Passionate about creating

One of the best things for Betsy Pollits, Paper Magic associate art director, is seeing her creations come to life on a really big scale.

…Working for a company, they (projects) have to evolve and conform to meet certain requirements but, it's really great to see something that you were a huge part of come to life on the store shelves of a national retail chain, Pollits said. Also, I get to work with a really great group of talented folks that love making products, have a passion for creating and are just great people.

Pollits has great fun with projects at Paper Magic in Moosic, that we, as consumers, enjoy during celebrations throughout the year – the Christmas cards exchanged, gift tags on presents under the tree, and the Valentines we give our friends.

Our products are there when families are together and times with loved ones are being enjoyed. It is during that time that memories are being created and our products aid in celebrations throughout the year.

She is responsible for the entire creative process for a given product line.

…We do a line of Valentines every year called studio 2/14. That one is really fun as the team works together to come up with the themes and the artwork gets to have the look and feel that our in-house staff feels is fun… The Stickerfitti line is a relatively new product line for Paper Magic. I have had the opportunity to work on that since the beginning and watch it grow and evolve as it gains popularity, she said.

If you think you would like to be an artist/art director, Pollits' advice is to …draw every day and practice…as drawing is one of the best and quickest ways to get your ideas across in this line of work.

She has an Associate's Degree in fine art from Keystone College in La Plume and a Bachelor's Degree in Communication Design from Kutztown University.

I've always been an artist, I took art classes when other kids were playing sports. I was painting or drawing or making up a new game or drawing my own coloring book, it was always what I did.

Meet Betsy Pollits:

Age: 33

Hometown: Carbondale

Job Title: Associate Art Director, CSS Industries, Inc.

Favorite subject in school: Phonics, probably because it was a workbook, you could draw in it nicely and the cover always had a good design from year to year.

Favorite artist or genre of art: African Tribal Art, Renaissance Art, Pop Art, Graffiti Art

Favorite Artists of all time: Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Keith Haring, Picasso and Warhol

Who inspires you in your field? Sam Brown, he is an illustrator and graphic artist who runs a web site called www.explodingdog.com. His drawings are quick commentaries based on topics that followers send in, it always makes my day to see what he is up to next.

When you were a kid, what did you want to be when you grew up? I've wanted to be an art director since I was about 9. There was an ad in The New York Times Magazine one Sunday for a bathtub convertible Porsche.

It was parked in central park, the tag line stated, An art director's dream and once I figured out what an art director did, I was sold.

Favorite place: The sculpture garden at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, with a diet coke in a glass bottle. They have to have the soda in the glass bottle, it just makes the visit.

What book would you bring if you were stranded on the moon? What do you do with a Kangaroo? by Mercer Mayer

Coolest part of your job: Seeing the product lines that I work on in store shelves and being enjoyed by the people the products were intended for.