You studied English Literature and Music at the University of Virginia. What made you take up design as a graduate course?
I’ve always loved to write stories and songs, so I was attracted to the creative aspects of the English and Music majors - both were excellent programs at UVA. I really didn’t even know what graphic design was at the time, but enjoyed drawing comics and editorial cartoons for the Cavalier Daily and making a few logos for student organizations. The grad school I eventually attended, Portfolio Center, held an interest meeting during my last year there. Something just clicked after seeing all the diverse student projects, and I knew PC was where I needed to be.

What were the most useful things you learnt during your time in college?
The general education experience was the most useful. Even more than the classes though, it was being surrounded by smart people - instructors and students both - that seemed to have the greatest impact. College was broad, and grad school got more specific.

How did you develop your unique style?
I first learned how to draw through Ed Emberley books and art classes at our local library. It was drawing the comic strip everyday in college that really helped me improve significantly and begin to develop a personal style. That “style” is really just a mixing bowl of techniques I learned from other artists or friends. So I learned how to draw trees from Calvin and Hobbes, hearts from my 11th grade high school crush, and treasure maps from the Legend of Zelda video game series. Emberley’s Make a World book gets the most credit though; my brother and I used to draw countless aliens, pirate ships, and intricate worlds across long sheets of butcher paper in our kitchen.

Could you take us through your design process from the point you are told the brief to presenting the final work?
The things I work on nowadays are not often individual illustrations, but rather various interactive multimedia projects - websites, short films, stories, games, and so on. The process almost always starts out with a sheet of newsprint, because it’s big and cheap. The first step is just sketching anything and everything that comes to mind, writing little notes and questions around all the good and bad ideas. At this stage I’m mostly focused on coming up with a solid concept instead of a single execution. It’s great getting all my thoughts out in front of me, and illustrations allow me to quickly realize ideas hiding around my imagination. It’s definitely my favorite part of the creative process. Presentations come in a close second though. The musician in me loves performing, and presenting an idea to clients or co-workers is always something I look forward to. It’s an organic process, so I never really follow the exact same path twice. Each problem is unique and deserves a unique solution.

What would you like to be doing the whole time if money was not an issue?
What I’m doing right now with Minor Studios in San Francisco: starting a creative company that aims to use technology in innovative and positive ways. Interactive multimedia allows me to mix drawing, writing, animation, music, film and design together, which is great since I have a ridiculously short attention span. To me, finding what you love to do and being able to do it everyday seems more valuable than any monetary amount.

Your website is very accomplished flash site. Tell us a little about how this was made?
Thanks! Okaydave was the final result of two years in grad school. The portfolio focused primarily on storytelling through several short films, and a hand-drawn illustrated look was used to emphasize the creative process. That theme is echoed by the main navigation on the homepage, which is a scattered collage of notes (which also hides a few secrets). Again, the idea started as sketches on newsprint and evolved from there. It was eventually designed and produced using Photoshop, Flash, After Effects, Soundtrack and iMovie.

What single piece of advice would you give to an aspiring illustrator?
The illustrators I know are curious, wildly imaginative people by nature. So it’s pretty exciting that we’re just starting to scratch the surface of digital illustration and the interactive/animated possibilities associated with it. Exploring that unknown armed with traditional skills and materials is leading to some incredible work. This is a time for pioneers.

Interview conducted by Nick. Many thanks to David Werner for agreeing to answer my questions. To see more of David’s work why not visit his fantastic website.

This entry was posted on Monday, February 26th, 2007 at 9:20 pm and is filed under Interviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.