50 Shades of Bromstad

David Bromstad, HGTV star and color master, returned to his alma mater, Ringling College of Art and Design, to give the commencement address May 7. He reminisced on his time here and how a 24-hour Denny’s got him through college.

On how he came to Ringling College:
I wanted to be a Disney animator, and back more than 19 years ago, Disney pulled directly from Ringling illustrators who wanted to be animators. That was my dream since I was 5 years old. That’s how I got down to Ringling.  It was either here or California Institute for the Arts. Florida drew me in more than California.

On how Ringling influenced his style:
My design style came a little bit later. I graduated in illustration, but two months in I took an animation elective and I realized that animation was just not for me. I was like, “Crap! I’ve been dreaming about this for 15 years. What am I going to do now?” I just rolled through it and said, “I’m going to be the best drawer and painter that I possibly can be and we’re going to let God figure the rest out and just go with my instincts.” Obviously I love Florida design, but I love all design. Ringling put in a very hard note of color. They taught me color theory, and that was such an important part of what my career is because I’m known as the color guy.

On why he can’t choose just one Pantone color:
That is so unfair. People always ask me what’s my favorite color. It’s like choosing your favorite child. I love all colors. I would be the Pantone book because honestly every color has a different expression, a different emotion, a different feeling and a different purpose, so for me to choose, no, not happening. But I love bright, bold and fun colors, obviously. I can’t choose a color and I won’t. I don’t want to make the other colors jealous.

On his “Design Star” experience:
The first few days were terrifying, but then I got into the groove of it; I’m a highly competitive person. When I didn’t get voted off first, I wanted to be top four. And when I was top four, I said, “I’m going to win this thing.” It was like boot camp for designers on steroids. It was intense. You have your phone taken away from you. No magazines, no TV, no music, nothing. I went in with a very insecure persona and I came out knowing exactly who I was. TV doesn’t usually do that to you. It usually tears you down. I loved every second of it.

On hanging out at the local Denny’s:
That was my thesis, “Nightlife at Denny’s,” because of the Denny’s on Tamiami, which is gone. I didn’t really drink in college at all until my senior year when I was legal. We would go out because Denny’s was open 24/7. I would see all these crazy people. There was a wide variety of people like punk rockers and painters. Crazy, crazy people, so I thought I had to do my thesis on nightlife at Denny’s. I asked if I could borrow a chair and table to put in my thesis area and they gave it to me. I got an A.

Advice to graduating students:
Be versatile. Yes, you’re graduating in your certain field like graphic design or illustration or fine arts. To me, when I found my groove is when I learned every single aspect of that. When an artist can do everything, then why wouldn’t someone who needs everything just go to one person who is reliable and great?