For my Exercise-4 assignment I was able to speak with Danny Taylor, a graphic designer at Bally Technologies who has a long history of 25 years in gaming, animation, and overall the media art world. When I first began speaking to him, I knew from the start that that this was going to be fun by how passionate he was about his work. I shared some of my aspirations and my plans to achieve them, so that he could get an understanding of where I was coming from. After talking a little bit more I presented the main questions I wanted to ask him.

1.) What led you to your career & how did you get involved in the media arts world?

D:  I began my entrance in art at an early age, I believe I was in elementary school when I first knew I wanted to do something in the art world. I went onto attend college where I majored in graphics and this set me on my path to working in the art world.

2.) What difficulties have you encountered?

D:   I’d have to say that the difficulties I encountered would be the training in school to draw and the transition into drawing digitally. I found myself having to learn art and graphics using computer programs vs doing everything with a pen and pencil.

3.) What should one avoid when starting out, and what mistakes have you seen occur?

D:    The one thing to avoid when starting out is to rush through the basics. People are eager to go straight to creating masterpieces, but that is not possible if you do not have a strong fundamental base. The one mistake I have seen made over and over again would be an individual not applying themselves.

4.) Do you think the continuing advancement in technology has helped or hindered you and how?

D:   I feel technology has helped me in my job daily. I have become more effective and much quicker at completing tasks on any project. We are in a time where technology in the art world has opened new doors as artists and the future is looking brighter every day!

5.) What do you like about your job?

D:   I enjoy all aspects of my job as a graphic designer. Each day is a new day that I get to create and watch all my work come to life right before my eyes. I have been in the business for 25 years and I have enjoyed every minute of it. Art and graphics give you a chance to improve your skill set and learn new things daily.

Danny did finish with giving me some final advice and questions that I need to answer myself:

• Don’t be expendable. Today it takes more than who you know and what you should know. By that I mean you should acquire skills past what is asked of you. Knowing design and exceeding in it is no longer cutting it. You want to have something to back it up, to give yourself an edge that no one else can offer. Sure you meet the qualifications of your graphic deisgn job, but it is remarkable when you can bring computer science or “coding” behind it. Try to learn HTML, CSS, Java/javascript, anything that will differentiate you from everyone else!
• Anybody can offer the customer their services, what can you offer that no else can?
• Document everything you do, even if it seems little or irrelevant! Doing this will help build your portfolio.

Overall Danny was an easy going person who was able to give me an insight on what I might be pursuing. It made me happy to see how ecstatic he is about his job, which I now know why he has stuck with it. I learned that there are people out there who really do love their job and continue to after so many years. Which I hope for the same results!!!

When this assignment was given to us, I right away had the idea that I would be attending Eucon (Eugene Comic Con) and that I would use one of the panel discussions for this exercise. However due to some last minute issues I was not available to attend. I was able to get in contact with Danny, and I am so much grateful I did. By this happening,  I was able to get a one-to-one firsthand connection with someone in the field, and have all the time I wanted too!

By: Kendrick