Creating Bluey: Tales from the Art Director

Appreciation of the article and Bluey’s craft

• Many readers found the multi-part write-up gripping and unusually well written, praising its narrative voice.
• Several note that the art director’s earlier short film already showed a strong focus on story over pure visual polish.
• There’s recognition that Bluey’s look-and-feel is distinctive and that the article nicely reveals how that visual identity was shaped.
• One commenter argues the art director somewhat over-credits design for Bluey’s success, emphasizing that the writing, themes, and especially the parenting portrayal are the real core.

Brisbane’s presence and local pride

• Brisbane-based readers love seeing their city’s skyline and landmarks rendered so lovingly for a global kids’ audience.
• Multiple comments express affection for Brisbane as an underrated city and describe the show as successfully capturing its atmosphere.
• Bluey has even made some overseas viewers want to visit Brisbane.

Working conditions and anti-crunch stance

• The quoted line about refusing jobs that sacrifice wellbeing for “greatness” resonates; people share examples of studios that manage good IP with humane hours, pay, and diversity.
• Others push back that many successful projects relied on crunch; counter-argument: success doesn’t justify inhumane treatment.

Social media “beginnings” nitpick

• A minor side debate challenges the article’s framing of “beginnings of social media in the early 2010s,” citing earlier platforms and adoption.
• There’s disagreement over what counts as “popular” (niche/early-adopter vs mainstream) and how the growth data should be read.

Australian tech/creative ecosystem

• Several ex-Seattle/SF developers in Sydney/Melbourne compare the Australian tech/startup scene unfavorably to the US: fewer obsessives, less risk capital, more regulation, and a property market that soaks investment.
• At the same time, people express long-term commitment to Australia and wish for a stronger local scene.

Money, value, and “surplus” from Bluey

• The art director’s remark that their designs helped generate roughly $2B while earning ~AUD 88k/year triggers a long debate on fairness.
• One side: this illustrates exploitation and huge “surplus value” capture by rights holders (primarily ABC/BBC/BBC Studios), and shows how creative work is structurally undervalued.
• Other side: a salary is a risk hedge; if the show had flopped, the artist still keeps the 88k, so it’s a standard security-vs-upside trade.
• People discuss possible “middle grounds”: royalties, profit or revenue participation, bonuses, co-ops, or buying equity in large media companies—while noting these options usually require leverage, representation, or access to capital most workers lack.
• Marxist concepts of surplus labor and exploitation are invoked; others respond with risk/return and competitive market arguments, leading to a broader capitalism vs labor-power exchange debate.
• It’s noted that, because Bluey is partly a public-broadcaster production, this is not a pure private-capitalist case, which blurs some of the theoretical arguments.