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Plunkert started his career as a graphic designer for a small design firm in 1987. Although he dabbled in illustration while he held a "real job", he didn't get serious about it until he was laid off five years later. Suddenly unemployed, he hit the ground running with a portfolio inspired by the Constructivist and Dada artists he loved. Unsure of how art directors would react, and having no job left to fall back on, Plunkert was nervous. "I didn't make the jump into illustration until I happened to see a faxed sketch from Gary Baseman that was sent to the design studio I was freelancing for at the time. Every previous sketch or comp I had seen from illustrators I had worked with were very highly rendered and typically involved face to face meetings with corporate clients. Gary's sketch in contrast was pretty much a thumbnail and it got the point across that illustration could be done quickly and that clients could be managed completely over the phone. That hit me like a ton of bricks. Its seems fairly obvious that that's how illustrators work, but designers tend to give clients a lot of face time, so it was a big departure for me." That realization prompted Plunkert to move ahead. Art directors reacted well to his work and the assignments started pouring in. He and his wife, Joyce Hesselberth, eventually joined forces and formed Spur Design, an illustration and design studio housed in a renovated industrial building they purchased in 1998. While illustration is the mainstay of the studio, their backgrounds in graphic design have influenced their work a great deal. The combination of type and images has always been a passion for both. As a mom and pop shop, their family is part of the studio as well. Daughter Madison, now six, came to work every day since she was a baby. Now that Madison is in first grade, the twins, Emma and Jacob, are coming for frequent visits. "One of the benefits of working for yourself is you get to make up the rules," says Plunkert. "But we've been fortunate to have a staff that puts up with us too...usually. The only complaints we've had are when we don't bring the kids into work." Dave's illustration clients include BusinessWeek, Nickelodeon, Sports Illustrated, Playboy, Capitol Records, MTV, Nike, and Gatorade.
I had been doing collage for over ten years and I was slowly removing details to make the art more about ideas and less about stuff. It got to the point where I was able to shift my vocabulary over to what I call my current block style. There's something very alternative and radical at the heart of collage that limits the audience frankly. I've created them for all kinds of corporations but it felt like from a client standpoint I had taken it as far as it would go. Its easy to make a collage edgy but harder to make it accessible. The new style is an effort to expand the reach of my ideas to a different group of folks. Do you miss doing collage? Old habits die hard and I still love putting them together regardless of how nice it is to shake things up now and again. Creatively, there's still more that I think I can do with it. Are you still working in both styles? Yes, it creates a slight marketing problem but I send out two distinct promotions and have both styles featured on my website. What is the most interesting project you've worked on? I like the projects that allow me to be both designer and illustrator. I don't really have a favorite project but I love working on posters. How does the computer figure into your work? Are you a digital artist? I don't consider myself a digital artist because that term seems to represent an aesthetic that usually makes my eyes bleed. I do all the final production of my illustrations on the computer though but it doesn't drive the look. I think of the computer as an expedient tool for scaling, coloring, and retouching but I stay away from the canned effects. I wouldn't call the work of John Hersey, Otto Siebold and Joyce digital either even though the computer as a medium informs their work more so than it does my own.
I'd love to find the time to produce children's books and animation projects. I've been working on some limited edition screen prints that I hope to complete shortly. Who has inspired you the most in your career? Where do you find inspiration for your illustrations? Well, there are the obvious names like Paul Rand, Pushpin, and John Heartfield. Certainly Brad Holland is an influence on most conceptual illustrators working today. I also greatly admire the work of Gary Baseman, Gary Taxali, and Brian Cronin to name a few. It no doubt sounds corny but Joyce and the kids are the biggest reason to get up and do more art everyday. >> See more work from Dave Plunkert >> See other member spotlights on the member spotlight index >> Find out more on how to become an altpick.com member |
