April 17, 2017

Meet Mike Paz of The Garage Design Co. in Westchester

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Mike Paz.

Thanks for sharing your story with us Mike. So, let’s start at the beginning and we can move on from there.
I graduated High School in ‘92 and had no clear direction on what I was doing with my life I started working a lot of odd jobs, construction, plumbing, warehouse, machining etc. Eight years later, I met and starting dating a girl that was college bound and I decided to start taking some classes at a local JC purely so that she wouldn’t think that I was dumb. 🙂 Up to this point I had resided to the fact that I would always be a manual labor of some sort, but little did I know that I had started down a path that would forever change the trajectory of my life. A few years later, I had my AA. Since this was an accomplishment that I had never dreamed possible I quickly decided that there’s no reason I couldn’t get my BFA. Although that relationship faded and ended I stayed the course transferring to Cal State Fullerton and eventually earning my BFA. (First in my family to earn a degree).

I got my internship at entertainment based Point of Purchase design firm and was hired on after I graduated. It was a great experience but soon found myself wanting to spread my wings and started what would be a 12-year freelancing career. Working on the vendor side for most of the major Hollywood design firms as well as venturing to the other side of the fence and working such networks Lionsgate, Fox, ABC as well as The Oprah Winfrey Network where I spent two years as a permalancer doing Design/Art Direction until I decided that I was tired of the Rat Race and unsatisfied with my quality of life and wanting to spend more quality time with my son, I converted my garage into my work studio and the Garage was born.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Over my 15 years in the industry I’ve dealt with a lot of egos, ‘been fired, I have had a lot of crazy, neurotic bosses, impossible deadlines & and a lot of financial difficulties, but the challenge that I’ve dealt with the most in my profession is dealing with clients and/or bosses that either don’t respect what designers do as professionals or feel that since they have a copy of Photoshop at home, they’re designers as well. In response to this, another Mike-ism I like to throw out there is “Just ’cause you own a hammer, that doesn’t make you a carpenter.” 😉

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about The Garage (The Garage Design Co.) – what should we know?
The Garage was born from the ideas of hating my job and wanting to loving what I do again while providing well thought out, well crafted, professional quality branding & design that connects with and to the client. I feel that this is in contrast to the trend of online (Cookie Cutter) style design shops & sites that try to convince clients that the solution to their design problems can be distilled down to formulas and generalities. As a Designer, I feel that what we do is more like being a Language Translator, only we speak in imagery, typography, colors, tones and metaphors. I like to explain to potential clients, “You’re hiring a designer based on how fluent they are in their language (design,) which ultimately translates into the accuracy and level of eloquence you want when communicating with your clients.” Put another way, design is like anything else out there. There are many levels of service available to you, so as a consumer you need to decide how much your company’s branding, design, and image are worth to you, “Do you want the equivalent of a ‘Super-Cuts’ style of design, or are you the type of client that wants a stylist?”

Over the course of my time freelancing in Hollywood I have met and worked with a lot of talented people, so when someone hires the Garage for a project it starts with me but rather than being a lone gunman, I like to dive back into my contacts and hire on a designer/s whose design style would enhance the outcome of the project.

What sets the Garage apart from our competition is 17 years of Entertainment and Network design experience and a passion for my craft.

Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Early on, I had a neighbor who was a designer that worked from home which fascinated me, I bugged him relentlessly to teach me. He gave me my first versions of Photoshop and Quark Express, I affectionately refer to him as my “Yoda.” (Oz Trad)

Once I went back to school, I also had some great professors at Cal State Fullerton (John Drew and Theron Moore) who were design taskmasters. I often stayed up all night designing just to have work to show the next day of class and would sleep in-between class times. I must have enjoyed the abuse because of all the design professors there were at Fullerton those two were the only professors that I took.

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