From Participant to Staff Member…Meet Shayne
The following post has been co-written by our Creative Technology Team: Natalie Derr, Charlie Fairbanks, Ruby WIlson, and Shayne Mack.
For May’s blog post, the Islands of Brilliance Creative Technology Team (aka C-tech Team), wanted to interview the newest C-techie, Shayne Mack. We asked him what he thought about his new title as a Junior Creative Technologist and the contributions he feels like he’s making to the team! Shayne has been involved with the IOB community since he joined as a participant in 2018.
Shayne’s SpIns (Special Interests) are cartoons and comic art, hybrid creatures, paleontology, jazz music, animal biology, and animal behavior. His IOB programming resume includes Foundation Workshops, Doodle Lounge, Digital Academy, and Brilliant Breakfast Club.
A brilliant illustrator and positive role model, Shayne brings so much to IOB programming that we were excited to hire him as an intern in 2023, and he eventually became a supporting staff role in the Digital Academy program Side Quest and a facilitator in Sandbox.
What follows is a transcript of Shayne, Natalie, Ruby, and Charlie’s conversation…enjoy!
What has it been like being a participant turned intern…turned staff at IOB?
Natalie Derr: All right Shayne, welcome welcome! This is for the 2024 blog post for May and we're talking a bit about your experience as a participant turned intern, turned staff member. So my first question for you Shayne, is what has being a staff member felt like for you?
Shayne Mack: Well, knowing that I've been a participant at Islands of Brilliance for quite some time now — I believe it's been since 2018 — now being a staff member, it's been really interesting seeing some of the progress I've made to get here and also being able to work in an entirely different environment compared to what I'm used to. And while it's definitely a some for the better, some for the worse kind of thing, I feel like it's definitely for the better, it's definitely a very thought-provoking and explosive experience for me to be a part of the team working with all the mentors and students at Islands of Brilliance. It’s a grateful situation.
Natalie Derr: That's awesome Shayne. Do you feel like when you were a participant at Islands of Brilliance, did you ever imagine that you would be turning into a staff member?
Shayne Mack: Honestly, I never thought of it before. Like, I know I definitely had the qualifications for potentially being a staff member, but I never thought I'd be able to see the day when I'd be part of the main crew, especially working behind the scenes with Islands. It's definitely an interesting experience knowing that you guys wanted to hire me. I mean, I know I've always had a fun time being in the Islands program. So it's not really much of a mystery why you decided to hire me. It's interesting thinking what I would do in my current position, and I'm definitely happy that I got the chance to do it.
Natalie Derr: Pretty cool, right?
Shayne Mack: Mhmmm!
What is something you feel like you’ve personally contributed to IOB?
Ruby Wilson: I think that leads into the next question which is, what is something you feel like you've personally contributed to at IOB? So that could be the Brilliant Monster Bash Graphics or you could talk about your doodles in Sandbox, but what do you feel like you've contributed?
Shayne Mack: I feel like I've contributed a lot for the Islands of Brilliance team. Like, like you mentioned the Brilliant Monster Bash artwork and being able to work on the flyers for it. It's probably the first time I ever worked on such a big project! Being able to work with the other team members on it was a pretty fun experience.
Also a lot of the minor things like being able to participate in Sandbox as a facilitator and seeing all the students doodles and creating some of my own and even being able to participate in other programs that I never got to try before like Side Quest and Quest.
One of my favorite memories of being in Quest, for example, was when we do those AI-generated drawing challenges that essentially are an icebreaker activity. One of them was the theme “Put a bird on it” combined with the other theme “Library lawyer with amnesia.” I feel like one of the most noteworthy moments of that experience was being able to make something that makes people laugh, like belly laugh, which is something that I currently really like doing. It's been a long time since I've made something that's actually that funny. It's great to see people like to laugh and have fun and be a part of the community where we do all this really cool stuff. I'm grateful to be a part of that sort of community.
Natalie Derr: So Shayne, outside of the physical things that you've contributed to Islands of Brilliance, you've contributed your sense of humor too, right?
Shayne Mack: Oh yes, plenty of times! I definitely really enjoy creating a lot of silly doodle prompts and creating funny images for programs. I specifically remember a few times in Sandbox where I would just think of weird comments or share weird stories. I can't tell you how many times I've shared weird animal facts in Doodle Lounge.
Natalie Derr: You have taught me a lot of animal facts, Shayne!
Shayne Mack: Yeah! And it's definitely a fun learning and friend-enhancing experience for me specifically because I get to be myself around people that I actually want to be with. Being able to work with them is truly something special.
How do the other students at IOB inspire you? What have you learned from them?
Charlie Fairbanks: Absolutely. So, Shayne, I feel like you've shared it a little bit, but what is something that the other students at IOB have done that's inspired you and something that you've taken from them? I know we've had a lot of community growth lately with the character drawing tutorials and having some student-led ones. But what are some takeaways that you've had from the other participants at IOB?
Shayne Mack: Well, mostly the fact that they are really enthusiastic to share what they've learned and share the interesting stuff that they are interested in. Those little mini conversations about movies or shows that I haven't seen or stuff that gets me interested and all the things I've learned from them as well, like why they are the way they are, and being able to grow alongside them is a very interesting little journey I’ve had with the participants of Islands of Brilliance. Also being able to just have fun and to be myself around other people is one thing that I take away from a lot of the stuff that I do at Islands.
Natalie Derr: That's awesome, Shayne. I think what's really cool is when you see other people creating their own characters and then having their characters respond to the drawing challenges in really unique and fun ways. That's something that really inspires me to want to make art and also be silly among people as well.
Shayne Mack: I completely agree. It's basically a mutual, beneficial learning experience for all of us.
What’s something you do at IOB that makes you feel more connected to the community?
Natalie Derr: That's so true. It absolutely is! All right, the next question is, Shayne, what is something you do at Islands Brilliance that makes you feel more connected to the community? It could be you as a staff member or it could be you as a participant.
Shayne Mack: What makes me feel like I'm definitely a part of the Islands community is anything where I get to do more hands-on learning and being able to go out and be myself and hang out with people. Every time we do our in-person or virtual BBC, I feel like it's a good way to express my own input on things and being able to share information on things that most other people wouldn't think of. I take some things from other people that I've never thought to take into consideration. It's definitely something that I’ve been taking more and more strive for as I go into these programs. It’s something that I can take away that would be worthwhile and provide other people with beneficial knowledge that I could bring to the table.
Natalie Derr: Shayne, do you remember, I think it was the summer when we went to the zoo for the Islands program Brilliant Breakfast Club, and the flamingos were tapping their feet on the ground. What happened when there was a group of people when we were at the zoo by the flamingos?
Shayne Mack: They actually gathered around and wanted to hear my interesting facts about the flamingos and I told them about how the flamingos were stirring up the water together to grab the tiny microscopic organisms that they feed from and they how they pump up water through their mouths to suck up the tiny brine shrimp and other tiny organisms that they feed on. I also told them that the organisms they feed on give them their pink color. I feel like that was a very interesting way to showcase my knowledge on certain topics to people who are also interested in learning that kind of stuff.
Natalie Derr: Absolutely. That was probably a moment when you felt like you were connected to the community. Right? Because you were able to teach somebody something.
Shayne Mack: Oh, yes.
If you had to describe your time at IOB in a song, what would it be?
Ruby Wilson: That's great! The next question is going to be a little bit funnier. So if you could describe your time at IOB in a song, what would it be? And you can take a moment to think about it.
Shayne Mack: A song huh? That's going to be interesting. I'm not one to be the musical type, but I do have the feeling that if I were to create a jingle for Islands of Brilliance, it would have the lyrics “Bringing creativity and fun for all!”
Natalie Derr: Would you say that in a particular voice? I'm curious.
Shayne Mack: I probably would do it in a cool singing voice. I'd do it in a sort of wacky SpongeBob-esque voice. *In a high pitched voice* “IOB, bringing creativity and fun for alllll!”
Ruby Wilson: Oh Yes! That's fantastic!
Natalie Derr: Amazing! I would have never imagined you'd make your own song right here and now, Shayne. That is some juice.
Shayne Mack: It’s definitely very fun! Even though I said I don't usually sing that much, I remember having moments where I’d share my talent of impersonations in Sandbox. I would do impersonations of different characters from movies or shows sometimes. And I remember people being really impressed by them, especially the people on the Islands of Brilliance team, like you guys!
What animated films have inspired your creativity?
Charlie Fairbanks: A good segue into our next question, what animated films have inspired your creativity or what other things are inspiring your creativity? I know we have talked about this at great length with Ice Age and other such movies, but I want to hear from you.
Shayne Mack: Yes. Well, I feel like you kind of answered my question for me, but I could probably elaborate on it, if you want me to.
Charlie Fairbanks: Yes, please do!
Shayne Mack: I've always had a long fascination for prehistoric animals like dinosaurs and primitive mammals. So, Ice Age is definitely one I’ve grown interested in. Plus, I've grown up with the films. I've known them for a long time and they have been around since the day I was born. I remember being visually impressed by the story and the characters, mostly because it's something that you rarely see on film, especially for a family-animated film. That got me inspired to want to create my own little show based around primitive animals. Not exactly Ice Age, but one of the things I like is all the creatures from the Permian period, like the creatures that existed before the dinosaurs. It was definitely a very eye opening thing because as I know, Permian creatures can be very weird looking. That got me thinking of possibly wanting to turn some of those creatures into actual characters for a show. Essentially, it's an interesting little idea that I had in mind! I remember showing little concepts of characters based on those types of creatures and getting really ecstatic and interesting responses from them. I remember showcasing them in my own drawings and doing little sketches based on whatever idea came to my mind, which then brought forth a new idea!
Same with Ed, Edd, and Eddy. I kind of had the opposite upbringing with that show. I originally thought it was just ugly and kind of annoying. Like, I thought the sound effects were obnoxious, but over time I learned to appreciate it being something that was different compared to pretty much every other show that came out on Cartoon Network around that time. Nothing really had been like that before or since. So it's definitely something that influenced my current style. I practiced a lot in the Ed, Edd, and Eddy style.
I even draw my own original characters in that style, and they've pretty much become a fan favorite at Islands of Brilliance Sandbox programs and everywhere else! Ed, Edd, and Eddy pretty much inspired me to go and create my own cartoon. It pretty much inspired me to want to go and create my own cartoon at some point. It was the main reason why I got into graphic design and animation in high school and college. I wanted to learn more and more about the animation process! From designing cool, interesting characters, to creating worlds to put my characters in.
It's very interesting seeing the process of me when I first started drawing versus how I currently draw now, because it used to be a lot different. I've always had a passion for creating stories and creating characters. Seeing where I come from to where I am, what I'm doing now is definitely a very enlightening experience for both me and the people that I've interacted with. So, I'm grateful that Ed, Edd, and Eddy and Ice Age are there to essentially “butter my toast,” is how I would put it.
Natalie Derr: Who are a couple of your “OC’s”, which stands for original characters? What are the names of your original characters?
Shayne Mack: Yes! I have plenty of interesting original characters. First was Armstrong. He was probably my earliest character. I remember designing him back in 2015. Funny story, when I created him, I was inspired by the movie The Penguins of Madagascar. In that movie, this is kind of going into spoiler territory, the main villain, who is an octopus, essentially wanted to turn all of the penguins into monstrous freaks so that all the people would love him instead of the penguins.
I remember one design, I think it was Kowalski, that got turned into like a weird creature with a large wart-covered head, and it had octopus tentacles. That's essentially where I got the idea for Armstrong! Armstrong originally had a bit more of a jagged, rough, monstrous kind of design. I remember he had a jagged jaw that looked kind of like it was ripped off or something. But over time, I essentially decided to make him cuter. Essentially, I decided that I liked him so much that I decided to turn him into a regular mainstay character!
Originally, Armstrong was essentially a weird mutant creature that was meant to be designed in a lab by some whatever known name scientists. He's a hybrid creature, he's part penguin, part octopus, obviously, and also part toad because of the warts. At first, I didn't know what color he would be because originally he didn't have color. I rarely did my drawings in color, but over time, I've experimented with different colors. I particularly thought that the body would look good in blue and that's the color that I stuck with. Blue with yellow eyes and orange suckers with green warts. That's how Armstrong became, well, Armstrong!
Next up came Willie! Now, Willie was a character that I developed a lot later. It was back in December of 2020. I remember watching a rerun of the movie, Gremlins. Essentially, I wanted to make my own Gremlin character. So I got out the sketch pad and drew some little in-process sketches. At first, I didn't know what to do with them, but I came up with the idea of him being a wannabe Air Force pilot because of the mythology of gremlins, often being associated with war airplanes. I wanted to explore that and make him want to train to be an Air Force pilot hero. He originally had a partner as well, Palmer. He was a pixie, but he got scrapped. I had developed a few other Gremlin characters as well, named, George and Langley. They would often partner up and go on weird fantasy adventures and come across a lot of weird fantasy creatures in the style of Looney Tunes characters. Which makes sense because I watched a lot of Looney Tunes growing up and wanted to expand on that kind of style. So that's how Willy was created!
Going back to Islands specifically, I was in a workshop one day, and I had the idea to come up with a few interesting characters. I realized that I liked mythological creatures and I liked researching them and I like studying them and I like drawing them as well. So I came up with two interesting characters based on Appalachian folklore, Cleatus the Cactus Cat, and Snare, the Snally Gaster. They became Islands of Brilliance regulars from day one since I first created them. Over time I kind of wanted to redesign them closer to how the actual creatures were depicted.
So originally Snare, I had him be a weird sort of angler fish/viper fish/wizard type creature with glowing bits on his head. Over time, I reshaped him, having him be more of a draconic creature, with a giant squid-like head, one eye, wings and octopus tentacles for a tail. And he pretty much became a well liked character on the spot because of my interesting design. And Cletus, the Cactus Cat has gotten used more and more since then, especially in our Natterdays programming, particularly the one where they were trying to go to a dance competition.
The interesting aspect of creation is it's something that I'm really passionate about and something that gives me joy regardless of whatever I'm doing. Being able to share that sort of creativity through those particular characters is something that I am really striving to do more and more.
Charlie Fairbanks: Great answer! I think that comes back to one of the things I was going to say earlier, I think what's cool about the Doodle Lounge community, and especially the fact that we share so many original characters, is the fact that while it's cool to bond over shared interests of things that anyone might like, what I think is really cool is that a lot of Doodle Lounge participants have bonded over things that they made themselves, and now they are recognized by the other people in the Doodle Lounge community. So people know your art style! People know Willie and Armstrong and everything! I just think that that's really neat and I love watching people relate to each other over their own creations as opposed to just observing popular media. There’s something really special about that.
Natalie Derr: And the way each of them looks forward to it too! Like, we have students that come in and they're like, Oh, where's Adam? Where's Adam's scary warning? Where is Jolie's Taur? You know, like, where is Shayne? They're looking forward to other people's artwork and how they respond to the drawing challenge. It really speaks to the kind of joy and entertainment we get from seeing each other tackle these drawing challenges or respond to these different prompts!
Shayne Mack: Yeah! Every time I share a doodle, regardless if it's related to the doodle challenge or not, the Moroni brothers would always look at it and say, “It’s Edd, Edd, and Eddy!” Yes, that's exactly the style, even though it's not exxactly them, they can still recognize the style pretty well.
What brings you joy?
Natalie Derr: Exactly! They may not be saying the words, “I can't wait to see you share, Shayne,” but that phrase is the same thing. Right? That phrase shows you that they're excited to see your style of artwork in the style of Ed, Edd, and Eddy. So that's really cool that you can identify that, Shayne. Speaking of things that bring us joy, Shayne, we are on to our last question. And our last question for you is what brings you joy? This could be outside or inside of Doodle Lounge. It could be something even outside of Islands of Brilliance.
Shayne Mack: Well, mostly what brings me joy the most is being able to see really, really cool stuff made by people that have a lot of passion and have a lot of creativity regardless of whether or not they think it's good. I also can relate to wanting to share something that I’m particularly interested in, even though it may not be a particular interest to other people.
Just being able to talk to people in general and just being able to share conversations about interesting processes and just things that we're interested in. Like I remember in the Sandbox today, we were talking about the Loud House, that show, and basically getting into neat little discussions about, “Hey, remember this show?”And some people say, “No, I haven't.” And that basically sparked my interest into wanting to chat with them about this, even regardless if they want to hear about it or not, is debatable, but it does give me joy being able to share that information with other people and also hearing people learn from their own experiences as well and giving their own thoughts and takes on a particular thing that I'm interested or they're interested in. And it's not always going to be something that is unanimously agreed upon, but it's always important that you hear thoughts from the other side.
Natalie Derr: Right! It's nice when you see and hear about what brings others joy, right? Sometimes what brings others joy can also bring us joy, even if we didn't realize it would.
Shayne Mack: Yeah, exactly.
Natalie Derr: And what would it be if it was just you sharing about the things you love and no one else? Right? It would feel very one-sided.
Shayne Mack: I mean, if everyone thought the same and acted the same, it would probably be a very dull place.
Charlie Fairbanks: Like that SpongeBob episode with Squidward and the Squidwardville.
Shayne Mack: Or that one Fairly Oddparents episode where everyone was turned into shapeless gray blobs.
Natalie Derr: And we don't want shapeless gray blobs. We want colorful gumdrops with different flavors.
Shayne Mack: I feel like this is going to turn into a commercial at some point.
Natalie Derr: Right? I think so too. Thank you so much for being here and thank you for answering these questions! As always, I feel like you drop some kind of magical sparkly microphone on the ground to where I'm like, wow, I need to sit back and think about that for a while. So thank you for joining us and answering our questions.
Shayne Mack: Yeah! I'm always happy to be able to do some fun stuff with you guys, and it's definitely been fun being able to share all this fun stuff. Whether it be the stuff I work on or just random stuff that I'm interested in, like movies or cartoons or whatever. It's always a pleasant experience!
Natalie Derr: Well, we always appreciate you, Shayne!
