I am so excited and honored to have had a featured interview with church design guru, Barton Damer. Barton definitely has a fresh spin on design and its culture. It is really refreshing for me to see such motivation and excellence being displayed in a church format. Like a lot of you, I have seen his work around in magazines and such but it wasn’t until we both got featured HERE that I really fell in love with his unique take on art. I featured a couple of his pieces in my inspiration post recently and then a few emails later… this interview came to surface. One of my big questions for Barton was WHY CHURCH? with all of that talent and grunge, why would he pick church as his format to express his art? Check out his thoughts on all of this below.
1. WHO ARE YOU? WHAT DO YOU DO?
Barton Damer. I’m a husband, father of three, graphic artist, and skateboarder. I am a Creative Director at RT Creative Group. We make up Igniter Media, COLLIDE Magazine, Echo Conference and Worship House Media. I get to make media with a message and share my faith in Christ through it. I also moonlight as a freelancer. www.alreadybeenchewed.net, www.bartondamer.com, I also guest blog at www.collidemagazine.com from time to time.
2. DESCRIBE YOUR WORK
Always changing and reinventing. I get bored easily and have to try new stuff. I suppose “movement” has been somewhat consistent though. Most of my work over the last 2 years or so feels like they it is in motion even if though it is a still illustration. I’m heavily influenced by my motion graphics and the flow it creates in my artwork.
BARTON DAMER MOTION GRAPHICS REEL 08 from Barton Damer on Vimeo.
3. WHERE WOULD WE HAVE SEEN SOME OF YOUR WORK?
My work can be seen in churches around the globe who use Igniter Media products! I also contribute artwork and writing to COLLIDE magazine. I continue to freelance with record labels, skateboard/fashion industry companies and online artist communities in order to stay “legit.” I am featured on the web as a regular contributor to the popular Gomediazine.com. I am one of a few select Plus Authors for PSDtuts.com as well as Maxon Cinema4d’s Cineversity.com. Several of my tutorial’s have been featured for their excellence on SmashingMagazine.com as well as many others.
4. WHAT MADE YOU CHOOSE THE CHURCH AS A CHANNEL FOR YOUR CREATIVITY?
I was working at a design firm outside of Washington DC and really felt called to use my talents within the church setting. Fortunately, I’ve worked with some great churches that have allowed me to go nuts and experiment. It’s been amazing to have my style of work embraced by the church.
5. WHAT IS YOUR HOPE FOR THE CHURCH AS IT RELATES TO ART AND DESIGN?
Great art has the power to inspire and motivate. It will set trends and change people’s perceptions. Shepard Fairy’s Obama Portrait is a prime example of this power. Corporations are aware of this and pay top dollar for that cause and effect. When the church body combines that power to inspire with the message of Christ, amazing things can happen. Some churches get it and are willing to invest in a team of creatives to portray the message. Others complain about a $12 video on www.ignitermedia.com.
6. WHEN AND HOW DID YOU START DESIGNING, DID YOU GO TO SCHOOL FOR IT?
I went to a Christian College and studied Commercial Art. I learned a lot of the foundations for design and art there but am pretty much self taught in software.
7. WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE PROGRAMS AND/OR GEAR? HOW DID YOU LEARN THEM?
Favorite programs: Illustrator, Photoshop, After Effects, Cinema 4d. Mainly learned from online tutorials or books.
8. WHAT IS YOUR DESIGN PROCESS LIKE FROM START TO FINISH?
ha! hmmm. Well, my process is probably different than a lot of artists. I don’t sketch out concepts first or keep a Moleskin of drawings. Although I’ve been thinking about taking that up during church! Studies show it helps you remember what is being said better when you doodle. So I generally go straight to Illustrator or Photoshop and start it up. Sometimes I have an idea in my head. Other times, I have no clue where it’s going. I just keep working it til it clicks with me. For every descent design I do, there were 100 bad ones I tried before landing on the one I like.
9.HOW DO YOU NETWORK? MARKET? PROMOTE YOURSELF? HOW DO YOU GET WORK?
I actually never have networked or marketed up until recently. A few years ago I was working for my church (www.frontlinedc.com) and was really struggling with whether or not I should get out of “full time ministry” and go back to working for a design firm – in order to pay our bills. We were broke. I ended up posting all my work online to my iWeb account. Nothing fancy – but that doesn’t matter cause I wasn’t trying to get a job doing web design. I was letting the graphics and motion graphics do the work for me. A lot of times people think they need some crazy site to promote themselves. Anyway, within a few short months of having my iWeb site up, I had been contacted by some of the biggest churches in America to do motion graphics for them. It was wild. I never put out a resume or anything. Obviously, the Lord had plans to keep me in the ministry world. After interviewing with several of them, I ended up at RT Creative Group which has been amazing! All that to say this, just put your work out there. Get on flickr and vimeo. Join in online art communities.
10. WAS THERE A PARTICULAR MOMENT IN WHICH YOU REALIZED YOU COULD DO THIS FOR A LIVING?
Great question. I don’t think it ever occurred to me. I injured myself while skateboarding during college and was able to really focus in on my relationship with the Lord and seek his will. Up until that point, I had never really done anything with art and had NO DESIRE to be an artist. Through that injury, I discovered I was halfway descent at art and really felt the Lord had given me a gift to use for Him. I’ve been following that calling ever since. Never really thought about whether or not it would provide a living. ha!
11. WHAT IS ONE MISTAKE YOU WISH YOU COULD TAKE BACK?
Learning how to animate websites in Flash back around 2000-2002. JK. I realized I enjoyed animating in Flash so much that I took up After Effects and discovered the world of motion graphics.
12. WHAT HAS CONTRIBUTED TO YOUR SUCCESS?
Definitely my background in skateboarding. It has helped to shape my artistic style as well as music taste. Music makes a big difference too. It effects my style of artwork. Prayer. I can’t do much of anything art related without spending some time in prayer. It’s too hard. I have to pray through the process hoping to come up with something good.
13. WHAT IS YOUR ENCOURAGEMENT FOR CHURCH DESIGNERS?
It’s not what you do. It’s how you do it. Don’t get caught up in the fact that your Client list isn’t stellar or that you aren’t doing big budget projects. My work has been recognized by numerous online artist communities as well as being contacted directly from the President of Maxon Cinema 4d. It’s encouraging to think that people are taking notice for my “church work.” Put your best effort into the work regardless of the size of your church. If you are doing a tee for your youth group, make it the best tee you’ve ever done. You should be just as creative with that project as you would if the latest Pop Rock band was hiring you to design a band t-shirt. At the end of the day, you will be judged by your peers for the design you did. There are plenty of people out there landing big clients and doing bad designs for them. Do your best with whatever the circumstances are. Do your best as an act of worship to a God who is worth it. Not because you want to impress others. Do it for yourself as well. I don’t think I’ve ever approached a project thinking, “It’s just a church… they don’t need it to be super creative, etc.” That thinking will hinder you quite a bit. If you feel like your work is good but you can’t really experiment or stretch yourself … find a ministry that is a better fit.
April 3rd, 2009 at 1:47 pm
Awesome interview Promise! (Great artwork from Barton also) I love it when talented artists are able to explore and express their work within a Christ-centered environment. I think it helps paint a different picture – a more beautiful and spectacular picture – of God, and of His church to a secular world.
April 3rd, 2009 at 2:02 pm
Great interview Promise and Barton. Thanks for your sharing your insight.
April 3rd, 2009 at 3:35 pm
you two are my heros!
April 3rd, 2009 at 6:01 pm
Wow! very inspiring! Great interview, good work!
April 5th, 2009 at 3:51 pm
Barton did some work for me almost a year ago. This article is about design, but he’s a great guy, too. Did great work, under budget, and beat the deadline. Love this guy!!!
April 6th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
thanks for this. he said a lot of things i needed to hear.
April 14th, 2009 at 1:15 am
Ok, crazy that I stumbled on your Blog and then I found BART! He’s one of my hubby’s good friends and partners in crime in the art world. He and Brad worked together at http://www.frontline.to and are such an inspiration for artists to move towards work that is insightful, thought provoking and authentic!
Great job Bart, you are amazing! Brad misses you!
May 26th, 2009 at 12:23 am
Awesome! Very inspiring. We need more christians in the arts.
July 28th, 2009 at 8:14 pm
awesome article!
August 23rd, 2009 at 1:20 am
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