Conversations with Luke Dubois

Today we’d like to introduce you to Luke Dubois

Hi Luke, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
I grew up in New England, lived mostly in New Hampshire, but spent time in Vermont, Massachusetts and Maine. I grew up swimming in the rivers in summer, skiing and skating in the winter. The forest held secrets and mysteries that sparked my imagination, and from a young age I have been drawing, sculpting, writing, or creating in some form or another. I’m truly a life long creative person, I have no choice in the matter, it’s just how I’m wired, and I’m grateful I get to experience life through this lens.

I also spent nearly 10 years in Santa Cruz, California from the mid nineties to the mid 2000s. I learned how to drive, surf, and dance out there… went to Burning Man for three years in a row, in ’02,’03, and ’04. Got my CMP in bodywork school there, worked at the health food stores, and still have a lot of roots there to this day. I also travelled to Central America for three months during this time, visiting Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras and Guatemala, in 2005 (the year prior to my school enrollment). I helped found a hip hop group, The Serendipity Project, in 2002, and the youth arts education and activist group, MOVE (Making Our Voices Empowered) during my time there as well.

I moved from Santa Cruz to Portland Maine, back in 2006, and that’s where I went to school, at Maine College of Art. I graduated in 2012, with a BFA in Graphic Design. What took me so long? Well, primarily that I began school at the tender age of 26, on a non-traditional student pathway. I had moved with my ex girlfriend, and we wound up becoming parents to twin boys at the end of my freshman year—at the time I thought my life was over, and it was a hard slog to get through some of those times of little sleep and lots of deadlines. The backdrop of all this of course, was the 2008 financial crisis. There didn’t seem like many other options than stay in school, and hope that all the loans I was taking on would eventually pay off.

Getting through school and also being a father to twin boys was a unique challenge. I did have to reduce my courseload, and even took a semester off at one point. Juggling school, family, work, and being in a band meant I was extremely busy during those times!

Anyways—I eventually got things sorted, managed to graduate school, and eventually moved to Southern California at the end of 2013. I’ve been in the area since, but now call Long Beach home, where I live with my wife and our two year old. Wait what about the other kids?! Yeah, they are about to graduate from Valencia High School this year, and I am super proud of the young men they are becoming. So I joke about how I’ve been teaching the little one to walk and the older ones to drive. Full age-spectrum parenting for the win!

Professionally, my path as a graphic designer and illustrator has also been a difficult path, but one well worth it—I love what I do, and that’s a huge blessing that I try to keep top of mind, each day. I’ve been in the industry now for nearly 13 years (!!) I never really realized it, but in such a competitive field, that is a certain measure of success. If only my bank account reflected a similar measure. Le sigh.

I got a real foot in the door as a production artist at OC Weekly (RIP) and from there, have worked for a lot of different agencies and companies in both freelance and contract roles. I’m now entering my third year as a Senior designer at a small agency in Beverly Hills. You’ve probably seen our Morongo commercials, I’m sure. (Full disclosure, I have nothing to do with those ads, I’m in a different department). I’m super grateful that I get to do the work I do, especially in this economy. The internet is rife with stories of much more accomplished designers struggling to find work this year.

I’m always working on side projects, and one of my biggest ongoing successful ones has been AfroBeats Nite Santa Cruz. It’s an ongoing weekly / bi-weekly event in SC, that I’ve been helping to promote since the end of 2021. I am looking ahead to the next winter season, when the work slows down a bit—weekly events are a lot of effort.

I also am working on doing more motion design and more illustrations moving forward, I actually think I’ve got a Children’s book in the works with a friend. While these times are uncertain, I, in my own little world, have to say things are looking pretty good, and I’m quite grateful for the opportunities that have come my way.

Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Certainly not! I joke half-heartedly about how even when I have full time employment, that I need to spend time at my other job (the job search) …because it truly is another job! Big shout outs to my recruiters that landed me jobs and kept me going, I’m lucky to have had them.

The struggle of being a weekend dad is it’s own thing too. It’s been a whirlwind honestly, and it’s crazy to reflect on my path to now. What they say, the days and weeks are short but the years go by fast… is true. I do my best to stay present as much as I can. Kids grow really fast it’s crazy.

One of the big challenges that seems unique as a designer, is the sort of disposable nature of the work, and how that seems to be reflected in how designers are often treated, as a dime-a-dozen or something. Getting people to see that you have ideas, vision, chops and skills, and the motivation to get things done on time can be hard to break through. I know it’s been a bumpy road for me like that.

I learned the hard way that certain industries are just not the type of people that I’m interested in working with, though now of course, I am glad that I learned that. A really important lesson for me has been the realization that I am not the work that I do, and though sometimes it can be a reflection of my values and perspective, most often it’s just work, and so when faced with rejection I don’t need to take it personally.

Really, in many ways, success depends upon finding your people, the ones who you connect with and the ones that recognize your value. Sometimes part of finding those people is finding the ones who aren’t your people. Recognizing this has saved me much anxiety as I’ve had to adapt to new offices and co workers regularly over my years in the industry.

The ongoing challenge is to stay on top of trends, stay open to learning new tricks and apps, stay present and focused, and find balance in life / work situations. I’m up for the task though—I’m lucky to say that I truly love what I get to do, so it motivates me to learn new things often.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe next you can tell us a bit more about your work?
In addition to my full time agency office job, I have a small one person agency called Biloba Creative Design Co. I focus on branding design, graphic design and illustration. What really makes my work stand out is the hand made aspect that I try to tie in to each project if possible. That, and an emphasis on clear and legible communications that translate well to the viewer.

My passion is to help bands, dj’s, performers, bars, restaurants, and local small businesses to have better visual design. Seeing your work help a business to thrive is probably the best reward this type of work can offer. I also love illustration / drawing / writing, so I also have a children’s book and a graphic novel in the works, on the back burner.

Some projects I’ve worked on have been art direction and production of an ad campaign for Aquafina Sparkling, and email layout design for Microsoft. I successfully designed, ran pre-press and helped launch a marketing campaign for Complete Athlete, a series of books in the Athletic / Coaching / Motivational space, now for sale on Amazon. What else: branding and packaging projects with Daiso, 99¢Only Stores, and Big 5 Sporting Goods. Photo shoot, catalog design and deck for K-Beauty SOS. Running the instagram account for OCWeekly’s Editorial Department.

Branding the new gym for Spurling Fitness, in Maine, the Infinity Center. Children’s book layout design and illustration, When I Was a Daddy. Also for sale on Amazon. Helped lead a team rebrand and update to Muckleshoot Casino Resort, and a handful of their on property establishments. Successfully created updated Pink Coffee coffee cup designs now in use at Casino Morongo, designed to be cute so people will be more likely to want to hold up in a photo for social media.

Many others, too much to list here, check out my Dribbble or LinkedIn

How can people work with you, collaborate with you or support you?
If you have a desire to collab or anything don’t hesitate to reach out!

send me an email at bilobacreative@gmail.com

or DM me on instagram, my handle is @biloba_creative_design_co

If you want to support me, please follow me on socials and hire me to help with some art, design or branding!

Pricing:

• • 200-750 logo design
• • 800-1800 branding package
• • 75/hourly for art or design outside of packages
• • free dad jokes

Contact Info:

• Website: https://bilobacreative.design
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/biloba_creative_design_co
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/biloba.creative
• Twitter: https://x.com/bilobacreative
• Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lucid_realm
• Other: https://dribbble.com/biloba_creative_design_co

 

Image Credits
Photography by Haven and Dorian Dubois. All art and design by Luke Dubois, aka Biloba Creative Design Co.