Photo by Jay Gilbert
How'd You Get that Cool Job?
Issue #37
Kym Degenaro gets graphic for Rick Springfield
By Daphne Carr
Published: September 1st, 2008 | 12:41am
A fixture on the pop consciousness since the 1970s, Rick Springfield is still a musician who sells out American concert halls. He’s a serious pop icon with an intense touring and on-air schedule and, thanks to Kym DeGenaro, he also has consistently brilliant graphics, T-shirts, album art, photography, and Web design. She has a “Jessie’s Girl” dream job: she designs for Springfield.
A fan since childhood, DeGenaro, 37, formerly worked as a graphic designer for a Midwestern advertising agency after studying design in Toledo, Ohio. She met her musical idol by winning a radio contest in 2000 and getting introduced to the secret world of Springfield superfans. As an avid photographer, she began shooting shows and helping with design (for free, initially) for a few of Springfield’s official fan Web sites, which got her work in front of Springfield himself. In 2002, Springfield (who had been designing merch himself), asked her to take over so he could focus on his Las Vegas show. Today, DeGenaro designs everything for his live and Web merchandise business. “At this point, I’m pretty convinced the only thing that could get me fired is ragging on his hair,” she says.
Her Springfield work led her from the Midwest to Los Angeles and has allowed her to follow her dream — in 2006, she opened her own one-woman design firm, Sauci Creative. Now, in addition to rock merch, she does everything from logos to wedding invites at a basic rate of $85 an hour and recently moved from her home to an office space in Agoura Hills. She still puts in long hours, she says, but having an office gave her separation, and “I knew if I wanted people to see me in a professional light, I needed to stop meeting clients at local cafes.”
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HOW TO WORK FOR YOUR FAVORITE BAND
• “Be willing to take any music design job that comes your way,” DeGenaro says. Today it’s very easy for anyone to put out their own CD. A small, local band may need some help, which can be your portfolio piece.
• Offer to do some work for free. “I didn’t intentionally plan this when I started designing for Rick’s fan club, but it’s what got me the work in the end,” DeGenaro says. Many artists have street teams and fan clubs that are in some desperate need of design help.
• Create with the music. “Whenever I’m concepting ideas, I always listen to the tunes. I feel like the artist’s music should be oozing out of me by the time I’m done with the project.”
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