(Editor's note: I decided to take a break this month and let our newest addition to the R&C staff tell you a little about himself. We're glad to have him on board and are excited to see what he can do to tweak the look of the mag. Although he has made a few adjustments over the last couple of issues, we're planning on locking him in his office until he comes out with a newly redesigned package you should be seeing soon.)
You might have noticed last month that the pages of R&C are starting to look a little different. Well, that's because I've taken on the job as the new art director. You might know me from one of my cars ('32 Ford five-window, '27 T coupe Bad News, or '60 Ford Starliner) or from my car club, the Burbank Choppers. I've been an R&C reader my whole life, and I started collecting all the back issues "from the old days" back in the '80s. When Pat Ganahl brought R&C back from the dead in December 1988, I became a crazed reader. As a graphic designer, I had to look past the poor design and concentrate on the excellent content. Pat was R&C back then. He was looking for an assistant and offered me the job, but in the end, I turned it down. Although it was an honor, I wanted to pursue my graphic design career since I had just finished college and earned a degree in graphic design.
From that time on, I became very active in the traditional hot rod and kustom car world while my day job as a graphic designer became a reality. I freelanced for a while, worked in the apparel industry for six years, and then went to work for Tornado Design for the past eight years. That's where I grew from doing entertainment and music packaging to book design. At Tornado, we designed "The Night of the Tiki," the green cover Ed "Big Daddy" Roth book, and my passion of the last four years, "The Art of Von Dutch."
Some 16 years after Pat originally approached me, the current staff of R&C called me and told me the higher-up "creatives" really wanted to change the look of R&C for real this time, and they wanted to talk to me. I had to think about it for a while, not really convinced that serious change could happen. After negotiations and deep thinking, I decided to take on the challenge of a long commute and a big legacy to live up to.
I think this is the best staff "as a whole" our bible has had since my favorite issues of the little books. I've known Kevin, Jim, and Tim outside the building for quite some time (I've known Jim since the early '90s). Three of us have a family hot rod history and the other is well schooled in the subject. In the coming months, expect a lot more changes in the look of R&C with the ongoing excellent content that you have been receiving since the rest of my cohorts have been working on this mag. Hopefully we can bring back the excitement and enthusiasm that this magazine deserves. It is truly an honor to join the staff of R&C!