From humble beginnings as a paste-up artist in Palm Harbor Florida, Jody has been producing award-winning graphic design since 1987. Jeanne and Charlie Cundiff owned a Pip Printing and hired a young girl with no experience in printing but had the desire and the artistic talent to become the new girl in the shop. After demonstrating her ability to learn quickly, Jody began taking side jobs as a graphic designer. Jeanne and Charlie encouraged this. They had a great source for artwork and their clients were happy with the quality of her drawings.
Yes, drawings. Personal computers were not an option. Very few people had one and working in DOS was not a graphic artists dream. Illustrations were drawn by hand and printing was prepared with rubylith (a red film to separate colors). This was the environment that Jody cut her teeth into the graphics design industry. This is where she learned that being a graphic designer was exactly what she wanted to do with her career.
It got to the point where Jody’s graphic side jobs, people coming into the print shop to order artwork, was affecting the time she spent at her other responsibilities. With Jeanne and Charlies’ blessing, it was time to go out on her own.
Her first company was named Beaux Arts and was based out of a spare room in her rented duplex in Tarpon Springs.
The year was 1987
My name, address and phone numbers here are no longer relevant. What is relevant, is that this image is an accurate, birds-eye view of the tiny spare room where I began my career as a self-employed graphic designer.
Notice the T-square and drafting table…but no computer.
