- What is your name / organization / title?
Ben Brick
- What motivated you to become a maker?
One Christmas I was gifted some old Boys Life magazines from the 1950s and I fell in love. I spent the rest of the night looking through the brittle pages. What I loved most about them was the imagery and design. instead of photos the zine featured really nice illustrations and that was really the first time I felt any sort of clarity with my career. I wanted to do that.
- Looking back on the early stages of your journey, what advice would you give yourself now?
Do something every day for two years, it doesn’t have to be the right thing, it just has to be something your interested in. It will either be right or wrong and even if it’s wrong, you will have a skill to help you with the next thing.
- What is your favorite thing you’ve ever made? Why?
My favorite thing I’ve ever completed was a series of Halloween stories I did for Inktober projects. They aren’t anything especially good, but I was trying to reproduce the feelings I felt as a kid on Halloween. Now when I see them I get slapped in the face with Halloween nostalgia.
- What’s the next evolution for you (or your industry) going to look like?
The illustration industry may have an important role to play for virtual room design (think Ready Player One). Schools and workplaces could be using well designed virtual spaces during outbreaks such as Covid if the technology was there. I would love to do this for an elementary school some day... When it’s a thing.
- Who would you partner with (living or dead) for your dream collaboration? And what would you work on together?
Ray Bradbury and I would make a really spooky coming of age novel, about a gang of kids solving some Halloween mystery somewhere in a small midwestern town, in a small midwestern state.
- You're on death row and it's time for your final meal. What'll ya have?
Cheese buttons, if you haven’t had them, they are all the rage in North Dakota
- In a world where you have two hands, all of your pets and loved ones are safe, and your studio is on fire, what do you try to save?
My art prints. Most of them are discontinued and bring me joy and encouragement. I’d have a hard time replacing them.
- What is one piece of pop culture (movie, tv, artwork, song, etc.) that no matter how many times you return to it you still draw excitement, movement, or inspiration?
I have seen madmen through 3 times and one with commentary. I can’t get enough of the show. I have loved a lot of shows before and since bit madmen is a personal fav.
- I love useless facts. Impress me with a seriously useless fact!
North Dakota has two different small towns claiming to be the center of the continent, but nobody knows for sure which one is correct.
- If you could try any profession other than your own, what would you choose to do?
Private investigator. I have wanted to start a small PI business on the side for the last year now. Is it legal or do you need some kind of training. Dm me with any details. I’m 80 percent serious about this.
- What is your personal strategy/philosophy when it comes to using social media for your work?
Social media is like an amp for word of mouth marketing. You can connect with like minded people and it is our biggest advantage over previous generations... living in a rural state it’s a necessity but I feel like I waist a lot of time on there.
- Speaking of social media, where can people find you?
@brickillustration
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