We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful David Flynn. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with David below.
David, looking forward to hearing all of your stories today. Looking back at internships and apprenticeships can be interesting, because there is so much variety in people’s experiences – and often those experiences inform our own leadership style. Do you have an interesting story from that stage of your career that you can share with us?
I began as an apprentice at a local design studio the summer before my Junior year of art school. I interviewed with the owner and creative director and was hired to work 12 hours per week at minimum wage. It was tough because I was a full time student, and the pay barely covered my gas money, but it launched my career and I have not been without work a day since I started there almost 45 years ago.
What I learned is that what people want most, before software expertise and amazing portfolio samples, is someone that shows up on time, is prepared, rested, and willing to do whatever it takes to help the team. My first day there was a Monday, and the artists, account people and the production manager had a scheduling meeting at 8:00 AM for about an hour. Being the new guy and not having a project assignment, I really didn’t know what to do or what was expected yet. So, while I waited I cleaned the bathrooms, vacuumed the studio, did the dishes, emptied all the trash bins and checked the processors in the darkroom for the condition of the chemicals for the cameras.
The receptionist told me when the meeting usually ended so I made sure there was a fresh pot of coffee ready and I was excited to get started.
When everyone came out of the conference room I was introduced to all and while shaking hands and trying to remember names I saw that people scoping out the clean studio and looking back at me. The creative director smiled, filled his coffee cup, looked around the studio and said “you’ve been busy”.
In that moment I knew that I had been raised well. I chose to do something useful, to use that hour and not waste it, instead of waiting around to be told what to do. While I did not know at the time is what that said about me to my new colleagues. The creative director showed me around, we discussed my role and duties, and then I was invited to sit in on a concept session for an annual report job they just started. As I made my way to bullpen one of the designers said “Come and join us Grasshopper, we are here to show you the way…”.
And they did. 4 years there, from Apprentice to Art Director, then a stint corporate side, on to advertising agencies, then my own studio for 30 years. I started teaching 15 years ago as well, so two full time jobs and I’m having a blast.
And they still call me “Grasshopper”.
Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.
I was a high school art major and I felt like I ended up in art because I couldn’t do anything else. My father was a journeyman machinist and an Industrial Engineer at a local steel mill, my mother was a registered nurse. Both very knowledgeable in science, complex mathematics, biology, chemistry and quite successful in all the STEM classes that people seem to value above all. I had absolutely zero aptitude or interest in any of that. I learned fast that the down side for me was that being “creative” and “artistic” were generally considered frivolous or inconsequential talents to making a “real” living. And sadly, I believed it.
It took me years to figure out that art was not “all that I was capable of” but that it is what I was meant to do. Very big difference there. For years I viewed myself as being “less than” because I was not interested in the STEM curriculum. Thankfully, what I once considered a handicap I now consider my super power. Ideas and fresh thinking require an open mind, the willingness to be wrong in order to discover something better, to trust accidents and uncertainty to lead you to a higher level of understanding and creativity.
I was able to find a community in the field of art that not only permitted but expected you to question everything. That there is value and agency in being outlandish. The only way to get to a higher plane of thought is to expect that what you create or propose will probably not be well received – at first – because if it is, it’s nothing new or worth paying attention to. This goes for writing, painting, assembly and sculpture, photography, graphic design, motion and movies. Everything. I realized that my not having interest in the sciences was not a bad thing, that I was in no way “less than”, I just had a different mind and calling.
That was liberating. I was not bad, I was an artist.
From that moment, my Sophomore year in college, I have been unstoppable in the field of graphic design and advertising (44 years), teaching design and art as a college professor (15 years), as a writer, poet, painter, photographer, assembly artist, speaker on creativity and the creative process; it has all exploded since I released myself from the expectations of “normal society” and embraced my calling. I am an artist.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Pivot 1: Taking a pay cut was the best decision I ever made. I was the Associate Creative Director of a regional advertising agency in the late 1980’s, working on business-to- business, banking, industry and health care clients. Management was quite resistant to the coming digital revolution for the arts and refused to entertain the idea of purchasing and utilizing “the Mac” and Adobe products, preferring traditional methods that they were comfortable with. So when I learned of a small agency near by that had made a commitment to the new “digital studio” technology I jumped at the chance to work there to learn the technology. Taking a 15% pay cut at the time seemed crazy – but – looking back it was one of the smartest moves I’ve made. I was there for 3 years, learning how to combine my traditional design craft skills and the power of digital hardware and software to create work that is the best of both worlds. That decision made it possible for me to open my own studio and be successful.
Have you ever had to pivot?
Pivot 2: In 2022 I was a co-chaperone for a student trip to the Venice Biennale. We took 12 students; 6 painters, 5 graphic designers and 1 sculpture major. I was not prepared for the powerful impact the ancient city and overwhelming artwork would have on me. Couple that with the extraordinary art on display by present day artists representing their countries from all over the world, and I was really inspired. But those amazing students brought me up to an even higher level. When we departed I was their professor, but while traveling they became my teacher. They inspired me to paint, draw, to make art in whatever form I could with whatever I had on hand and just create. I was liberated from the daily focus on “billable time”, pixels and resolution, and presented with the clarity that I am an artist. Not just a designer.
That changed everything. Now I paint, write, work in charcoal and pastels, Sumi Brush and ink, weird home made pens, found object assembly. I’m learning how to weld and soon will start ceramics. I went from working in a small facet of the creative world to the sky is the limit. I wish that I would have had this realization years ago, but am confident that it came when it was supposed to. The cool thing is that all this has made me a much better designer.
Contact Info:
- Website: [email protected]
- Instagram: @dflynndesign
- Facebook: David Flynn Design
- Linkedin: https://linkedin.com/in/dflynndesign
- Soundcloud: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lXpa1vM3JR4
Image Credits
Portrait Photo: © 2024 Dale Dong Photography
Photo of pastel artwork by the artist: © 2024 David Flynn