The Positive Side (Winter 2013) - CD8 T cells - The Body

ART POSI+IVE
Sharing the experience of living with HIV through creative works
Call of the Wild
From “Dangerboy” to designing man, Morgan McConnell has developed
an impressive body of work inspired by his passion for nature.
BY JENNIFER MCPHEE
“The Nest,” selected for the 2008 Scotiabank AIDS Walk for Life campaign
When Victoria-based graphic de -
signer Morgan “Dangerboy” McConnell
gets the rare chance to design something
exactly the way he wants, it
almost always includes a bird, a nest, a
tree or some moss. This is a man who
loves nature. But he also likes to inject
elements of grit and edge into those
designs, which gives his work a unique
28 THE POSITIVE SIDE Winter 2013
look and feel. “There’s a fine line be -
tween incorporating the outdoors into
your art and becoming someone who
paints flowers all the time,” he says.
While growing up, nature was a
constant in Morgan’s life. His family
moved around a lot—by the time he
was 15, he had lived in Vancouver,
Montreal, Toronto and Richmond. But
wherever they lived, his family spent
weekends at a cottage or exploring the
local wilds. During long walks in the
woods, his parents would point out the
inhabitants of the forest and describe
what made each creature or plant
interesting, unique and/or edible.
It was the 38-year-old’s lifelong fascination
with wilderness that inadvertently
set him on the path to becoming
a graphic designer. After graduating
from the University of Victoria’s
marine biology program 15 years ago,
he landed a contract as research associate
at the marine sciences station in
Bamfield, a tiny town on Vancouver
Island’s west coast. When the gig was
up, he wanted to stay in this enchanting
little piece of paradise, so he took
the only available job—looking after
the marine station’s website.
Morgan quickly taught himself the
basics of web and graphic design and
liked the way technology ramps up the
speed of the creative process. “You can
go on a tangent and just follow your
brain,” he says. “I found that way of
working to be really harmonious for
me, as opposed to sitting down with a
paintbrush and trying to paint something
for days or weeks. I don’t have
the patience for that.”
A year later, Morgan moved back
to Victoria, where a friend (another
biologist-turned-graphic artist) helped
him land a design job at a local software
development company, at the
height of the dot-com boom. “We were
the crack design team,” he recalls with
a self-deprecating laugh. “We listened
to loud music and wore ponchos to