Showing posts with label MTV. Show all posts
Showing posts with label MTV. Show all posts

Tuesday, May 6, 2025

Why I support tariffs as an artist.

Digital Art by Beau Tardy produced on Quantel Paintbox - 1992
Starting at about age 10 is when I realized how much I liked TV Cartoons and Comic Books and so right then and there I decided I wanted to learn how to draw. For the next 14 years I traced and copied my favorite characters, studied how animation was done, got mentored by cartoonists and eventually ended up in art school. As I grew older I came to understand that there was a wider world of visual arts out there that went back centuries. From Roman and Greek sculptures to Rembrandt and Picasso, our culture had a rich tradition of incredible works of art. I became fascinated with learning how to do figure drawing from live models and classical master oil painting techniques. Even Walt Disney himself insisted that his artists study the classics and for that purpose created one of the most reputable art colleges in the world known today as Cal Arts. 

While at Parsons’ School of Design in the early 80s, I became acutely aware of something that was happening with technology that would impact the arts. Computer Graphics were just starting to appear on TV and the movies and I knew right away that this was the future. This prompted me to want to learn computer graphics and how to shoot and edit video. In 1985 the path forward wasn’t very clearly defined for an art student who drew comics but also liked computers and video. However, I knew that TV Graphics could be a lot better if only trained artists could get a hand on those extremely expensive computers. At the time a TV Graphics computer cost upwards of $150k and would rent out for $1000/ hour and so nobody was eager to let some grubby art kid mess around on their cutting edge systems. But with perseverance I was finally able to convince a video post-production company to give me a shot and that launched my professional career. 

Following that, for the next 25 years I worked as a Broadcast and Motion Designer for TV Networks in the US and around the world. Most famously I worked at MTV doing graphics for Yo! MTV Raps, MTV News and The Real World. I also worked for Nickelodeon, VH1, NBC Sports, The Food Network, Cartoon Network, Fox Networks, etc. Internationally I worked for Global Japan, MTV International and Australian TV. You get the picture (pun intended)!

MTV Logo design by Beau Tardy on Quantel Paintbox - 1992
But in the early 2000s, something happened that shifted everything. Up until then, my profession was a very specialized field with expensive equipment and big budgets. Almost overnight it seemed, the production budgets collapsed. This was due to two factors. The first was the availability of cheaper computers such as Macs, but the second factor was much more insidious. Work was being shipped overseas. Hollywood and TV Networks had figured out that they could buy a bunch of cheap computers and install them in bunny warrens overseas in third world countries like India, South America and China. They could then hire locals for pennies on the dollar and ‘train’ them to do VFX and graphics work. This is why today when you watch a movie all the VFX credits feature a bunch of Indian and Chinese names. There was no way that highly trained professionals like myself could compete with those budgets. As a result, the entire VFX and graphics industry has now moved exclusively overseas. 

Predictably, I had to re-orient my career and readjust my lifestyle. I could no longer work in the field I had spent almost 30 years of my life perfecting. Increasingly, movies and TV shows developed a strange ‘bland’ esthetic, where it seemed the locations, the actors and even the stories didn’t feel authentic. That’s because they would shoot and produce everything overseas, replacing American cities with ‘generic’ shots taken in South Africa or Argentina. If you ever asked yourself why movies don’t seem as compelling as they used to, perhaps that has something to do with it. What’s worse is that the industry blatantly decided to indulge in paying slave wages, whereby an Indian VFX artist today only makes about $9000 PER YEAR! That equates to $750 A MONTH, or $187 a week, which is $37 a day!!!!!!!!!!! (source: https://blog.internshala.com/vfx-artist-salary-in-india/ )

The quality of the work suffers of course. But the bean counters don’t care, they are looking at the bottom line. This is absolutely terrible for artists. How can an American artist compete when he/ she needs to make 10x what a Vietnamese artist makes? Have you ever noticed those paintings at Hobby Lobby or Pottery Barn that sell for $50 or $100? They are made in sweat shops overseas. Why would anybody buy one of those when there are hundreds of wonderful young artists right here who could make a painting with so much more heart and love? Why are we letting overseas underpaid labor dictate to us what our cultural standards are? This system is broken and that I why I fully support tariffs on imports. My only hope is that these tariffs will apply to digital media and art work as well. This is the only way to quell this disaster for our culture and the arts. The other solution is for everyone to start buying art from artists you know and not generic crap from overseas.

Thursday, April 1, 2021

MTV promo graphics for Guns & Roses in Paris contest ('92-93) made by Beau Tardy on Quantel Harriet.

Sometimes the Art Director of on-air graphics at MTV, Chris Harvey, would put out an open call for a job that needed some extra attention and a fresh look. I really wanted to do this graphic open for a contest MTV was running. It was for tickets to a Guns & Roses Paris concert. I spent some time on this but it was shot down. I actually had a little argument with the Art Director over it, the one and only time we had a disagreement. It did not make it to air and I'm not sure what they ended up using. I guess I took it a little personal being that I am French...😏

Thursday, March 25, 2021

MTV Show Logos by Beau Tardy in 1992

MTV Show Logos designed by Beau Tardy
in the on-air graphics department at MTV in 1992.
During the regular course of daily duties at MTV as a designer in the on-air graphics and animation department, I was often tasked with coming up with logos for show opens. Often these would be animated, but sometimes the producer just needed a digital logo to take into an edit session and composite it with other footage. These were designed on Quantel V-Series Paintbox and Harriett. The better producers would come in and sit during the session while I designed the logos, others just phoned it in. Some producers became friends and we would spend countless hours in session coming up with great ideas for graphics. These logos are for the more typical MTV fare at the time and were used by the News or Promotions department for their shows. I don't know which ones of these actually made it to air simply because I couldn't afford cable at the time in my little shared tenement apartment on Ave. B in the Lower East Side. They payed us very little and worked us like crazy. But I was happy to get my work on MTV in front of millions of people. 

Saturday, March 20, 2021

MTV News graphics on Quantel Paintbox by Beau Tardy in 1992.

Thursday, March 18, 2021

MTV on-air graphics created in 1992 by Beau Tardy.

On-air graphics made for MTV in 1992 by Beau Tardy.

Here's a good example of some of the behind the scenes design work that would go into on-air graphics. On the right the logo I liked for MTV's Most Wanted and on the left the one that was chosen for broadcast. I was already channeling vaporwave vibes back in 1992! This work was done on Quantel Hal as part of our everyday duties of providing producers with on-air graphics and original designs.

Saturday, March 13, 2021

First minted digital art NFT - Beau Tardy Artist Poster.

 I have finally minted my first digital art NFT. This token is available for a short while as an auction on Mintable.app 

Beau Tardy Artist Poster
The first minted digital art NFT by Beau Tardy ©2021

I will be minting all of my digital art including brand new art and vintage digital art from my MTV days and before. I have been making digital art since taking the very first computer graphics class at Parsons School of Design, which then led to my career making TV art for the likes of MTV and VH1. This is a great way for me to share digital art with you without the risk of it being stolen and copied. The new NFT technology is going to change the world of digital art for the benefit of artists who like me have been hesitant to post digital art on social media because it is so easy to copy. Thanks for buying my art and feel free to ask me any questions about this new technology.

Saturday, March 6, 2021

ATOMIKCOMIX Book by Beau Tardy Artist

ATOMIKCOMIX book by Beau Tardy
Early digital art "Short Circuit" & "Cyberpunk" featured in ATOMIKCOMIX Vol.1

Just a quick reminder that there are a few copies left of ATOMIKCOMIX Vol.1 which features early undergound comix & digital art dating back to my art school years at Parsons School of Design in New York prior to getting hired at MTV. The book was published in time for a show in 2016 at Barrister's Gallery in New Orleans. All copies are signed for this first print run.
ATOMIKCOMIX Vol.1 featuring early work from 1985-1992 prior to getting hired at MTV. Underground comix & early digital art.

Get your signed copy here: >> Chateau Books <<


Monday, January 11, 2016

ATOMIKCOMIX new book!

The new book 'AtomikComix' by Beau Tardy. Coming out Feb. 2016

AtomikComix presents never before seen early work by Beau Tardy. With roots in the East Village mid-80s post punk sub-culture this book spans the evolution from underground comix to computer graphix for TV. 

After dropping out of art school in 1985 Beau focused on digital art and broadcast design ultimately ending up in the famed MTV animation department where he did graphix for MTV News with Kurt Loder, Yo! MTV Raps and The Real World.

Beau will be signing copies of his new book at Barrister's Gallery in New Orleans on Feb. 13, 2016.