I'm Ken, a graphic designer living and working in the greater Pittsburgh area since graduating high school.
I grew up about 75 miles west of Pittsburgh in the farmlands of Ohio. Honeybees, hound dogs and UFOs are all synonymous with my childhood. I escaped Ohio at 18 to go to the Art Institute of Pittsburgh. I arrived in Pittsburgh with some talent that was developed in high school (Thanks Mrs. Mitchell), big dreams and an intense work ethic. I transferred from the Arby's in Salem, Ohio to work at the Arby's on Fifth Avenue in downtown Pittsburgh—that was until I got robbed at gunpoint during a weekday lunch rush. I quickly realized there were safer ways to work my way through school. Other than that little incident in the fast food business, I was sold on Pittsburgh. I didn't want to leave.
After graduation, I returned briefly to my home town to work at a meat packing factory where I manhandled sides of smoked pork on a midnight to 7 shift. I worked that ungodly shift for a few months until an unfortunate pallet jack mishap crushed my ankle. That was more than enough motivation for me to push hard and get my first interview with an advertising agency in Pittsburgh.
Not long after that pallet jack incident, I had my first post-college interview. I quickly accepted my first design job at a small agency on the Boulevard of the Allies above Tramp's Saloon in downtown Pittsburgh. During that time, my friend and roommate arranged a blind date with a beautiful Italian girl he met through an intern in our building. 35 years later, that girl is still my wife. After a couple years of working long hours with little pay, I moved on to the Graphic Arts Technical Foundation (most recently Printing Industries of America) in Oakland where the science and craftsmanship of printing was on full display. My knowledge of design and print grew exponentially.
Again, after a couple years, my learning was stifled so I looked for better opportunities. The knowledge I had gained paid off and I was offered a Production Manager position at another downtown agency, Allerton Marketing Communications. This agency was small but mighty. I worked on many large accounts including H.J. Heinz, Colgate-Palmolive, Ocean Spray Cranberries, Westinghouse, Alcoa and more. During my tenure at AMCI, I managed some of the most creative printing projects being produced in Pittsburgh at the time.
I was lured away briefly during the dot-com rage to Westinghouse, Source W, a multimedia company. I took a customer service role, then shortly after was promoted to production manager for a 3-shift operation producing print, electronic catalogs and websites. Once CBS bought Westinghouse, I decided to go back to Allerton where I could work on those big accounts with big budgets, out-of-the-box creative, and 80-hour work weeks. That was my pace and my space.
In 2006, PNC Bank asked me to come onboard their newly formed in-house design studio as their senior designer. I jumped at the chance to compete head-to-head with large the agencies from Pittsburgh to New York City on national campaigns. I spent nearly 10 years designing everything from campaigns and bank branch interiors to credit card systems and bank branch interiors. In my opinion, it was the best design job in Pittsburgh.
As much as I loved working at PNC, I was once again lured away by a growing communications company, Crown Castle. After initial hesitation to leave the great work I was doing at PNC, I jumped at the chance to extend my career in another marketing department. Crown Castle has grown from a $30B company to nearly $100B in market value in the past several years. I'm still happily employed at "the castle" and I think I made the right move.
