161
Rising Tide, for free. "It was like a really
long internship," she laughs, "but it was the
smartest thing I ever did because I knew nothing
about the industry. Being at the
label, actually inside, I learned what
everybody's job was and how it functioned
together as a whole." At Rising Tide, Levitan
designed ads and promotional pieces for
the label roster, in addition to promotional
CDs and singles.
Eventually she found part-time work with Bill
Brunt Designs and when Rising
Tide closed, she moved into a full-time
position. Under Brunt's art direction, the
company designed CD and promotional pieces for
Atlantic Records, MCA, Orbison
Records, Orby Records, RCA, and others. With a
few years of experience under her
belt, Levitan made the decision to start her
own firm, Good and Evil Designs. "It was
very scary. I had saved up a lot of money,
though, so if all else failed, I could live for
three months until I got another job." After
spending part of her savings to purchase
needed equipment for the new venture, she began
to wonder if anyone would hire
her--and they did. At first they were small
projects, then she landed design work for
indie labels Eminent Records and Blue Hat
Records, and the work has continued to
snowball. Some of her design work includes John
Hiatt's The Tiki Bar Is Open and the
cover of Brooks & Dunn's Cowboy
Town.
PHOTOGRAPHER
JOB OVERVIEW
The photographer photographs music artists in
live performance and in
pre-arranged settings.
PREREQUISITES
To succeed, you should compile a
portfolio with both live and studio
setting
photographs of artists. You should
be
friendly and have an outgoing
personal-
ity, and contacts within the
industry.
A DAY IN THE LIFE
"People often say, `Man, you have
the
coolest job in the world. You just
lay
around and watch TV all day and then
go
out to concerts at night.' If it were
only
so," laughs photographer Paul Natkin.
"I
put in ten hours a day, every day. Then
I
go out and shoot concerts at night.
I've
been up in my office since eight
this
"There are a lot of webzines--
startup web magazines--that
are getting access to concerts on
a fairly regular basis. Find one
of them that needs a staff pho-
tographer in your region, to
gain experience."
Talk with a local band or two
and offer to shoot their perfor-
mances for free in order to gain
more experience photographing
a live concert.
CAREER
TIPS
User Comments Add a comment…