build an arena art collection with ties to Wisconsin. I was born and raised in Milwaukee, spending half of my upbringing in Green Bay. As a sports fan, I have always rooted for my home state teams, and most exciting of all, the Bucks were on the cusp of being a championship level team after years of mediocrity. There was a lot of buzz around the franchise, the team, and the revitalization of downtown Milwaukee.

At the time, I was in Virginia, firmly established as a graphic designer. I’ve always wanted to design for sports teams and leagues since graduating from college, and I often kept myself busy with personal sports related projects for smaller local teams and clubs. When this opportunity came about, I immediately decided to have some fun with a franchise I was deeply familiar with. I set out to design a piece that encapsulated the team’s history, my childhood memories of my hometown, my years of Bucks fandom, and an appreciation of the Bucks branding. It came together quickly as a very personal piece reflecting my love of the team and my family ties to Milwaukee.

The concept was to span the eras of the nearly 50-year-old franchise, highlighting recognizable players throughout the years, marking the major logo/branding/color transitions, and including Milwaukee landmarks that meant something to me. I originally wanted a triptych that I would design digitally for maximum flexibility, thinking that they could use it as separate pieces or combine them, if requested. My piece, Eras, was created in a minimal style, with shapes weaving in and out of each other. The brand colors also transition between the significant time periods of the team.

Eras was selected from over 1,200 submitted entries. The original triptych was reworked into a single mural concept and expanded to include more players and a fourth logo transition. The mural is situated near the front of the Fiserv Forum above the VIP entrance, spanning a corner wall. I was deeply honored to be included in an absolutely beautiful collection of art that is on display to all that frequent the arena. To have an original piece of art/design of that size in my hometown, at a brand new NBA arena, for a team that I have followed my entire life, is an incredible feeling. And to have it shared with family that still reside in Wisconsin, including my parents, is beyond special to me.

As always, we appreciate you sharing your insights and we’ve got a few more questions for you, but before we get to all of that can you take a minute to introduce yourself and give our readers some of your back background and context?

I’ve been an artist at heart for a very long time. I used to create art for friends and teachers as early as kindergarten. It was my way of breaking the ice and reaching out to people. My inspiration was usually pop culture and cartoons, drawing superheroes, or making sports logo jewelry out of paper, aluminum foil, and yarn.

I gravitated toward art classes in school, spending my study hall time primarily in the art classroom. During my junior year of high school, I was introduced to the possibilities of an art career in graphic design. That was something that I had never heard of at the time. My scope of careers seemed limited to looking at architecture as a creative career back in the 1990s.

I attended the renowned Rochester Institute of Technology and received an Associate Degree in Illustration and a Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design. I always reminisce about how lucky I was to attend school for design at that time, as I was able to learn from professors that were trained in the traditional ways of producing design by hand. I also was introduced to brand new digital design software and printing technology, marking the beginning of the Internet age and the evolution of website design and coding. I greatly appreciate having that bridge of education from old to new forming the foundation of where I am today.

One moment that has always stuck with me from college was feedback I received from a logo design professor. Heinrich Klinkon, known as Heinz to students, had a thick German accent and a dry sense of humor. He told me during a final review that he admired my design style; that it was “universal” and appealed to all audiences. He felt it was my strongest skill. I’ve always held onto that and incorporated it into my design philosophy, especially when it comes to logo/brand design. If I could create a design that appealed to the broadest of audiences in addition to my client’s goals, it would be successful.

My career has taken me from government IT contractors, to a mom and pop design firm, to my own self-run design business. I’ve been on my own since this summer, learning the ropes on how to run Quickbooks, getting things established correctly, and keeping my clients happy. I have a renewed focus on doing work that I feel invested in. For me, that means incorporating more of my love of pop culture to offer diverse ideas for my clients. I also love logo/branding jobs, poster design, event driven marketing, and still design websites. I even get to draw superheroes like I did as a kid and design sports logos a bit more often.

As for my current business, Rozwaduckie Design LLC is named in honor of my Grandmother, Mary Jane Rozwadowski. My long last name has never just rolled off the tongue naturally. I especially had a hard time pronouncing it as a kid. One day I asked my Grandmother for help pronouncing it. She would always say it with the Polish inflections, replacing the O sound with a short U, the first W with a V, and the second W with an F before blending it with the SKI. But she also told me that it rhymed with RUBBERDUCKIE. Well, I knew I could say THAT correctly! I went back to school and proudly proclaimed my name as Tony Rubberduckie when roll call came around. I had an old logo concept for Atomic Duck, a superhero duck with a retro look and feel. I dusted that off, modernized it, and here I am today. The design hero embracing his inner creative.

How’d you build such a strong reputation within your market?

The key to my reputation in my market boils down to three things: straightforwardness, flexibility, and reliability. I concentrate on my strengths and convey that to my clients. I don’t promise I can do it all just to land a project. Instead, I state what I do best and focus on delivering the best results based on a transparent approach.

As far as my design style, one can definitely pick up on consistencies within my logos or layouts. I like to introduce new ways to approach projects—incorporating hand drawn elements, comic book influences, an Art Deco aesthetic, or a minimalist approach, for instance. I also like to offer different alternatives and perspectives. I always enjoy hearing, “Wow, I would never have thought of that!”

If I’m not able to keep a client informed about their project, then I am not doing my job to the best of my abilities. Communication about changes, process, and deadlines are always appreciated, no matter how big or small. I take that very seriously. I’ve also been told that I’m very easy to work with and don’t overcomplicate things. I pride myself on that.

What’s the most rewarding aspect of being a creative in your experience?

The most rewarding aspect is being able to help solve a problem via creative means, whether that’s a visual or logo. The goal is to instantly make the message clearer for a target audience, perhaps by making someone excited to attend an event with a poster or website, or designing a concept that has longevity and establishes trust. Yes, I love to create assets that are visually pleasing, but if it functions as intended and accomplishes the goals of my client, that’s the real reward. For someone to trust in me enough to recommend me to a friend, acquaintance, or family member, that speaks volumes to me. I have clients that span over 20 years.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://rozwaduckie.com/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/rozwaduckiedesign/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/antony-rozwadowski-2062953/

Image Credits

Antony Rozwadowski