Rising Stars: Meet Royce DeGrie

Today we’d like to introduce you to Royce DeGrie. 

Hi Royce, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstories.
As a kid, I always said I wanted to be an artist when I grew up. I had a natural creative intuition and abilities which allowed me to thrive in every art class. When I graduated from high school, I  had no idea what I wanted to do as a profession, so I decided to go for a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design with an emphasis in illustration. Along the way, I fell in love with all things creative, soaking up as much as I could in every studio art class I could take in college. 

After a successful decade of full-time graphic design and illustration, I decided in 2005 to really dive into photography. I spent years honing my skills and learning from people like Pete Collins, Geoff Hammond, and Jeremy Cowart, as well as, studying the work of other photographers I admired, especially Dan Winters. I focused equally on learning everything I could about the technical side of shooting, gaining the most valuable technical info I learned from Geoff and Pete. 

My first photography client was actually one of my long-time clients of graphic design, Joe Chambers of Chambers Guitars. In 2004, Joe had this crazy idea to start a Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum (MHOF) in Nashville, and he brought me in to help him get started with all the preliminary groundwork of conceptualization for how the museum would look and feel, as well as, designing the “pitch” booklet to present his concept to various cities around the country, beginning with Nashville. Needless to say, his idea and hard work paid off and the very successful Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum became a reality in Nashville. 

In 2008, Joe was in my office and saw a photo I had taken of the Nashville skyline and he asked, “Where did you get that incredible photo of Nashville?” I replied, “I took it.” 

That was the day I became a professional photographer. 

Since then, I’ve been fortunate enough to work with some of the biggest names in music and entertainment and I continue earning a living through graphic design, illustration, and photography in Nashville. 

We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Graphic design and illustration have always come naturally to me; it was learning the technical side of photography that really took me some time. 

Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I’ve been fortunate enough to work with clients from Nashville to New York and L.A. 

When I was in college, I had one professor tell me that I had “stylistic inconsistencies” and I needed to “define my creative style.” I shared this with another professor who laughed and told me “One man’s stylistic inconsistency is another man’s eclecticism.” That has not only stuck with me but has always given me the confidence to remain diversified enough to handle a wide variety of creative projects. 

As a designer, I have created hundreds of logos over the years, along with complete corporate identity development, book design, album covers, billboards, packaging, websites, brochures, booklets, vehicle wraps, environmental signage for buildings (both inside and out), signage, displays, and so many more things than I can possibly remember. 

This year, I will be completing the longest-running project of my career. I am working on a 300+ page coffee table book for the MHOF written by Joe Chambers with all photography and graphic design done by me, cover-to-cover. I’m so excited to actually get this thing into production! 

What does success mean to you?
Earning a living doing what you love is the best measure of success I can imagine as far as employment is concerned. Being able to do so while balancing your physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, however, has to be the highest level of success. I’m still working on that. 

Contact Info:

• Email: [email protected]
• Website: www.degriephoto.com
• Instagram: @royce_degrie

Image Credits
Royce DeGrie