Axial Arts

I started out by drawing. I drew everything. At MassArt I did not stray too far from drawing,
-- the reason I got into the school and what I hoped would lead to a career in illustration. I saw the
graphic design majors hogging the copiers, cutting and pasting endless comps for their very picky
professors. I couldn't imagine being so uptight. When I graduated from Mass College of Art in 1988,
I had a portfolio of excellent illustrations and paintings. I admit I had a lot of fun in college but it soon
dawned on me that full-time illustration jobs were scarcer than hens teeth. After about a year of carrying my portfolio
around town, getting published in several newspapers and doing illustrations for the
Museum of Science education department. I realized that I would never be able to quit my security job
doing this--let alone find someone to marry me! This is when I first learned about the Apple MacIntosh
Computer. Almost overnight all my friends who did freelance paste-up for Boston area newspapers and
stores were hanging out with me not making money. Through a friendly businessman, I exchanged the service of
designing several flyers advertising his business with lessons in Adobe Photoshop 1.3 and
Adobe Illustrator 1.1! Then this guy introduced me to the owner of a graphic design firm called
Ruby Shoes Studio and I was hired as a graphic designer right away because I knew how to use an
Apple! That was 22 years ago and I worked through 8 companies up to CD (Creative Director) and
was eventually laid off in 2010 because of the economy and the nasty outsourcing trend. Personally I think it has become a
young person's career. It is difficult now to find a design job that can support a family and I
feel very sorry I don't have one but I am going back to school to become a high school art teacher.
I created a new illustration portfolio and I finally got an agent who thinks highly of my work. After 22 years of corporate design staff involvement, I want a fresh start.
My website www.greglambdesign.com shows basically where my interest lies.