We would like to introduce our newest addition to the design team: Mike Gurtek. We asked him to tell us (and the world) a little bit about himself, and it turns out, he’s not too bad at writing either!

“I started working in the graphics field in 1992 at a Minneapolis company.  I worked in the art department where at the time scanners were state-of-the-art.  Scanners… state-of-the-art?  This was my first taste of graphic design.  At the time I didn’t know you could combine artwork with computers.  This opened up a whole new world of opportunity for me.

I went to college at St. Cloud State for a degree in graphic design.  Since I’m really into gaming and special effects I followed that school with more school at Academy College in Bloomington, MN.  Here I pursued my studies in animation in stop motion and 3D graphics.

My style of design is most recognized by vector pin up art.  As a kid I used to draw… a lot.  Some of my personal works are combinations of photography with illustration.  These types of work are typically “grindhouse” esq styles of work.  Very 70’s, very B-movie and really low budget looking.  I guess I take a lot of influence from 70’s pop culture.

My other style of design is typography.  In most of my logo designs or type treatments I almost always redesign type or make my own fonts.  I have never been one to pick a font and tell my client “Here’s your logo”.  Illustrator allows me to reverse-engineer a font to customize it to my liking.

When I’m not staring at pixels I can be found around at local original music clubs.  So far my favorite bands are: Pink Mink, the4onthefloor, Solid Gold and Red Pens.  I am a huge music fanatic.  It’s the most powerful driving force in my creations.”

In his first week with us, he is spending time with the other designers, learning the ropes and getting introduced to current projects. We are very excited to add his talents to the Prime design mix – welcome to the team Mike!