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

Burton, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Can you open up about a risk you’ve taken – what it was like taking that risk, why you took the risk and how it turned out?

One of the biggest risks a creative can take on is taking the leap from a stable agency job to being full-time freelance.

I worked in Advertising for about 15 years before I fully changed direction. Moving up the ad agency ladder from Junior Designer to Senior Art Director, and then Creative Director at a merch design shop, I found myself taking on more and more freelance projects to fill a creative need. It got to the point where I was essentially working two jobs, 7 days-and-nights a week.

A couple of years ago and I estimated that I could support myself as a fully freelance artist, while enjoying a much friendlier schedule. And yes, not having a guaranteed paycheck while needing to handle one’s own health insurance and whatnot is daunting. But it’s been great so far, and I couldn’t really see myself going back to Advertising.

Burton, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I’ve always enjoyed art and creativity, so in college I focused on Graphic Design. I figured it’d be a good fit — make money making art. In college I drew a comic strip for the campus paper and made some friends in the comic scene.

After college (while being a designer at an ad agency) I drew a webcomic based on the tweets of infamous twitter spambot Horse_ebooks. That ended when it was revealed the spambot was actually secretly purchased by an entrepreneur who wanted to use it as an interactive art piece. A wild ride that led to me being interviewed by the New York Times and Huffington Post.

As far as a career in graphic design and illustration, I think I’ve built a portfolio I can be proud of. Recently I was asked to design a mural to represent my city (Lafayette, Louisiana) in its sister city of Namur, Belgium. Being invited overseas to the dedication ceremony was definitely a career highlight, as was being a representative of Lafayette and learning about other cultures.

I wouldn’t say that I have a particular style or calling card, but I really enjoying being able to inject humor into projects. Details that will give people a reason to come back for more, or find something new every time a piece of art is viewed. Building up a solid portfolio and picking up new, fun projects because of word of mouth. Being able to brainstorm a ton of ideas and provide a range of options from whacky to professional is important, I’d say. And, most importantly, enjoy making the art you’re getting paid to create.

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

One of the coolest things is seeing people around your city (or even in other cities) walking around wearing a shirt you designed. For years I worked as Creative Director at a New Orleans merch brand, so I get to see my designs represented frequently here in South Louisiana.

How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?

I think the best way society can support artists would be to value and respect creatives’ time and pricing. Many people do not realize how much time and effort goes into creative projects, from a simple shirt design to a branding system. It’s not just entering a prompt or hitting a button. If artists were really allowed to charge what they feel is fair, the creative scene would flourish.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.burtondurand.com
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/burtdurand/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/burtondurand/
• Twitter: https://x.com/BurtDurand