I was born in , and I grew up in a working class suburb of Cleveland. As a kid, I was good at art. I enjoyed drawing, but what I really liked about it was that it allowed me to be sociable and meet people. Why did artists like Josef Albers paint squares or Franz Kline paint big, slashed lines, over and over, all alone?
What would possess them to do that? Instead, I began to admire record jackets and book covers and movie posters. These I understood. I could tell there was some artistry involved, but it seemed more like an opportunity to work on a movie or hang out with a band or talk to an author.
It was more integrated into everyday life, and I remember being enthusiastic about that at a young age. I could do hand lettering, and if someone wanted an animal in the logo, I could do that; if someone needed a poster for the school play, I could do that, too. I used art as a sort of magic shield against the bullies who would have otherwise beat me up.
All along, I had no idea that what I was doing was called graphic design. I lived in the middle of nowhere at a time when no one knew anything about something like graphic design.
By accident, I happened to find a book in my high school library by a guy named S. Neil Fujita. Back then, there was a book series about different vocational adventures with titles like Aim for a Job in Television Repair or Aim for a Job in Dentistry. I opened the book up, and it was like receiving an instruction manual for my future career: it was all right there. Other people have many romances and twisting adventures as they go through their lives.
