about

My illustration career began in the basement of an old print shop in Boston's North End
creating layouts and custom illustration work for invitations, business cards, flyers, and brochures.

That led me to Harvard University assisting with the layout and spot illustrations for their weekly newsletter.

I did a lot of freelance airbrush illustration for ad agencies and magazines and was the go-to
photo-retoucher for Spectrum Color Labs, one of the larger service bureaus in Boston.

Once Adobe came along, I taught myself Illustrator and Photoshop, and the design software, QuarkXPress.
I waited tables at night and used my tip money to rent a Mac at Kinko's to build my first "real" portfolio.

I got into publishing and worked for local magazines creating ads, cover art, and spot illustrations.
I became the in-house illustrator for Brown Publishing editing the work of freelance illustrators.

I landed a position as a senior graphic designer for The Gillette Company.
My illustration skills allowed me to story board and create mock-ups in a few hours instead of days.

I went "dotcom"In the early 2000's with several start-ups as an art director, which was short-lived.

I became a contract senior designer, working for agencies, companies like Staples and New Balance,
and with the University of Massachusetts.

I spent seven years as a design instructor for Newbury College in Massachusetts.
I also taught high school honors art and created Arts Cool, Ink, a design program for children.

After 30 years as a creative professional, I finally retired from design and enjoy working in education.

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I continue to freelance and enjoy creating YouTube content where I share my unique experiences.

Thank you for visiting and I hope you are doing well! ~ Mark