We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Bill Concannon. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Bill below.

Bill, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Let’s kick things off with a hypothetical question – if it were up to you, what would you change about the school or education system to better prepare students for a more fulfilling life and career?

Many designers experience a period of shock when they begin their first job as the reality of the industry may not match the expectations set in school. As creatives, we often fixate on how our artistic skills will determine the success of our careers. By solely focussing on the quality of our artwork we may overlook the development of our people skills and our understanding of the industry we hope to join.

Programs that develop quality internships expose students to the people they will be working alongside and help them lessen the initial shock. Working designers offer more straight talk which is lacking in many educational programs. Students need to learn to expand their focus beyond themselves to include the needs of end-users and team mates. Additionally these programs expose students to the larger issues that their future work force is facing. Learning to fold in these broader issues is a working trait that produces designers with an ability to see the true relevance of what they do. Creatives who can think this way will have productive careers. This is evident today as our industry is currently wrestling with the impact of AI as we once again reconsider our relevance. Those with the ability to broaden their thinking will thrive. They will see that their true superpower is their creative mind and how they can apply it in broader terms.

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?

As a graphic designer at a newspaper I was creating designs and layouts for a wide range of topics. Then when I took a Sr. Art Director position at Hasbro I found myself developing artwork for entertainment properties which turned out to be quite a game changer. My very first project was a Star Wars game called The Queen’s Gambit by a renowned game designer Craig Van Ness. The success of that project led me to San Francisco to meet the team at Lucasfilm to develop line looks for their game packaging. I still claim that designers need to have passion for their design process over fancy subject matter yet working on these entertainment properties made a major impact on me. Later, I followed those projects up with more entertainment branding with more Star Wars, Transformers, Clue and Hot Wheels. I had co-founded a very successful design firm in Boston which will always be a source of pride. But California is where I want to be so we are here bringing story based branding and packaging to a variety of brands under our new banner Concannon Art.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

Learning how to delegate took many years. I like to be at the design table and entrusting others was hard. However, as you grow your business you have to spend more time managing the operation so delegating becomes more of a necessity. In the beginning, delegating creates more work which seems antithetical to the purpose. You find yourself spending a lot of time preparing briefs, answering questions and teaching. The pull to go back and do it yourself is strong and hard to resist. In time you let go and you focus on the bigger things that an owner should focus on.

What’s been the most effective strategy for growing your clientele?

Clients know from experience that I will work hard to find success for them, I consider that an established pillar of our brand. Above that I am always working on presentation style. I can’t overstate the importance of great presentation. I take pride in developing a presentation into a special moment for clients to see their vision come to life. It needs to illuminate the exciting potential we have found in the design process.

Contact Info:

• Website: [email protected]
• Instagram: billy_at_ca
• Linkedin: linkedin.com/in/billconcannon
• Other: https://dribbble.com/Billy_at_CA https://www.behance.net/billconcannon

Image Credits
Bill Concannon, Creative Director, John Wick Mustang emblem design, John Wick life at the Continental badge, John Wick vehicle package design, John Wick licensing pet program, MOTU Revelation logo design, Star Wars packaging design, Drenched Goods logo and tee design.