Von Glitschka
I do a lot of illustrative work here on Design Crawl, such as graphics and icons, but if you want to see a real master at work, you should take a look at Von Glitschka. If you’ve never heard of him, his “small boutique design firm” as he calls it, does illustrative design work for some of the biggest names in business. Let’s take a look at Von Glitschka and the tremendous amount of great work he’s done.
Quick Bio
Glitschka went to the Burnley school of Art in Seattle and graduated in 1986. This was the pre-digital era, but in 1991 he started in digital at a new job. He’s been working with sporting goods for the NBA, NHL and MLB when he worked with Upper Deck. If you didn’t collect sports cards when you were young, Upper Deck is the company who made sports memorabilia.
Von Glitschka Got Fired
Well, someone’s probably kicking themselves now. I would be. Some idiot, anticipating that Glitschka was leaving for another job, decided to fire him before he quit. Who would fire Von Glitschka? Talk about the mistake of your life. It just goes to show you that losing a job isn’t the end of the world. Just take a look at where Glitschka is now. Getting fired was the best thing that ever happened to him.
He Started His Own Business
Von Glitschka never looked back. He started his own business and has been running a successful design firm ever since. He has worked with businesses like Dell, Adobe, Hasbro, Microsoft, Nike, Disney, General Motors and Betty Crocker, just to name a few. You can see from the samples of work below that Glitschka’s illustrative design work is top-notch. No wonder everyone wants to work with him.
Glitschka admits he was originally inspired to draw and create illustrative work by the work of Norman Rockwell. If you’re not familiar with Rockwell, shame on you! Just kidding. Norman Rockwell’s work is iconic, representing the values of the idealist family of his era. Many artists and designers were inspired by his work. Glitschka is only around 48-49 years old, but he’s already created a life time of incredible work, and doesn’t show any signs of slowing down any time soon.
His Work
I’m not going to list all of his work, because that would take a while. However, I will show off some of his best work and biggest clients. There’s plenty to “oooh” and “ahh” over.
Disney Main Street Pattern
Gevalia Coffee Packaging
Inkdot
John Wayne
Planters
Red Lion Christian Academy
Squidly Font
Wendy’s
Whutevur Font
Adobe CC Promotional Illustration
Conclusion
You’ve gotten a chance to look at Von Glitschka’s impressive work. Which of these are your favorite? I love the work he did for Inkdot, but I also love the Adobe Dragon, too. Leave your thoughts int he comments section below.
Hi James,
Von Glitschka is a friend, colleague and a graduate of one of our colleges, the Art Institute of Seattle. I was disappointed that was omitted.
I have always been proud of that.
Thomas Benner
The Art Institute of Austin
Austin, Texas
Thomas, I didn’t omit it, I just missed that information. I’ll add it in. I am a graduate of the Art Institute of Pittsburgh, so you know I wouldn’t omit that on purpose.