Artist Interview:

Why I create family-owned and local business logos.

I know how hard it is to work every day getting someone else rich, and just getting by, or in reality probably not. At the start of my career, I knew I wanted to work in computer graphics. It was new back then. I took a job away from my cozy community and commuted into Boston 45 miles away to what was then an old brick manufacturing building in “Southie” which is now a scant memory across from a giant convention center.

In the early 80’s I worked for $200 a week. That was $5 an hour, and a 50 min commute (on a good day). Take home was about $150, minus the gas ($30/week), leaving a whopping $120 a week to pay for rent ($350/month), food (I was thinner then), bills, and clothes. Whatever I managed to save always went to a car repair on my Plymouth Horizon with that continual, mysterious electrical malfunction.

To make a long story short, after some suffering at being a compliant, diligent, and reliable worker, (found a new job at $7/hr). Here the “team” met every Monday morning to review how well the company was doing. Evidently, the company was doing very well. The new “machine” was bringing in tens of thousands of dollars every week. They were very happy with the new computer. Pretty much, I was the only one working on the computer, at the time there was just one computer doing the work. I got a .25 cent-an-hour raise and a kick in the ass at my review. That’s about $7/week after tax. Just enough of a promotion to drown a deflated ego sorrows in alcohol. Quite a stretch from the $10,000/wk the “machine” brought in. So I’ve been there. Needless to say this kick-started my 40-year freelance career.

Now, I work for you. You, the person who just received their annual review and either got a minuscule raise (in today’s terms maybe $1.50/hr), denied a promised promotion, or, like me was told what a horrible person you are to work with and no one will ever hire you. Yes, this is the business game. It keeps you in, but probably not.

If you haven’t looked around, no one wants to work for an exploitative employer. Every time I see a help wanted sign, I think to myself people must hate working there. Those who are lucky enough to like their employer will never leave, and there will be very few job opening at the best places to work. On the flip side, I worked for a company that everyone hated, but wouldn’t leave because of the high pay. In the most mind-boggling environment, everything back then was just wrong.

This is the time to think about independence. There is a risk, hard work, and most of all the ability to avoid the pitfall of “the discouragers”. For me in the 80s, it was those who thought creating art on a computer really isn’t art.

Today is different. We have worldwide competition on a planet in trouble. A sick people in a degenerating economy, all the signs of social collapse. To get out from under we need to help each other. Support our neighbors, our friends, and most of all our family. The local economy. We should know what goes into the products we buy. Not only the raw materials but the labor. Do we buy from a company that exploits its workforce? It’s PRIME-arily hard to avoid.

Thing is. Think about a side gig. If you have a marketable product, skill, or service you may want to get into the running. Do something fun. Life IS short and things WILL change. When you have a family-owned, handcrafted, local symbol alongside your product or service, you may just appeal to those who want to support you and the local economy.