Today we’d like to introduce you to Madeline Bechtel.
Hi Madeline, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I suppose the best place to start is “here”. My name is Madeline Bechtel and I am a Fort Collins-based graphic designer and illustration artist. I work in many different worlds underneath those professional titles, so bear with me while I attempt to break them down. You could divide my work into two areas – team-based graphic design with The City of Fort Collins, and more open-ended art, illustration, and branding with MCCB Design – my business.
Each provides me with a unique set of challenges and opportunities on a day-to-day basis and each plays a huge role in my ability to succeed in such a saturated market. I love what I do and am excited to share some of my stories. From “here”, I’ll jump back to the beginning of my journey pursuing art professionally. As a young adult, I moved to Colorado from Lancaster, Pennsylvania to attend CSU’s Interior Architecture and Design program.
The decision to move so far away wasn’t planned but rather a twist of fate that became a foundation for everything I’ve built since then. I’ve always had a creative side, but I didn’t think about pursuing it as a profession until it was subconsciously happening. I blame this on my tendency to focus intensely on things I care about – so much so that everything else seems to fall away. After some time, all that was left was art. That’s the brief answer to how I got to today, but I’ll go a bit deeper.
As soon as I landed in Colorado, I felt inspired to engage with my surroundings, dive into my passions head-on, and put time into things that lit my brain on fire. The atmosphere, the strong network of fellow art-minded people, and the close access to nature and wildlife became a part of my everyday life and something I try hard not to take for granted. However much I love where I came from and my family, Colorado has my heart.
My time at Colorado State University was incredibly fulfilling and required a firm commitment to learning and hard work. I commend the program I graduated from for holding us to the absolute highest standard in our design work. I found I flourished under the pressure and learned how much power you have as a designer (of any kind) when you commit to achieving the vision in your head. Design can look easy, but when you want to be outstanding at it you have to pay attention to every single detail.
That alone takes time and requires you to build diligent habits. Those habits are often repetitive and tedious, but they always seem to pay off. I’ve since experienced that the harder I work and the more I pay attention to details, the more opportunities I have around me. Those lessons and intense experiences are why although I don’t “use” my degree from CSU in my chosen career, I do use those habits daily and am much stronger a designer for it.
While completing said bachelor’s degree at CSU, I found that I was especially excited at the prospect of designing the brands, environmental graphics, and presentation materials that accompanied the architectural projects I was working on. I soon minored in graphic design and enrolled myself at Front Range Community College to pursue a second degree in Multimedia Graphic Design. I wanted the foundational pieces I was missing, so I started at the beginning and was right at home there – learning a ton and making lasting connections with fellow local designers.
To make more connections between my two worlds, I found employment as a graphic designer and an environmental graphic designer through CSU and applied my learning to real-world projects. Everything seemed to fall into place from there – and I can’t deny that I am incredibly lucky to have found a unique and prosperous career at such a young age. I can’t say that I have profound advice as to how I followed this path – only that hard work pays off and being good to people can get you far in life.
I graduated from CSU with a ton of gratitude for everything I learned there. I had become a leader, a doer, and a powerful design thinker. With more time to dedicate to finishing my second degree at FRCC, I worked hard and fast to get through that next step. I completed my goal, was offered a teaching position in the same program, and enjoyed two semesters of being in the instructor’s shoes.
I no longer teach but consider that experience another pivotal piece of the puzzle. At some point post-graduation I saw a position available with the City of Fort Collins for a “Graphic Design Technician” and eagerly but not-so-hopefully applied thinking it would be a stretch, but one worth making in the off chance I was a good fit and qualified enough for the position. Turns out I was, and I work in that position to this day 3 years later.
In this new year, I am stepping into promotion as the City’s “Senior Designer” a title I am honored to hold at this point in life. I am excited to continue to dedicate my brainpower to the team I work on and the Fort Collins community for the foreseeable future. Early in my educational years, I started to slowly build my business, MCCB Design. I will speak more on its growth since then later on, but for now, I’ll say that it has become a place to share a raw side of my brain with a small dedicated group that tunes in to my creative antics.
Again, I speak as though things just fell into place one after the other, when in fact a great deal of furious and dedicated work went into the various channels of professional design I work in today. I didn’t waste a second, and although that led to some hard-learned lessons in the importance of taking breaks, I certainly feel I’ve earned my way here.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
Not at all! I feel it’s a hazard of the trade as an artist, however – do not expect a smooth or linear path. To land on an area of design (among the millions) that fits your creative tendencies takes time and experimentation. I’ve ended up in a position I quite like where I get to be a professional artist in many different contexts. For my business, I am often working with clients to help them create visual elements for their current projects.
This can include branding, marketing collateral, commissioned artwork, and so much more. Other times, I just get to create and illustrate whatever I want. These projects are incredibly fun and allow me to express a personal artistic style that is entirely me and driven by my passions in that phase of life. Areas I explore in this work include illustration, painting, sculpture, resin art, and fiber art. These personal artistic endeavors often end up in my shop and become a part of my public archive through MCCB.
Almost every piece has a story, and the real magic happens when I get to tell that story to someone who finds a form of peace or comfort in it. The downside to the freedom involved in my business is that I must have impeccable time management skills to show up, stay engaged, and be ready for change at any time. I have certainly faced struggles along the way, but I try to focus on my wins as often as possible because I’ve come to learn that struggle is inevitable and real progress happens when you have a good way of staying positive throughout it.
Being employed as an artist, especially a young one requires you to prove your ability to fulfill professional artistic tasks on a deadline and with another person’s vision influencing your work. Alongside another person’s opinion, you have to be able to take it in the form of criticism and navigate gracefully through conversations that are focused on dissecting your beloved piece of art. It can be emotionally taxing but worth it for the chance to be creative for a living.
The hardest challenges I have faced have been based around choosing the right next step for me among many possible paths. I have had the good fortune of receiving a lot of work opportunities – some of them more fitting for me than others. Not all of them have ended up being long-term pursuits and it is hard to learn how to step away from a commitment when you’re a follow-through kind of person.
There are so many things I would want to try or start to pursue as a part of my artistic career but I have had to learn to slow down in that sense. Not that I should feel less urgency to learn and grow, but rather that I should feel less required to learn faster than I feel I can. All I can do is properly weigh my opportunities and compare them to what my heart tells me it is most interested in. That method has yet to fail me because when my heart is in something, I try to find a way to be outstanding at it.
Appreciate you sharing that. What else should we know about what you do?
I do many things, and I love that. I am a full-time graphic designer and illustration artist but I live in two different worlds daily. Each provides me with a different unique set of opportunities to do what I love. One world is my business, MCCB Design, which can be found popping up wherever I can – at local art markets, First Fridays, coffee shops, local galleries, and more. Through this channel, I make and sell art as well as offer diverse graphics design services.
Some notable projects as of late have been the merchandise (soon to come) for Nina DeVitry’s first album ‘What You Feel is Real’, the outdoor mural at The Fox Den – No Waste Cafe, branding for the Fort Collins Art Mart, and galleries at Mugs Coffeehouse, Locust Cider, and Momo Lolo’s Coffee Shop (all socials listed below). It’s a treat to partner with local businesses and fellow creatives to help them bring their endeavors to life visually. I could do it all day… but I don’t. (@nina.dv, @nowastecafe_foxden, @mugsoldtown, @theartmartfoco, @locustfortcollins, @momololocoffeeshop)
The rest of my day is spent on a team of five designers with The City of Fort Collins. Together, we create (or advise) on the visual pieces going out to the Fort Collins community from the City. We work with all City departments, meaning I get to touch on a lot of different topics and work on some incredibly innovative projects with other minds throughout the community. My clients are also diverse, and frequently love the work they do. That leads to a very unpredictable day filled with hardcore design work, changing deadlines, and collaborative thinking with other City minds.
I love what I do with the City, and it feels like the most direct way I can take my creative (one-track) mind and put it to good use within a bubble that I can help. I do not consider myself an expert in anything – instead, I see myself as an aspiring expert in communicating efficiently with my community through visuals. The need is endless, and I’m excited to stay involved in the never-ending process of trying to make Fort Collins better.
Between these two dedicated areas of work, I’m a busy lady. I’m often working all day and into the evening – jumping from project to project and finding time to come down to earth now and then. I can assure you though, I’m not complaining. My days are wonderfully charged with creativity and community and I couldn’t enjoy it more.
What’s next?
I am a big believer that my future is undecided and will come as it will. I have plans, but I also want to leave room for the unpredictable. Some things I know for a fact I will be doing in the future are continuing to work for The City of Fort Collins, further exploring the small business world with MCCB Design, and continuing to learn whenever I can. At this moment I would love to keep developing my illustration skills alongside my graphic design career.
Luckily, those two things tend to come hand in hand, so I feel comfortable that I am on a good track to reach those general goals and have numerous opportunities to pursue that avenue further. I have been working hard to create new work in 2023 and plan to keep it up. I want to start to share more of my original paintings and sculptural pieces as well as grow my already public body of illustration work.
I have endless details of my own life that I plan to pay homage to through my art, but I also want to help others do the same this year. I have learned I love the feeling of knowing that my artwork has helped someone express, conquer, or celebrate a big moment in their lives. If anyone would like to work with me to create something beautiful this year, I am all ears. Thanks for reading and remember to support local artists!
Contact Info:
- Website: www.mccb.design
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mccb.design/?hl=en
- Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/madeline-bechtel-8908a1140?original_referer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
- Other: https://linktr.ee/mccb.design
Image Credits
MCCB Design
