Interview with an Artist

This is a mock-interview with me asking questions of myself.

I wanted to re-introduce myself since starting this Substack newsletter last April and it seemed boring to just write about myself in some kind of auto-biographical way. So instead I put together some questions that I thought would help introduce me and my work, and then answered them in a more casual and conversational way, as if in an interview.

I hope you like the format. Enjoy!

My name is Daniel Swartz and I’m a middle-aged graphic designer, but a very specific kind of graphic designer: I work in an analog graphic design process known as letterpress — the antique method of using movable letters carved from wood or cast in metal that are arranged on a press to create prints using a modular relief printing method. (It is the same basic process Johannes Gutenberg pioneered around the year 1450.)

I’ve been slowly rebuilding my creative practice after 2020 threw me and my family for a loop. A lot of things changed for us that year. Now I’m the parent that stays at home and is in charge of most of the family stuff, while trying to re-establish myself as an artist and designer in rural Indiana.

My work is mostly created using analog and manual techniques, except for digital mockups or when I occasionally design and craft custom wood printing blocks. I manually cut my paper, hand ink the designs, and hand press the paper onto the blocks using a simple, manual proofing press, and each one is signed and numbered by yours truly as well.

It’s slow, methodical work but you can’t get the same results (or connection to history) in any other way! Letterpress is a fading design craft and I’m trying to do my part to protect and preserve the legacy of it.

I consider myself very fortunate to have the time and ability to rebuild a creative life and also take care of my family. It’s been slow going but I’m beyond thankful for everyone that has invited my letterpress prints into their homes and workplaces and continues to support me on social media. What a blessing to have such generous friends and followers!

Well, I’ve tried a lot of things so my work history is all over the place. When I was a kid, I wanted nothing more than to be a cartoonist and have a strip in the newspaper like Charles Schulz or Jim Davis. I went to college and did ok but not great, then there was a starving artist period while I worked in food service. Then I quit, and got a part time job as a graphic designer, that actually made me fall in love with design which was a surprise because I really didn’t like design at all when I was in college. Then I got a couple graduate degrees while trying to make it as an illustrator (spoiler: I didn’t make it as an illustrator), and then I found a career where I got to use lots of my different creative skills. I really loved that role and season but it was ended in layoffs, which was really painful at the time but opened up my mind to new possibilities I never would have considered before…like letterpress!

I have an affinity for natural media and those happy accidents that happen in non-digital spaces. Digital is great for learning and client work and endless flexibility, but there’s something about the level of commitment and immediacy when using natural media that I’m drawn to.

Also, I like the idea that there’s a physical, tangible record of my work and the small slice of time I occupy on Earth. Digital designs live in an ephemeral state, not really existing here or there and although that’s great for sending files and collaboration, I guess I’m just more drawn to “real” things. (Also, I fully get the irony that I’m writing this on a digital device and you’re likely reading it on one as well!)

In the chaos of 2020 I lost the time for regularly putting down my thoughts on design, fonts, creativity, and the creative person’s path. Like a lot of things, it got pushed aside in that new season. After a couple years I started to have an itch to return to that. There’s something fulfilling about collecting my thoughts and committing them to words and paragraphs for others to be educated or encouraged by.

Then, it just so happened that I saw a post on Facebook: an art teacher was looking for a guest speaker for their class…and it could be done remotely. I was very apprehensive, but I put my name in the ring and they graciously invited me to speak for an hour about my letterpress work and rebuilding my creative career.

I was super nervous, and the slide show probably wasn’t that great, but when I was done I felt amazing! I had done something pretty courageous (for me at least) and I felt like it had really helped some of the students based on the questions and discussion.

And then I thought that maybe I could do it again, and probably better. So I kept my eyes open and put some feelers out there and I was able to get another class to speak to! I was a little calmer this time and the slideshow was better. And then I got another invite! And then a small association of creatives invited me to speak at their monthly meeting, and then a small conference, and then more and more invites came. I absolutely can’t believe how lucky I am to be trusted and invited into people’s spaces to talk about art, and design, and failure, and healthy creative thinking.

Even though I am still very much figuring out my own creative path, I see my speaking and writing work as a way to encourage other artists and designers, primarily to help others see failure and unpredictable paths as commonplace, and not something to be ashamed of. Also, I enjoy thinking about how we think as creatives, and I hope that by spending some time organizing and articulating those observations it can help other artists and designers be more successful.

Absolutely not! Since I was very young I had only wanted to draw and paint, in fact all my degrees are in painting/drawing/illustration. (And I failed out of the graphic design degree in college!)

But somewhere along the way I started to really appreciate the beauty in the design of really well made fonts - corners, curves, ratios, consistency, etc. and then I started to be interested in page shaping for design, and then nicely made things, and design history, and it eventually led me to an interest in letterpress. And in 2020 when I all of a sudden I had a bunch of time on my hands and no real direction, I started fiddling with letterpress and it slowly became the only thing that was working. And after a couple years I went all in!

A typical day begins with making breakfast for the kids and getting them ready for school. Once they are on their way, the day often starts with packing orders to ship. And if there’s time and the weather is nice I’ll bike them down to our little rural post office.

Then there’s usually a little social media work posting, sharing, and engaging before moving onto the actual making of the day, whether that’s digital mockups or actual working on the press or with materials, there’s more than enough to fill the time! Letterpress is such a physical process, there’s always type to be sorted and returned, things to clean, materials to prepare, etc.

A few times a week I will take a break to go for a run as well. It’s a good way to clear my head and also helps with my creativity and my overall feeling of well-being. Other days I’ll take a break to drive into town to run errands for the family so we don’t have to make a run in the evening.

Then I get in what work I can in the afternoon before I have to be back on “dad duty” when the kids get home. Sometimes after they hit the sack I’ll squeeze in another hour or so of work, depending on what needs done and depending on how much motivation I have left.

Oftentimes I have classic jazz on — Art Tatum, Wes Montgomery, Bill Evans, and the like. But I also listen to podcasts like Jon Acuff’s All it Takes is a Goal, or the How I Built This podcast with Guy Raz, or I collect different podcast episodes on design to listen to a variety of designers talk about their careers and get some outside perspectives and resources that might help me in my own work.

And other days I just jam out to 90’s hits.

A good day is one where I get to do a variety of things associated with making prints. Like if I can trim paper on the same day that I’m finishing a lockup on the press and also doing a first color pass, that always feels good. But there’s a lot of days where it’s just lockup, or there’s so much social media or emailing or writing to do that I don’t have much time to make things every single day.

Even better if it’s sunny out! I’ll admit I’m a little dependent upon the sunshine to keep me going and in a good mood. So if the sun is out and I get to spend the day physically making things, that’s a great day.

And of course the cherry on top is when my phone goes off with that little Cha-Ching, letting me know that someone purchased a print. It’s always very encouraging and a good reminder that I’m doing valuable work that people like and want in their spaces. And even better if it happens when the kids are around so they see dad doing well in his work.

Although I spend a lot of time on social media and Substack, I have no desire to be “famous.” But social media seems the best way to tell people about my work, especially on Instagram which is a very visual platform, so I spend a lot of time there. But that’s not how I gauge my success.

Instead, my goals are pretty simple: make a living working with type and encouraging other artists. If I can pay the bills with that, save a little, and regularly be available for my family that’s all I really need.

I’d really love to get up to 1,000 subscribers…

But in order for that to happen, I need more people here on Substack and beyond to see my work.

Be intentional about liking my Notes and Articles

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…and if you’re really feeling generous, pledging to be a paid subscriber to my newsletter. I’m not sure when I’ll turn subscriptions on, but I hope to soon. I really need to start making a little bit of money from writing on Substack to justify the time trying to make quality Notes and Articles.

Thank you! I really mean it — your support matters more than you know for me and my family!

-Daniel