Today we’d like to introduce you to Joyce Hesselberth
Hi Joyce, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today?
I came to Baltimore to work at a graphic design studio 35 years ago, fresh out of school. I met my future husband Dave Plunkert at that job, but we didn’t start dating until a couple years later. So while I can’t say I liked my first job, I’m really glad I worked there! During my time working at that studio, I noticed that the best parts of the jobs we worked on were always the illustration assignments. Those were usually done by freelance illustrators, but sometimes they were done in-house. After I left my first job… and then got laid off from another job, I decided to try freelancing. By then Dave and I were dating and he was freelancing too.
We got married in 1994 and combined our freelance businesses into a studio, Spur Design. We eventually bought a factory building to work from in Hampden. It gives us lots of space for messy projects. We’ve been designing and illustrating from here ever since. It’s hard to believe we’ve been in business now for 30 years! During that time, we’ve made thousands of illustrations for magazines and newspapers. My main studio focus now is writing and illustrating children’s books. I also teach illustration at MICA. And on the personal side, we have 3 grown kids who we are super proud of, 2 cats, and 4 chickens.
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?
Overall, I can’t complain. Illustration has treated me well. But there have definitely been challenges along the way. It was really hard to get my first book published. I would reach out to editors and either get no response, or get a rejection. This went on for years. I kept all of the rejection letters in a binder which someone told me was really sad, but some of those rejection letters were very thoughtfully written and offered good advice. Those contacts became important eventually. When I got my agent and she sold my first book, it was to one of those people in the binder. Without my agent, I don’t think I would have sold the book. But I also think all of the reaching out I had done in the past really helped.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I’m most proud of the children’s books that I have written and illustrated. Picture books are an amazing format to explore. I love how the words and pictures almost dance together. I’m constantly amazed by how impactful books are for kids. I mean, I still remember a lot of the books from my childhood, so getting the chance to make something that important for another generation of kids is a very big deal to me.
Now I have five books published, so there’s a little row of them on my shelf. They are all very different from each other, but I think you can probably still tell that they have the same creative voice behind them.
Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years?
I think there is something so basic and pure about children’s books, that they are going to be around for a long time. Years ago, everyone said they would shift to ebooks, and now of course people are worried about AI. But at the center of everything is this need for a parent or caregiver to sit down with a child and read a story. And those stories need to be good, thoughtful, beautiful stories that are illustrated by real people, so I’m optimistic about the future.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://joycehesselberth.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joycehesselberth/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/joycehesselberth/
- Other: https://bookshop.org/contributors/joyce-hesselberth
