We recently caught up with Daniel Pauhl (IDEA Grad 2019) for a grad spotlight on life after graduating from IDEA School of Design. Many congratulations to Daniel on illustrating a new children’s book by author Nikki Hedstrom! “A Thought is a Thought” is available at Indigo, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

What are your memories and highlights from IDEA School of Design and have you stayed in touch with your cohort?

One of the most memorable moments from IDEA School of Design was our class trip to Montreal. It was inspiring to meet many accomplished designers and illustrators while being together outside of a school environment and becoming closer as a cohort.

A highlight for me was all the workshops we did in our third year. It was really fun to explore and try out different things and learn from so many different people from the industry.

Not seeing people in person has made staying in touch difficult for me. I would meet with some friends for coffee pre-pandemic, and would occasionally reach out over social media. But now that everything is digital, it’s been hard for me to stay in touch.

Life after graduating from IDEA?

I didn’t have much luck finding illustration jobs in animation after I graduated. I’ve been taking this time to focus on my portfolio and to grow as an illustrator and as a person.

In April my wife and I had a beautiful baby which was a truly indescribable experience. I love being a dad so much, I can’t wait to see my son grow up. 

This past spring, after my son was born, I got the amazing opportunity to illustrate a children’s book called “A Thought is a Thought.” Written and published by Nikki Hedstrom, the book teaches children how to be mindful. It provides the tools to identify and deal with the negative thoughts that bombard us. Through a wonderful story and interactive exercises, Nikki teaches mindfulness in a fun and understandable way. When she first gave me the manuscript I knew that this book would be very important; there was no way I could say no.

I owe this to my good friend and recent IDEA grad Riley O’Dell who connected me with Nikki through his internship at Twice. Illustrating a children’s book was a dream come true, it’s something I’ve always wanted to do since before IDEA. It was such a good experience working alongside Nikki. She had a very clear vision for how she wanted the book to be, and such a passion for teaching people about mindfulness. The project as a whole really felt like a collaboration that would have happened at IDEA. There were extensive discussions, ideas, experiments, and decision making about how to make the visual language work alongside the story. Nikki’s energy and enthusiasm were contagious and I had a lot of fun making this project happen. Not only did I learn more about mindfulness, but I thoroughly enjoyed working in a different style and learning about my own creative process. It’s opened up the world of children’s book illustration to me and I feel more confident to pursue creating my own children’s book.

“A Thought is a Thought” is available at Indigo, Barnes & Noble, and Amazon.

Applied Arts Student Award

I received an award from Applied Arts for a packaging design project I did in my second year at IDEA. Called Bug Bites by Grub, the brief for the project was to create a cricket-flour snack brand that appealed to both children and their parents. With the challenge of overcoming the North American aversion to insects, I created the packaging to be fun and honest about the product while explaining the benefits of cricket flour based foods.

For me, school was where I was discovering my illustration style and developing the tools I needed for my career. So, to be honest, I didn’t expect to win any. Even though I didn’t receive many awards, I was honored to have one to my name by the time I graduated.

What’s in your design toolkit these days? Have you learned any new tools since graduating?

I haven’t learned many new tools since graduation. I’ve primarily been using Photoshop and InDesign for my work. I love learning new programs and skills but for the time being, I’m focusing my energy on refining my craft in digital and traditional mediums. I want to really understand how to use the existing tools I have to do good work.

What’s in your communications toolkit these days and have tools changed much during the pandemic?

The biggest change as everyone knows too well is everything is online. When I was working on the book with Nikki Hedstrom, instead of meeting at a coffee shop, everything was over Zoom, email, and Google Drive. I never met her in person. Google Drive was surprisingly helpful when it came to reviewing my illustrations with Nikki. Since Zoom requires a lot of undivided focus, it wasn’t the most convenient when parenting a newborn baby. Google Drive has a feature that lets you comment on images which was helpful when we wanted to talk about specific things.

What advice would you give to IDEA students or anyone considering applying to IDEA School of Design?

Explore careers that you want to get into. IDEA School of Design is a great Bachelor of Design program to give you the tools and opportunities to prepare you for the industry. But if you don’t have a clear idea of what direction you want to go in, it can be harder later on in the program.

The Bachelor of Design program is intense and you’ll only get out of it what you put into it. Learn as much as you can and challenge yourself and step out of what makes you comfortable. It’s cliché, I know, but I have found this to be true.

What advice would you give to IDEA students regarding practicums, portfolios, and career advice?

Focus on work that demonstrates what your skills are and what work you want to do. Review your portfolio with as many people as possible, especially during practicum. It’s a good way to gauge how industry ready your portfolio is. 

Don’t be afraid to show personal work, employers like to see what you are passionate about and where your interests lie, even if they are hobbies. They want to see your skills, yes, but also what kind of person you are. Who you are is just as important as the skills you offer.

If you want to learn more about the book you can follow on Facebook or visit athoughtisathought.com.

For more on Daniel see danielpauhl.com or follow him on Insta @daniel.pauhl.