About
Andy York
The artist in me is very strong and has been there all of my life. All through grade school, high school, and college I got As and Bs in whatever art classes I took. Interestingly, I found out only a few years ago that my birth mother (who left when I was two, so I never really knew her) was an artist, a painter, herself. But that is only half of it. I also got As and Bs in any kind of science classes I took. Not surprising, really, since my father was a scientist.
So, half of me, the artist (creative, eye for color, shape, balance), thinks with the right side of my brain and the other half, the scientist (logical, methodical), thinks with the left side. This is my yin and yang.
In the mid nineties I was divorced and supporting my two wonderful young sons by working as a heavy equipment operator. I loved being outside and working to shape the land. I got to play in the dirt with big Tonka toys every day.
I also believed that if I didn’t learn how to use a computer, I would get left behind in the ever growing world of technology. So I saved my pennies and bought my first computer for $200 from the grade school my children attended.
My left brain thinking allowed me to take right to the computer. It is a machine and it works in a logical, step by step, way. Then the right brain thinking had to jump in and I started learning how to work with images and create vector and raster drawings. Before I knew it, I was teaching myself how to write HTML code, creating buttons, bars, and backgrounds and making sets for web pages. Once I had a small collection of these sets, I put up my first web site to make them available for people to use.
Word got around that I was doing computer graphics and before long people were asking me to design flyers, posters, catalog advertisements, and even a web site. I was having a blast with my new hobby.
Then I was involved in an accident were I suffered a fairly bad head and neck injury. Once I was able to go back to work, I found that my neck was no longer able to take the beating that running heavy equipment includes. I was going to have to get off of the equipment and get a “sit down” job.
The logical choice was made. At 50, while still working full time, I went back to college, kept a 4.0 GPA, graduated Suma Cum Laude, and earned my Bachelor’s Degree in Graphic Design.
I learned, amoung other things, how important branding is and how much it can affect a company's success or failure. Every company, large or small, needs to have a good branding system. I started Online-GraphicDesign to provide quality graphic design services conveniently and affordably to any one any where.
