When David Buttrey graduated from Loyola, he never knew his career would take him to meetings in India, concerts at Coachella and clients in Amsterdam.
Buttrey, A’10, and Joe Fleming have partnered to form BLK RBBT, an innovative design company focused on communication in the entertainment field. Their company provides graphics to entertainment events for a creative way to promote and brand. Fleming focuses on the creative aspects of design, while Buttrey works on the business side of things.
Buttrey, who graduated from the music industries program, said Loyola gave him the skills and confidence to be successful after college.
“Loyola taught me how to think critically and problem solve in the world of business. With live events, there are always going to be obstacles,” Buttrey said. “I also learned about working ethically, which can be difficult to do in the music industry.”
On the other side of BLK RBBT is Joe Fleming. As the animator, Fleming develops concepts, design storyboards and makes the designs come alive using various design software that he learned at Loyola.
“Loyola has prepared me for a successful career in the digital arts.IlovewhatIdoandIhopeI can continue to grow in the field of design and animation,” Fleming said.
Fleming said that the graphic design program at Loyola was
a challenging but rewarding experience. He enjoyed the small, intimate learning environment where he established personal relationships with professors. These relationships helped open doors for Fleming in the professional world.
“My professors had real design experience and were well connected in the field. My favorite teacher, Daniela Marx, introduced me to motion graphics. From there I fell in love with animation and started on my career path as a motion designer and animator,” Fleming said.
BLK RBBT has worked with events like Buku Fest, Coachella, Maxim Magazine’s Super Bowl party and the NFL Honors Night.
“Every day is a pretty exciting day for us. We’re always doing something different. There’s a period during the year where I’ll be at festivals 14 weekends in a row,” Buttrey said.
While BLK RBBT continues to grow as a company, the pair remembers the morals they learned at Loyola.
“We’ve been known to turn down higher paying jobs to work with projects that we really believe in,” Buttrey said.
Along with working for BLK RBBT, Buttrey also teaches Music Festival Production as an adjunct professor at Loyola.
The BLK RBBT duo have worked with Snoop Dogg to Lil Wayne and traveled from California to India, but will always remember their humble beginnings at Loyola.
Melanie Potter can be reached at [email protected]
