Today we’d like to introduce you to David Plunkert.
Alright, so thank you so much for sharing your story and insight with our readers. To kick things off, can you tell us a bit about how you got started?
I went to school for visual communication at Shepherd University in West Virginia, and started working in Baltimore as a graphic designer in the late 80’s. My wife, illustrator and children’s book author Joyce Hesselberth and I started Spur Design in 1995. In 1999 we moved the studio to our current location, which is a large industrial space which includes a gallery and plenty of space for large scale projects. I also maintain a site with my own illustration and personal work: davidplunkert.com
I’ve illustrated a number of books including “Frankenstein” and “Edgar Allan Poe: Poems and Stories” for Rockport as well as published “Happy Sad Ugly Pretty: Baltimore Theatre Project Posters 2003-2020” and 3 volumes of “Heroical” under our Spur Publishing imprint.
My clients have included Adidas, Maryland Institute College of Art, The New York Times, The New Yorker, Patton Oswalt, They Might be Giants, and The United States Postal Service.
My first love is print design…. especially posters and books…..though I also enjoy doing illustrations for magazines and newspapers. In the last 10 or so years I’ve been doing more gallery oriented work which includes giclee prints, paintings and woodblock prints. I’ve also directed and illustrated a number of animated music videos.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Looking back it’s been pretty smooth in regards to always making enough money to pay the bills, keep the doors open, and make satisfying work that occasionally wins industry awards. The main struggle would be the ongoing stress of having to adapt to new technology, shifting creative trends, and what seems like an ever-changing audience.
There always needs to be a certain amount of creative work that functions as “R&D” so that one doesn’t fall into the trap of being stale creatively… or at least delay falling into that trap for as long as one can.
Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
I’m a graphic designer and illustrator. I specialize in designing and illustrating covers, posters, and magazine illustration.
I am most proud of my ongoing series of over 80 posters I’ve created for Baltimore Theatre Project and for covers that I’ve illustrated for The New Yorker. One of my New Yorker covers was named “Magazine Cover of the Year” by the American Society of Magazine Editors (ASME) in 2018. I recently completed a number of bull murals for Armorica Grande Brasserie in Sydney Australia which have been well received.
I think what sets my work apart is my frequent use of wit and humor to communicate a visual concept or idea.
Do you have recommendations for books, apps, blogs, etc?
I can get lost looking at great work on Instagram and Pinterest. I have a long-time admiration for the work of designer and illustrator Seymour Chwast so I look at seymourchwastarchive.com frequently.
Artist books that I’ve been looking at recently include “Work in Progress” by Philippe Weisbecker, “Bill Traylor” by Valérie Rousseau, and “Totentanz Von Basel” by H.A.P. Grieshaber.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.davidplunkert.com/
- Instagram: @davidplunkert
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/david-plunkert-a7a0968/
- Other: https://spurdesign.com/
