Ben Brick is a self-described Swiss Army knife of illustration. Whatever you need, he can create it. He’s drawn his experience from a variety of sources. After graduating from BSC, he was a contributor for some pretty major names in the Bismarck area — from The Bismarck Tribune and Quality Printing to Agency MABU. “I’ve gotten to work at some amazing jobs, but I was always looking for my own way of doin’ things.” Ultimately it was Ben’s unique perspective that allowed him to begin working on his own as a freelance illustrator.

“I was going to be an architect,” Ben says of his initial plans as a student at BSC. But after taking an educational hiatus to take a job in Disney World, he realized his interests required a closer look. “I’d sit and stare at the details on the outside of all the rides, and I found the decorations were more appealing to me than the actual engineering.”

It was a class with BSC Graphic Design Associate Professor Sean Thorenson that really hooked Ben. “He was just really encouraging. When he looked at my work, he was the first person to say positive things about what I was making. Of course it wasn’t perfect, but it made me realize that drawing was something I could really do, and I decided to dig into that part of graphic design.”

Recent projects Ben has tackled include creating beer labels for a brewery out of Watertown, S.D.; helping local business, Mighty Missouri Coffee Company, release a complete re-brand; and illustrating Pickles the Dog, a children’s book written by local author, Kat Socks.

“The kids book was a pretty cool deal. I remember thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I can get paid for this.’”

Ben is a member of the downtown artist collaborative, The Good Kids, and is a contributor and organizer with Makewell.

From wall murals to stickers, Ben’s work is hard to miss at any scale. His three years at BSC provided the foundations for a colorful career. “It started as a stepping stone and ended up being a complete education. I didn’t need anything else. I knew what I wanted to do.”