About Us

Be Free Studios was founded in 2005 by me, Burton Podczerwinski. It started off as a group of artists that would hold popup shows at various venues throughout Chicago and the suburbs. Quite often, these art shows would have musicians playing while me and other artists would perform live painting. Most of the time, paintings were sold or auctioned for charity at the end of performances.

Through networking at these events, I began to create graphic design projects for clients I'd met. Most of these projects were company logos or advertising and event fliers. From selling art at events to occasional graphics projects, I was able to start getting more clients.

While working part-time and still running Be Free Studios, I began studying Motion Graphics, User Experience Design, and Software Development. As my skills continued to grow, I began creating full website experiences for clients, from research to design to development.

Fast forward a couple years, I was married with my first daughter on the way. After starting a family, I decided it to explore the corporate world. I took a position as an Interactive Developer for Roundarch. As a developer for Roundarch, I worked on enterprise level projects for clients like Bloomberg, Lockheed Martin, and Royal Caribbean to name a few.

After about 5 years of consulting for Roundarch, they were acquired by a company called Isobar (Aegis Media). During this acquisition, things started to change with the culture of the company. It was a tough decision, but about a year later I decided to leave for a company called Slalom. It was one of the best decisions I've ever made.