How it all began John says his graphic design career began officially in 1993, but his creative pursuits started when he was a boy. Growing up in the 1980's, John was a "media-junkie". Watching television, reading magazines and playing video games kept him busy throughout most of his childhood. Although he enjoyed the media buzz he received from TV and Atari, his real intrigue was with how it all was created. After graduating from high school, John headed off for college. He majored in Business and minored in Theater Arts. His business classes gave him an insight into how the "real world" worked, but his acting and stage design classes were what he enjoyed the most. The biggest prerequisite to succeed there was inherent creativity.
A career is born
A year after college John was offered the opportunity to manage the production of a weekly ad publication. He designed all advertisements, page layouts articles and copy. Layouts were completed with some of the earliest versions of Quark Xpress and Photoshop. At that time, the technology was in its infancy but John learned to master these new tools.
In 1996, John became the designer for a quarterly catalog selling Police, Fire and EMS equipment to customers nationwide. Photo shoots were a regular part of the job. with countless days spent doing color correction and photo editing.
In 1998, John's career took a turn from the creative side and more into the nuts and bolts of the printing industry. He began working full-time in the prepress department of a commercial printing company. Instead of designing the pieces for clients, he now took the artwork from designers and prepared them for the printing process. It sounds simpler than it really is. Being a pre-press technician gave John a background that few designers ever get the chance to experience.
What's Next?
After twelve years of moving the mouse from both sides of the approval process, John's design experience is seasoned. His passion is still design but his knowledge of how to create it right the first time is his creed. John has been told by many of his clients that his work truly captures the feeling they were trying to achieve.
