I was born in Baltimore City and my family moved to Baltimore County to escape the 1968 riots. I have lived in Maryland my entire life and now reside in Harford County near the northeast portion of the Susquehanna River.

Good question…I guess it was a mixture of things that got me into Graphic Design. I have a degree in CAD (Computer Aided Design) and a second degree in Automated Manufacturing Technologies. While I was in college I would always add artistic touches to all of my design papers. When I did a report I always created my own graphics. My extra effort didn’t go unnoticed. I am a Phi Theta Kappa graduate and graduated at the top of both classes. I loved to create artwork. I am also a self proclaimed professional photographer. This introduced me to Photoshop. Illustrator and opened up a whole new world of adventure for me. I became addicted to Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Flash,
Dream Weaver, and Fireworks. I am still addicted!

In this volatile marketplace you need to spread yourself out or you wont survive. If you look at the Graphical Media Services website (still under some construction) you will quickly notice how many different things we can do. This helps us maintain a healthy business atmosphere. The more you can do for your customer the better chance you have for survival. We do not advertise ourselves as a graphic design company. We our a collaborative marketing partnership. We work with the customer to determine his needs and to define his target market. Then we offer ways to get there. Websites, Brochures, Technical manuals, etc. That is the corporate side of the business. Yes we also freelance as much as possible. I love my job because with every customer comes new challenges. Yes, many can be similar but they all have their differences. I need to be challenged to be happy and this is very challenging.

I love to collaborate back and forth with my customer until I have a design that just makes them say “YES…that’s exactly what I am looking for….I love it”. When someone loves something that you created it is that feeling of accomplishment and self gratification that you can’t get anywhere else

At this point we have been working with small to mid-size businesses and are slowly moving up the chain. I would love to do some in-depth marketing work for a large corporation of any kind just because it would be a new challenge for us and would open up other doors. All of my customers are noteworthy and that is how it should be if you want to survive in this business however EO Sports Gear just contracted GMS to do all of there graphic design work for their clothing apparel and miscellaneous items.

Listen to your customers…don’t just hear them! Forget about your design ideas and listen to their ideas. Don’t get offended if they don’t like something you did even if in your heart you believe it to be a Picasso! Remember that this is the BUSINESS of graphic design and it as all about what the customer likes.

The one person who has helped shape my career is my wife. I was afraid to go out on my own. I had an OK job and I was  comfortable but in my heart I knew it wasn’t what I wanted to do. I started doing graphic design and photography jobs on the side for friends and then friends of friends and so on. I was getting busier and busier until it came time to make that decision. Now I own one of the fastest growing design companies on the East Coast.

My technique I use to spark creativity is Play. When all else fails open your design software of choice and play. You wouldn’t believe all of the design ideas that we have come up with just by playing with the software. Sometimes things get a little crazy and we laugh at what we have created but it helps break the stress bubble and allows us
the freedom to explore other possibilities. Surf the web for graphics. Find tutorials on your software and just try a few. We have created libraries of ideas that we keep on file just by playing. It also makes for a great work environment and I guarantee the designers block will go away.

I use my photography for my business but it is also my passion. I definitely have the camera bug. I love to visit beautiful places and catch them on the camera. Just for that split second time comes to a halt and allows you to really look hard at what’s in front of you. Believe me there is still a lot of good things out there if we just take the time to recognize them. Life is exciting to me because everyday is a new beginning and a new
challenge. It is that challenge that drives us forward and I love every minute of it!

I see myself in the future as a very happy and very successful individual. My goal is to become the largest design facility in the United States. My ultimate accomplishment would be to make my business one of the top ten nicest places to work. I want all of my employees to be happy and successful……so far its working…..Thanks for listening!

Thanks,

Rob Diffenderfer

www.graphicalmediaservices.com