"The thing that all designers are facing more and more is multi-tasking.
It's pretty much mandatory. You do have to be extraordinarily flexible." These
are the words of set designer Allan Stichbury. He's been a professional designer
since the '90s.
Set designers need a wide variety of skills and the ability to use them
all in one day. Take a day in the life of Kevin Allen, for example. To call
him a multi-tasker underestimates his ability to perform many tasks at once.
"There is no typical day," says Allen. "Today, I worked on designs for
six different projects, each demanding a different style and technique. In
between, I sent drawings to one shop for prices on one project, and to another
for execution and installation. A couple of hours were consumed by helping
to prepare a press release for a website we are working on. Later, I have
to spend some time working on the website myself." His partner, he says, has
had a similar schedule.
Even when Allen is without a set to work on, he keeps himself busy by marketing
his company. Self-motivation is key to finding the next job. "It helps to
like sales as much as you like the work, as fully half of one's time is spent
getting the next job," he says.
Not having a set to work on, says Allen, is all part of the lifestyle.
"It also helps to be good at being unemployed. There are often long stretches
when there are simply no new opportunities, especially when starting out,"
he says.
Stichbury agrees that set designers can suffer from lack of work and funding,
especially if they're not flexible. Originally, Stichbury chose to teach set
design because he felt he had a knack for it. Today, he says that teaching
is necessary to his financial stability.
"There were two real reasons for wanting to teach. One was that I actually
felt I was kind of good at it, and the other one was definitely a desire to
be more stable, to be on the road less often," says Stichbury.
In addition to teaching, Stichbury is the past president of a national
association of designers. And he still manages to design sets of his own.
"I have a whole bunch of favorite projects, past ones and more current
ones. The most interesting current one was one that I just did -- the set
and lighting design for a new production... of A Christmas Carol," he says.
Set designers must go into the field with a genuine passion for the work,
advises Stichbury. "You do have to go into it because you love it," he says.
"And you do need to know that if you really want to do it, there is no stability;
there is no security. You must be very self-motivated and self-directed."
Regardless of its financial drawbacks, Stichbury says that set design is
an exciting field. "It is an exciting career and you meet a lot of wonderful
people along the way. I really think that people have to know that. But it's
possible to create more stability for yourself by being open and multi-tasking,"
he says.
"[Set designers] have to be very willing to take it as it comes," says
set designer Donna Wymore. "They have to go with the flow. It's different
every day and every job is different, so you're always meeting a new challenge."
Wymore owns a design company that has done work in Las Vegas and Orlando.
She calls herself a jack of all trades.
"We do everything from proposals to doing preliminary sketches to actually
building and installing. And you have to remember, the field of set design
is so varied these days. It's not just theater anymore. It goes into everything,
from museums to theme parks to restaurants. There's just many, many different
ways to go with it these days. Right now we've got about eight things waiting
to be finished," says Wymore.
Like Allen, Wymore says that some days are painfully slow due to a lack
of available work. "The scenery business works on a bid basis, so it's very
ebb and flow -- you're either going crazy with a bunch of different jobs,
or you're standing around going, 'What are we going to do today?' People that
go into the scenery business need to be prepared for that. They have to be
prepared for everything all at once or nothing at all," she says.