Balogh designs freelance future

Beacon Journal artist Dennis Balogh has decided to resign and devote his full energies to his freelance business. Here is his sketch of things:

I started at the Beacon in late January 1985. I came in as an illustrator/designer working on illustrations for page fronts and doing design work for Beacon Magazine. I guess my earliest achievement was redesigning the Sunday Magazine and then art directing its look for the following years of publication.With our freelance budget Beacon magazine featured illustrations done by our staff artists and numbers of nationally famous illustrators. We received notable recognition from design competitions across the country.

When the magazine folded all my contributions were then with the newspaper. When the magazine returned Kathy Hagedorn was the new art director.

I've been an assistant art director for the department for most of my years here. My main contribution has been in illustration and design and in managing the work flow of the editorial art department. My illustrations were part of the graphic content of the Pulitzer prize winning Goodyear takeover coverage.

Our art department was a major contributor in helping develop the visual strength of this paper. I enjoyed and am proud to have been part of such a talented group. Over the years good talent left and strong new talent entered. We really made good hires. We'll still have four of those hires left to keep things rolling.

I began freelancing a half dozen or more years ago. In recent years the business has picked up. I do magazine feature illustrations for various out of town publications. Illustration isn't that big locally.

I also do a good deal of portraiture. Some is for publication and some for framing and hanging. Recently, I did the past presidents of Samford University in Alabama. The past two years I illustrated the top CEO's of the year for New York Stock Exchange Magazine.

I ' ve had an agent in New York over the past two years. She has brought a few higher end clients my way. I'm counting on that to continue.

With freelance illustration you have to hustle and make deadlines. Of course we all know about deadlines. And you really don't want to turn down a job. You want people to think you're always available for them. The toughest part of freelancing is keeping the work coming. That will be my biggest challenge.

Aboout the Layoffs: If buyouts were offered there would not have been one layoff. That would have kept the newsroom morale better intact. From the art department's view. Feedback has come our way that the new owner does not see a strong need for staffing of but a few visual people. Our paper is very strong visually and the readers respond to that. You have to realize what it takes to stay visually strong.

Can we educate our new owner on what it takes to put out a good daily paper? Or is he too set in his ways? I guess our editors are doing their best.

About my family: Its just me and wife Patty now. Our daughter Lori is 25 and started a job in New York City less than a month ago. She is a designer for a graphic design firm. My two sons are in town they are age 31 and 29. No grand kids, because of no marriages. We have our fingers crossed that the oldest may get engaged come Christmas time. These young folks are slow movers compared to my day.

Sincerely,
Dennis