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I had an amazing internship this past semester writing and designing for Creative Arts Unlimited, but it’s time for me to make my way to Hallmark Cards as a full-time employee starting this summer.

As an intern at CAU, I had the opportunity to work alongside a number of brilliantly talented artists on a daily basis. But the truth is, there’s not a single artist on the team; CAU is a company of entrepreneurs. Everyone knows what skills they bring to the table and they’re not afraid to take the extra initiative to get a project completed and surpass client expectations. I’ve worked in various agency settings before, but the small size of CAU that contrasts with their established team roles makes for an impressive team dynamic. I’m so grateful for that initial tour of the studios that brought me to Pinellas Park and the wonderful experience I gained in applying my skills to real-world projects and company collateral.

So long, friends. I’ll be checking in on the blog as even more incredible work comes from CAU in the future!

- Casey

Creative Arts Unlimited, Inc. was recently named a winner in the Your Best Work Design Awards by HOW magazine. Five of our projects were featured and can now officially be viewed online here.

Last year, HOW started a brand new, one-of-a-kind competition designed to recognize the creative prowess of designers and design teams who have the talent to produce multiple original, boundary-pushing projects: The Your Best Work Design Awards.

Creative Arts Unlimited presented at the Public Library Association Show in Philadelphia along with the Brodart company. The Flex Lounge, a modular partition that we displayed, provides a lounge system that creates individual common areas as needed. These cost-efficient social fixtures facilitate study groups by providing electrical outlets, work surfaces, and adjustable seating when libraries are otherwise unable to furnish spaces with expensive architectural remodels.

Thanks to the expert craftsmanship of our in-house design and fabrication team, the Roosevelt Public Library recently received a puppet stage built right inside the trunk of a larger-than-life tree. A plywood and foam foundation was covered in plaster before being painted and sealed to resemble stylized bark. The structure was easily separated into three large segments for its final journey to New York. Leaf groupings and literary critters were added on-sight so that arrangement could be coordinated with the surrounding space. Mike Pearson, Installation Captain at Creative Arts Unlimited, was on-sight at Roosevelt and said that “bookshelves will soon be installed around it, like spokes on a wheel, but this tree will definitely be the first thing visitors will see when they walk in.”

Much of Creative Arts’ work is done outside the state of Florida. Recently, Roger and our Architectural Designer, Rachel Przyborski, called on clients in New York City, including Dylan’s Candy and H3 Hardy Collaboration Architecture to discuss current projects. To be able to discuss a project directly with the individuals who are creating it is a definite bonus for our design customers.

In a recent project for AAA, Creative Arts Unlimited organized, designed, and installed a historical display that exhibits over a century’s worth of service memorabilia. Our artists collected and sorted through various articles from AAA’s archives before designing impressive wall displays for each collection. Vintage artwork, Florida Explorer articles, and a 4-part business overview of AAA’s services give viewers an in-depth look on the past century of services rendered. One highlight of the exhibit is the Reader’s Digest feature that outline’s AAA’s petition of federally funded traffic traps. Eurocore and acrylic paneling were used to display work on each wall in a way that allows visitors to circulate easily throughout the space. You can view more about the project in here.

This mechanical crab is about to get a new home, but not before some electronic handiwork. Visitors of the MacArthur Park Nature Center will be able to experience just how crabs interact with their environments thanks to this engaging exhibit.

Matt Crotts, Illustrator at Creative Arts Unlimited

Matt Crotts joined the Creative Arts Unlimited team in 2009 and has since provided a wide range of illustrative talents on various projects at our studio. His contrasting painterly and graphic styles impressed Roger and the team right from the start, so we decided to sit down with him now that he’s been in the studio for a few years.

How did you start out in design and illustration?

At first, I wanted to go in to film. I realized in my freshman year that I really liked the art of film and that it was called illustration. I liked telling stories and exploring narratives visually. I went to the University of South Carolina for one year and by week one, I was getting stuff ready to have a portfolio so I could get in to Ringling. I ended up going to Atlanta College of Art my next year before they got bought by SCAD–but I didn’t want to go to SCAD, so I thought “let’s try Ringling one more time”.

What brought you to Creative Arts Unlimited?

I saw Duncan give a presentation in my Junior year at Ringling. It got me interested in the company because he seemed like a neat guy and I liked his work. Every year, my art got younger and younger; I wanted to do really serious, detailed stuff my Sophomore year and by my Senior year it was all kids’ art. I got more and more interested in Creative Arts because, in the back of my head, I was remembering Duncan’s presentation. They seemed like a place that was doing things differently. You weren’t only sitting in front of the computer all day, you were also learning. You got to see the final product get made in the same building. I went to the Creative Arts presentation again my Senior year and almost didn’t submit my work in time for an interview. I remember being really frustrated in the presentation because I had only turned in really painterly stuff, but their presentation showed a lot of vector work. I thought I’d really messed up my chance, so I came to the interview with a second portfolio of just vector stuff. I remember Roger saying “This is great! We liked you anyway, but this really shows that you care”. I came here for an interview the next day, did some freelance until I graduated, took a short break to travel, and then came here that Summer.

Can you tell us about the work that you do at Creative Arts Unlimited?

I do concepts for sculpts, flat illustrations (painterly and vector), graphic design… there’s a focus in illustration, but I’m not just an illustrator.

What experience at Creative Arts Unlimited shapes what you’ve done over the years or what you’re doing now?

I’ve done some freelance outside of Creative Arts, mostly for Disney, and learning professionalism in this environment let me deal with clients over the phone. I never lost my cool or got frustrated. The art skills here have to be professional, but you still get to do your interpretation of something. It’s more about professional communication and being able to explain myself.

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve gotten while working at Creative Arts Unlimited?

“Get it done”. You learn that in school, in a way, but here I will also have to make it reach professional criteria. It has to be something I’m proud of while getting it done. It’s a little more than just some assignment where you’d otherwise just say “the teacher will probably give me a B on it so it doesn’t matter”. Because there’s less structure here on my artistic investment, there’s more structure on me getting it done, so I have to take it personally. No one’s telling me to add lighting or make the shadows nicer. My teachers aren’t here to tell me, so I have to make it look good for myself.

What is your favorite part about being an illustrator?

Ever since high school I realized that I liked a lot of things that didn’t seam to merge into a single profession. With illustration you’re always doing the drawing or painting side, but in addition to that you’re always doing the research. There’s always a secondary hat that you’re wearing to make sure that you’re doing it correctly. I’m always getting to look into things that I wouldn’t otherwise get to. Being an artist that has to do a lot of nature scenes, I get to pretend to be a scientist while I do art – informed art.

You can find more work by Matt online or see his contributions to many of our projects in galleries throughout the Creative Arts website.

Creative Arts Unlimited would like to share some exciting news with our clients and coworkers: a selection of our work from this past year was recently announced as a Merit Award Winner in HOW Magazine’s Your Best Work Design Awards. Creative Arts Unlimited will be included in the May 2012 issue of HOW Magazine and featured on the HOW website. Our submission highlights work for Joe DiMaggio Children’s Hospital, the State College of Florida, Mosaic, the University of Texas Health Science Center at Tyler, and the Venice Archives. Thank you to all of our clients and hard working staff.

Duncan Barton

     Duncan Barton is a talented illustrator and designer who has recently leveraged his skills for companies like American Greetings and Zynga. While attending Ringling College as an Illustration student, he worked with Creative Arts’ clients such as The Mayo Clinic, New York Public Library, and the South Florida Museum. 

     We caught up with Duncan to reflect on how he transitioned to a life as a creative professional in today’s competitive arts industry.

How did you start out in design and illustration?

Duncan: I was one of those kids who didn’t have a plan-B. I was always drawing and interested in comics. Once I got into college, Ringling flushed out a lot of those industries for me: they showed me what it would really be like working for an animation or production industry. Working for a newspaper comic strip, as a business, didn’t seem fun at all, so I knew I needed to do something else.

What brought you to Creative Arts Unlimited?

Duncan: Josh Pearson, Creative Director at Creative Arts, came to Ringling and gave a presentation. He showed a really fun range of work: cartoon style work, but then natural history as well. It spoke to a lot of my interests. I thought it would be really fun to do a job that met those interests in combination.

Can you tell us about the work you did while you were at Creative Arts Unlimited?

Duncan: Children’s Libraries were a big part of it. At that point, they weren’t doing shop store windows as much. I worked on various children’s themed large-scale graphics and did graphic design for natural history exhibits. I got to do a lot of realistic mural painting as well.

Roger: I was impressed that you jumped in and did the graphic portion of the Mayo Clinic project.

Duncan: That was graphic design 101–trial by fire! One of the great things about a place like Creative Arts is that they depend on their people and they expect them to do a lot of different things. You might be handed a job and, although you may not know anything about it, you’re given the opportunity to put your mind to it and do it. It was rare when we found ourselves with a project where they thought “maybe we should hold off, this person isn’t ready yet”. Creative Arts was always willing to let people try it out and let themselves grow. I hadn’t seen that type of thing happening at larger companies that I worked for so I realized pretty quickly that Creative Arts was a special place. During your career, you definitely want to work with people who are willing to take chances and help to develop your skills.

What experience at Creative Arts Unlimited shaped what you’ve done over the years or what you’re doing now?

Duncan: Getting to work so closely with Roger, Chuck, and lead designers. I worked directly with them and got a feel for many more pieces of the business. There are jobs where you’re just put in the corner to do your blind piece of the project without seeing the big picture. At Creative Arts, you’re watching the whole thing unfold. Meeting clients face-to-face, sharing the information you have to make the client happy, and seeing how relationships are fostered–it’s all so incredibly important. It helps an artist, who would otherwise be doing their thing and handing in their product. It was much more personal at Creative Arts. Leaving school, I had to go sit in the desert, talk to a snake, do some soul searching, and say “Oh god, now what am I going to do?!” Coming out of Creative Arts, I was so much better prepared to communicate my skills and what I was able to offer each client.

What’s the best piece of advice you got while working at Creative Arts Unlimited?

Duncan: Do things that you’ve never done before. Tackle things that you might not be trained or well-informed about. There’s an initial fear, something that makes you think “I might not be qualified enough to do this”, but you learn to approach it with a level head, use the people that you’re working with to help you make the right decisions, and do a little bit of research beforehand. You could learn to do something well enough to get the job done and walk away with a new skill. A lot of what I do now wasn’t learned in school. It’s all things that I picked up afterward while doing different jobs. Each experience helped me develop my skill set and improve it over time.

Roger: We attract the Duncan-type personality that says, “I’ve never made this before, but how hard can it be?” That’s typically how we make our best stuff, just jumping in there and doing it.

Duncan: Most people when they’re starting out get inspired by Disney films, Pixar stuff, and big name companies that put out well known work. In school, I was looking at that kind of animation work, but my teacher painted a pretty realistic picture of it for me. One person he met at a large company did eyebrows, he was the eyebrow master, and I realized that I didn’t want to be Mr. Eyebrows for the rest of my life. That’s not a really life-fulfilling goal. With Creative Arts having a smaller operating system than something like Disney, you can pull back from that. You can surprise yourself, finding out what you’re capable of doing, if you’re given the chance.

What is your favorite part about being a designer/illustrator?

Duncan: One of the most satisfying things for me is when people ask me what I do. I just tell them “I draw pictures”. Some will come back with a long-winded answer, but I go the simple route. If they want to know more about it, then we’ll get into the range of things that I’ve done. I started out in museum exhibits, painted murals, and installed things, worked in greeting cards, moved into e-cards and animation, tackled video game design, and made things interactive. I like that I can say it simply, but it becomes an incredibly broad range of things.