Von Gets Paid to Draw

Von Glitschka AKA "Illustrative Designer"

If you wanted to condense what I do down to the most simplistic terms you could say "Von gets paid to draw." I wouldn't necessarily disagree with that statement but it certainly doesn't tell the whole story.

Sure, I refer to myself as an "Illustrative Designer" and for good reason. My work utilizes both illustration and design. (Duh!) The systematic creative process I use every day draws upon both disciplines in order to solve the creative task at hand. (Pardon the pun)

That said I still run into creative hiccups from time to time and in this post I'll be sharing another one with you.


Creative Directors provided sketch.

This past week I was cleaning up my archives and came across a project I worked on in 2003. As I re-opened the old work files and reviewed my designs and re-read old project notes a lot of thoughts streamed through my mind such as:

"I've refined my process a lot since then."
"Wow! That design option really sucks."
"This was one of my first foreign projects."
"A lot has happened in six years."
"This project doesn't bring back good memories."

About The Project
Since the end of World War II British expatriates have lived in Seoul Korea. To help this community they established the "British Association of Seoul."

A local agency in Seoul had seen my logo design work for another company and hired me to re-design their clients identity. Most often an agency just gives me the needed intel and I start working on an appropriate and unique design solution to meet the projects specific need. But on this job the creative director gave me several sketches, one of them is shown above.

The agency knew what they wanted, they just couldn't pull it off themselves. In other words I was an extension of their arm. Or as some would say "Von gets paid to draw."


My design solution based on one of the provided sketches.

I have to admit when I first saw the above sketch I thought it was going to be way too busy for a logo. Needless to say I was a bit surprised as I progressed with my design and all the elements just fit together and balanced out nicely.

The agency loved this mark and were excited to present the concept to the "British Association of Seoul." I provided several color explorations (Even though they requested the Blue) and waited for the clients feedback.

It's at this time I feel like someone on trial. The jury has been presented the case, and I now sit waiting for the final verdict. Well, apparently the client is the plaintiff in this mind game and I was found guilty of not meeting the clients expectations? The agency (My lawyer in this weak analogy) tried to console me but I still felt guilty as charged because the client didn't like it.


I guess they liked this?

After refreshing my memory regarding this project I got curious and did some researching online. From what I can tell this is the logo the group is now using? With this new evidence coming to light, I feel graphically exonerated.

Even though the logo job didn't get used the agency still paid me. So you see, I guess it is true? "Von gets paid to draw."