My Future Self

How I relate to this designer and what I learned from him

Getting to interview Chris Leba was such a cool experience. I am really into fashion and am a really big fan of his clothing brand R13. I relate to him so much with his love for fashion, his inspirations for fashion, and also starting in the healthcare field before changing to design. He gave me such amazing tips on getting started in the design field. And getting to hear his story about starting out to where he is now was amazing. I think one of the coolest aspects of learning more about him was the fact that he doesn’t have a lot of media presents and there aren’t many interviews with him or his story out there. Up until a couple of years ago he didn’t show his face much in the media and with his brand getting major headlines now it was insane he took the time to talk to me.

I think what I learned the most for this segment of the publication was that its okay to fail but you can’t let those failures define who you are. If you can keep pushing forward and don’t give up you will have a much better chance at exceeding and making something big of yourself. I think another thing making this publication has taught me is to reach out to people in the industry. Don’t hold yourself back because you don’t think they are going to answer you. Just keep trying and be persistent and someone will get back to you.

Shawn Dangerfield

Graphic designer for the Los Angeles Rams

From being a boy who grew up in Wisconsin and having a love for sports to helping turn the LA Rams into a brand that actually competes with the Dodgers and Lakers in this market

Never before seen photos of Dangerfields early work and newer work that’s not public

Learn how a graphic designer for a NFL team got his position and hear the advice he has for you! Read the full interview with Shawn Dangerfield

Meet the designer

Shawn Dangerfield is a graphic designer who works for the Los Angeles Rams football team. He has been workinng for them for the past nine years, starting back in 2014.

Starting out Education

Shawn went to the University of Wisconsin Milwaukee with the intentions of study architecture. After being there for a year he decided that it wasn’t working for him and after a speacker from a local tech collage came to talk about differnt programs he heard about graphic design. He then transfered to Gateway Technical Collage and began studying graphic communications. He soon graduated with a degree in graphic communications and went on to look for a job.

Job/Internships

Dangerfield always had a passion for sport and art. When in highschool he took every art class that he could and said:

“During my whole time at high school, I took every art class I could and even made up extra independent study classes to spend more time in the art room.”

The first job he landed was with as a volunteer for the Chicago Bandits professional softball team. He decided to just reach out and to his luck they ansered. After a year, Shawn became their designer, earning $1000 a month. He didn’t stay with the Bandits for very long. He started reaching out to other sports teams for internships and ended up getting on with the St. Louis Rams and did a 7 month internship with them. He knew he wanted to find a stable job so he put his work on a website called Behance and started reaching out to companies and other designers. He said:

“From a design standpoint though, social media was not a big thing when I was starting out. I never posted my work and had interest in gaining a following. I think I’m still behind the times in that space.”

He didn’t post that much work on behance but used it more as a place for people to view his portfolio and instead went out of his way to reach out to people to find work. And it ended up working out for him! He soon found himse lf sitting in the LA Rams recruitment office applying for a job on the graphic desig team. Dangerfield has worked as part of the Los Angeles Rams graphic design team for the past 10 years. He enjoys being a part of team but doesn’t mind the idea of

Both photos were made to advertise the rams going to the 2020 superbowl having people work under him For the past two years he has been working in higher management and has been able to manage other employees. Although he says:

“I have never truly been the one in charge. We’ve always had a creative director above me. Someday soon I would like to run the show somewhere.”

Working for such a big spots team can be stressful, with workload, trying to maintain a social life, and trying to stand out in the crown with other talented designers. So I asked him some questions on advise for new designers regarding these struggles.

Q&A from interviw

With advice for new designers

Starting with workload/time managment. He says that he is a big list person and recomands writing everythinng down because thats what works best for him. Keeping the most recent and accurate information in one place so that you can look at it and determine what should be the biggest priority when you choose to work on it. He says “I just stick to my lists and try to take one project at a time. I try to focus on what is most important while often knocking out smaller projects quicker first to clear my way.”

When it comes to maintaing a work/life balance he has a harder time with this. It’s something that he is still trying to get better at. He said that when he first started out that he was the only designer at the Rams and was so excited with the work that he was doing that he ended up spending most of his free time working on projects after hours in the Marketing room while watching sports. He said:

“I’ve tried to live my whole career avoiding stress and the best way I dealt with it is to never feel overwhelmed with work. I lived with the mentality of “Why try to do everything in 40 hours when there are 168 hours in a week. (more like 120 hours if you remove sleep.)””

His social life was not comepletly gone though because he has met most of his friends from working at the rams and also has a girlfirend who works at the rams with him. Onstanding out I asked him:

What do employers value most about your skills? What gives. you an edge?

“I didn’t come from a marketing background but I was first brought in as part of the marketing team with the Rams so I was able to see things from a new perspective. I’ve made it a point to be very thoughtful and helpful about things outside of design. I enjoy thinking operationally and want to know the what and the why to things. I ask valuable questions and try to bring different perspectives to the conversation”

To just know design is one thing but being able to bring a differnt perspective to the table is such a valuable asset to employeers. Some advice that he has to designer just starting out in the industry is:

“I thought I was so talented when I was in college and early in my career but I can look back and see how terrible most of my work was. Whether you feel confident or not, you need to just keep designing and eventually things just continue to get easier and more efficient. You need reps at anything to truly work towards excellence. Never strive for perfection, strive for excellence.”

One day you will look back and think the same thing so don’t get disheartened if the work you make doesn’t seem to be perfect! Just keep trying and learning from your mistakes.

Working for such a well known sports teams has taught Dangerfield a lot. I asked him in our interviw: How have you evolved as an artist/designer? And what should new designers being thinkin g about when wanting to evolve?

“The biggest part of evolving as a designer seems to be just knowing the capabilities of the programs we are using. Photoshop from 12 years ago is crazy different from the photoshop of today. You need to constantly adapt and learn how each program can best help you.”

Programs that all designers use tend to change and update all the time. Trying to stay up to date on one is hard enough but by the time that you will be in the field you will be using so many different ones. Investing in yourself and you profesion is so important. You should try to get to know as much as you can about these programs whenever you can.

The final two questions I asked Dangerfield in our interview was What are some of your biggest or most important accomplishments in your career so far?

He said:

“I think it’s pretty cool to be able to creative graphics that are seen by millions of people. I’m lucky to have that kind of opportunity. Working as part of a team though, I don’t know how many real big accomplishments I can say I’ve had from a career standpoint. Being part of a Super Bowl winning team is pretty cool though. Opening up the new stadium has been a really cool experience. Helping turn the LA Rams into a brand that actually competes with the Dodgers and Lakers in this market has been a huge accomplishment.”

And for the last question I asked (Very long answer) What else would you like to achieve in your life/work?

He said:

“I remember thinking during my first few weeks as an intern that I didn’t understand why people leave this company. And our staff was very young overall so it confused me. Fast forward to many years later and it’s a lot more clear why people leave. Working in sports is not usually a profession that pays the best. I remember being thrilled when my first full time offer was $32k. I could have probably made 80-100k as a freelance designer in my first year out of college but the idea of needing to constantly find my own work to make any money has really turned me off on freelancing. So far in my time with the Rams, I got to be a part of some major brand campaigns, before helping the organization move across the country, then being involved in the process of developing new logos and new uniforms, and most importantly, be part of an organization that won a championship. There isn’t too much more for me to accomplish at my current job. I think I am nearing the time where I can move on and lead a new team of people in something new. I’ve only been managing other employees for about 2 years but I have never truly been the one in charge. We’ve always had a creative director above me. Someday soon I would like to run the show somewhere. I also don’t think I plan to stay in the team side of sports for much longer. I’ve been here for 10 years now and it’s time for new challenges.”