Toughest Critic, Interviewing Myself

Someone recently pointed out that I have been subjecting the designers in this series of interviews to questions that I had not even answered myself. So, I thought I would give myself a taste of my own medicine. After all, a little introspective soul-searching never hurt anyone.

Introducing, me, Andrew Brynjulson, freelance graphic designer, illustrator, social media/advertising/marketing enthusiast.

Tell us about your path to this point.

I was born, raised and still reside in lovely Sioux Falls, South Dakota.

I graduated from Augustana College with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Communication/Business and Art emphasizing in graphic design, marketing and public relations.

While in school and up until recently, I had the great pleasure of honing my crafts as the Special Teams Coordinator/Director of Design for Deep Bench, a research, strategy and social media marketing consultancy.

I’ve now moved to a full-time freelance role as Brenni Fresh Creative doing contract work for various agencies, businesses and organizations in Sioux Falls and beyond.

What sort of ambitions or goals do you have?

As much as I enjoy the freedom and variety that freelancing has to offer, I am seeking full-time employment. I recognize that this early in my career I need to surround myself with the best so I can become the best.

Philanthropy. My ultimate goal is to become very rich, and then spend the rest of my life giving all the money away. Unfortunately, philanthropy is a tough gig when you’re poor.

So to allow me to do that, I will need to make money hopefully as a creative director, public speaker, screen printer, standup comedian or any combination of the above. I have a lot of interests.

Greg Land and Terry Dodson

What did you want to be when you grew up?

I wanted to be a singer until I hated my choir teacher. A professional basketball player until I realized I was short, fat, and built for football. A Nike shoe/uniform designer until I didn’t know the first thing about producing an item of clothing. A comic book illustrator until I realized I wanted to impress girls. A firefighter until I was afraid of heights (fire pole). An architect until I realized there was more to it than The Sims 2. Finally, I figured out that there was a way for artists to make money without having to starve in their parents’ basement, so I pursued design.

Who or what influences you?

My sophomore/junior year review in college earned me some puzzled looks from faculty and students as I explained that my influences had always been Stan Lee, Jack Kirby,

Ghost Ship by Daniel Danger

sports logos, etc. They wanted to hear Michelangelo, Donatello, Leonardo, and Rafael, of course, but not the Teenage Mutant Ninja variety.

People that get me all jazzed up to design are David Carson, Stefan Sagmeister, Dan McCarthy, Daniel Danger, and any infinite number of things I discover on Twitter and RSS.

Architecture, gig posters, and good photography.

Favorite and least favorite typeface?

Comic Sans, Papyrus, Mistral, and Zapfino infect the world. Helvetica and Century Gothic keep the Earth in orbit for me right now.

Best part about the industry?

Stand By Me by Dan McCarthy

Creativity and innovation give us the power to transcend mediocrity and do something novel, meaningful.

Worst part about the industry?

The quest for money. As a naïve youngster, I once asked an agency executive, “What would you say if I said business is raping the creative world.” Forever the journalist, asking tough questions, I guess. I maybe should have kept that to myself.

What is the coolest thing you’ve seen lately or work that you’ve liked?

The first thing that comes to mind is the autistic artist, Stephen Wiltshire, that drew an 18ft New York cityscape from memory. Also, lately I’ve been enthralled by Brains on Fire igniting movements, sustainable building, a the trend toward honesty and transparency in business.

If you could wake up and only check one website, what would it be?

Besides Twitter, e-mail, and RSS, I’m going with Design You Trust for sheer quantity and variety.

New York City from memory Stephen Wiltshire

High point of your career/ favorite piece of work?

My favorite piece of work has been for Mrs. Dude’s Boob Fund. A lot of creative control and a chance to work on something I truly could throw myself into.

If you are indeed human, what are you bad at?

Sometimes I have a very skewed sense of self-belief. It probably comes from constantly measuring myself only against those who are the best. It will always make me better, but the unfortunate truth is that technically I’m always coming up short in comparison to the best. It can wear you down. Luckily, I wouldn’t be making those comparisons in the first place if I didn’t believe I had some sort of potential.

One thing you wish you would have done to prepare yourself for your career?

Started blogging sooner, drew more, dabbled in web design right away, and overall started to fail early and often to get the big ones out of my system.

Advice for up and coming designers…

You’ve been given the God-like gift to create something out of nothing, use it. Don’t settle for recycling other people’s ideas so that you can “fit in” when you could be bucking trends and living on the forefront of innovation. Network. Remember that academia should only get more intense after you graduate, so don’t stop learning.