| Illustration: Success |
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Jenny Kim
Jenny Kim has come a long way to find a new home here in Milwaukee; she was born in Korea, graduated from high school in Canada, entered the Samsung Art & Design Institute in Korea and eventually transferred to MIAD to complete her degree in Illustration. While at MIAD, Jenny spent a summer in Ireland through an exchange program. "The Ireland trip opened my eyes as an artist. I learned that expressing my feelings and communicating with others are the most important elements of being an artist."  
Since graduating from MIAD, Kim has had many freelance jobs, including poster and scenery design. She is currently employed as a designer at Rishi Tea Company, designing package labels, posters, flyers, the company website and promotional projects. Asked about her career goals at Rishi Tea, Kim replied, "I want to use my design skills to advertise Asian tea-drinking traditions to American customers." Max Estes
Writer. Illustrator. Teacher. Max Estes does it all. Growing up, Estes was surrounded by art and creativity (Max's mom wrote choose-your-own-adventure books that were mostly medieval fantasy novels, and Max's stepdad created sci-fi board games like "Snit's Revenge" and "The Awful Green Things From Outer Space"). Now, on his own creative journey, Estes just published his first graphic novel, with the second following this Spring. He works in his studio as much as possible conceptualizing, writing, and illustrating graphic novels, children's books, and comics. Estes is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts degree so that he can teach illustration and sequential art courses in the future. Q. What did you think you wanted to be when you grew up? A. I didn't really think about it much. I just knew I'd go to art school. Q. What is your first memorable experience with art and design?
Q. What was the most valuable thing you learned at MIAD? A. You don't stop learning when you leave the campus. It's not just classrooms and assignments; your college experience spans far beyond the campus walls. You take your lessons with you onto the streets, into your life. Q. What's the one thing you would tell a high school student who is considering attending MIAD now that you've experienced life after graduation?
A. Don't be afraid to run full force toward what you want to do most with your art. You can make a living doing most anything with enough passion put forth. Q. Please define how you saw your major while you were in school,and how that definition has changed over the years. A. I graduated with a Bachelors in Communication Design, but upon graduation, I found that I was more interested in design theory as opposed to the graphic design industry (i.e. a 9 to design job). I learned to take what I wanted from my background in graphic design and apply it to my illustration/cartooning career. Q. Are there any notable parts of your resume that you'd like to share? A. My first graphic novel, Hello, Again is available in stores nationwide and online. My second book, Coffee & Donuts will be in stores in Spring, 2006. Don't be scared to add variety to your resume; be adventurous with your career and try new things.
Rob Schrab
Few people have as broad a résumé as Rob Schrab; illustrator, comic book creator and publisher, film and television writer, producer, director, improv actor, storyteller, and "Gorath the Destroyer." First, he created, wrote and published Scud the Disposable Assassin, a comic about "a robotic assassin bought from a vending machine." Since moving to Hollywood, he has worked with Ben Stiller, Jack Black, Robert Zemeckis, Ron Howard, Jim Henson's company, and Sid and Marty Kroftt. His directorial debut, Robot Bastard!, is "a short, sci-fi, action film made completely out of cardboard and broken toys." It has won several film awards and is a definite crowd pleaser. In reference to his short film, Schrab says, "I took everything I learned at MIAD and dumped it into one big thing."
What advice would Schrab give to young artists? "If we all had the power to see ourselves through the eyes of others, we'd check out how neat we really are. I've always walked through my life thinking that everyone thought I was a dork or untalented or worthless. It took me 33 years to realize that's how EVERYONE thinks. Actually, if I had my druthers (and I do) I wish fears were curable." Want to see Schrab's skills?
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Briana MacWilliam
"At the end of four years, all the majors seemed to fuse into one, and they were all so integrated into each other it was hard to know where one focus began and another ended. Designers influenced painters, printmakers influenced design, drawing influenced sculpture, sculpture influenced interior architecture + design, and so on and so forth. Do what you love." Q. What did you want to be when you grew up? A. I always wanted to be an artist. Ever since nursery school I remember wanting to be that. An artist or a carpenter, or a ballerina, which ever came more naturally. Q. What was your first memorable experience with art and design? A. My most memorable experience was when I was in Pre-Kindergarten and I was attempting to represent Santa Claus' beard with a yellow marker. The teacher interrupted me and showed me that simply drawing a black outline, instead of trying to create the illusion of white with yellow, was more effective. I have never looked back.
A. MIAD brought me to Ireland my junior year on an exchange, to the Burren College of Art, where I feel I had a kind of spiritual awakening of sorts. It lead me in the direction of Art Therapy, which was the area of study for my Master's Degree. MIAD also challenged me to think differently about the ways that I viewed things, really pushed the creative parts of my brain that a public education tends to ignore. Q. What's the one thing you would tell a high school student who is considering attending MIAD now that you've experienced life after graduation? A. Don't worry about being practical. Don't be a designer because you think it will make you more money. But don't feel self-conscious about being a designer because you aren't 'artsy' enough. At the end of four years, all the majors seemed to fuse into one, and they were all so integrated into each other it was hard to know where one focus began and another ended. Designers influenced painters, printmakers influenced design, drawing influenced sculpture, sculpture influenced interior architecture + design, and so on and so forth. Do what you love. The loans will take care of themselves. It's just a bill you pay like the phone or electric. Q. If you had to sum up your job in a single sentence, what would it be? A. Before I graduated [from Pratt] I was already hired at Lincoln Medical and Mental Health Center in South Bronx, NY, as the supervising activities therapist for the adult inpatient psychiatric unit; my official title being "Senior Rehabilitation Counselor." Q. What are your goals for the future, in art/design and in life? A. Currently, I am earning hours toward my license as a Creative Arts Therapist, and my ATR (Art Therapy Registration) with the American Art Therapy Association. My goals are to complete the license, work for a few years with various populations, gain some more experience and then go back to school for a PhD in something related. I would like to eventually have my own practice and open a kind of community center for the arts and art therapy. Oh, and learn spanish. Q. Are there any specific parts of your resume that you'd like to share? A. I graduated with Honors from Pratt's program in Creative Arts Therapy in 2006, with a Master's in Professional Studies and Creativity Development. My thesis was a research project, which was a phenomenological study on the use of visual journaling as a therapeutic intervention for men in the military. Q. Please define how you saw your major while in school, and how that definition has changed over the years. A. In school I though illustration was more practical, and suited my process of working and narrative style. After I went to Ireland, however, I realized that the commercial aspect of it was not the direction I wanted to go in. The art became more about process than product, and so I went to graduate school to further investigate my inclinations.
Erica Lyn Huppe
Q. What did you want to be when you grew up? A. I always had a passion for the arts, and that I would never be satisfied with my life if I didn't go somewhere with it. From an early age, my art had always centered around animals and wildlife, but growing up I was never certain how that would tie in with my future. Q. What was your first memorable experience with art and design? A. When I was in second grade, everyone in my art class sat down to draw pictures. Later that day, a friend's mom noted that my drawing was one of the strongest. I already knew that I loved drawing, but this showed me that there are people who appreciate it, and that was encouraging. Q. How did your MIAD education affect where you are today? A. MIAD taught me many important things about dealing with professionals, and the art of self-promotion. I also obtained useful skills both in concept and in technology. I'm using all of the skills now in my career. Q. What was the most valuable thing you learned at MIAD? A. To loosen up. Technically speaking. My work used to be pretty stiff and to the point, but I learned how to open up and take more liberty with it. Q. What's the one thing you would tell a high school student who is considering attending MIAD now that you've experienced life after graduation? A. You really have to want it. Being an artist requires dedication and hard work -- but when it feels right, it's the most rewarding work in the world. If you're willing to put in the effort, you can make it. Q. If you had to sum up your job in a single sentence, what would it be? A. I am doing scientific illustration for the Burpee Museum of Natural History -- ranging from exhibit art, museum booklets, and highlighting specimens from their permanent collections.
Q. What are your goals for the future, in art/design and in life? A. Working for a museum really fits in with what I've loved to do from childhood, and I'd love to further explore this field of work. I would love if this enabled me to travel, because it would be great to see more of the country. Most of all, I want to keep creating art. Q. Are there any specific parts of your resume that you'd like to share? A. I created illustration for the Homer CSI exhibit at the Burpee Museum of Natural History in Rockford, IL. I'll also be having a future solo art exhibition at the Burpee Museum in October, 2007. Q. Please define how you saw your major while in school, and how that definition has changed over the years. A. I felt like kind of an oddball in my major, because the type of work I wanted to do was unlike anyone else's in the three years ahead of me and the three years behind. This was frustrating at the time, but now that I can look back at my education, even the seemingly irrelevant projects taught me something. There may not have been any courses on scientific illustration specifically, but MIAD provided a broader sense of the major, which can really be translated into an aspect of the illustration field.
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"I don't think I wanted to be something specific as a child, but I remember I always found myself doing art." 
"Don't be afraid to run full force toward what you want to do most with your art."
A. I was an avid skateboarder when I was young. The art and designs that graced the bottom half of skateboards had a huge effect on me as a young, aspiring artist. Those graphics were like a window into some fascinating subculture, and led me to start putting ideas down on paper. Many years later, I would go on to design skateboard graphics, an opportunity that was near the top of my list of "career goals" to meet.
"I took everything I learned at MIAD and dumped it into one big thing."
And where did this journey begin? "My mother was the first to tell me 'you draw good.' I guess that's what gets me up in the morning. I live to impress my mom, make my dad proud and my brothers laugh." MIAD's illustration degree gave Schrab a sense of craftsmanship and pride in his work.
Q. How did your MIAD education affect where you are today?
