Years ago, while moving back from San Francisco, I made a stop in Charleston, SC to spend some time with family. I decided to give it a shot and stay for a while. At that point in my career, my professional background was rooted in graphic design, print production, and web UI.
I applied to a company called AnchorSign in Charleston, and they hired me. It was a genuinely cool place to work. Young energy, enthusiasm, friendly people, and music playing all the time which was cool because music is my main motivator. My role was mostly focused on creating sign elevations in CorelDRAW.
Almost immediately, my skills started to apply. Techniques I had taken for granted were new and useful to others. My manager, who sat in the same office as me, started paying attention to how I worked. The small techniques and shortcuts I did not even think about anymore.
One day, he casually mentioned that the company was planning to redesign the logo.
I perked up immediately.
I told him I would love to help. When I asked about the process, he explained it would be fairly structured. Everyone would submit ideas, there would be discussion, and then some kind of vote. Totally reasonable. Totally expected.
But being me, I went home that night and just did the thing.
I designed the logo I had in my head.
And because I also had web UI experience, I did not stop there. I built a full HTML homepage mockup using the new logo, complete with a fresh layout that linked into their existing site. Not a replacement. Just a vision of what it could look like.
Honestly, I thought it came together pretty well.
That said, when it comes to logos and corporate branding, I have never been someone who gets overly precious or emotional about it. It is design. It either works or it does not.
Anyway, I came in the next day and got to work. All the while, I was working up the courage to present what I had made. I had only been there a week, after all.
Me:
“I went home and created a logo I would like to show you.”Him:
“Well, like I said, there is going to be a process.”Me:
“Oh, no worries. I get that. Totally. It is not like that at all. I just wanted to show you.”
So he stood up, clearly a little annoyed. Honestly, I probably would have been too.
He came over and stood behind me, looking at my monitor.
Him:
“Okay, but if I do not like it, you cannot take it personally. Like I told you.”Me:
“Totally, man.”
There was a brief pause.
I opened it up and there was dead silence. For what felt like an hour, he did not say a word. I turned to look at him, just to catch any facial reaction. Before I could even process it, he blurted out:
“THAT THING IS FUCKING AWESOME!!!.”
I was not prepared for that response and tried to interject something can't remember.
He kept pointing at the monitor.
No “AWESOME...AWESOME”
He would not let me even interject at all , and I was kind of in shock not expecting that reaction.
Then he said, “Email it to me,” and ran back to his desk.
I was in a stunned state. I had expected a maybe response. Some feedback. Some tweaks.
Instead, he picked up the phone and called the head IT guy, one of the co-founders. I remember him being a cool dude. I could hear quiet conversation while I tried to get back to my work.
Suddenly, my manager put the call on speakerphone.
Head IT (co-founder):
“Hey Christian. Nice logo, awesome work Love it. I am going to tell the CEO I did it.🤣”
I replied laughing still stunned at the response of all of this, then the phone rings again its the CEO.
CEO (co-founder):
“Thank you so much, awesome job, its perfect!"
They were really showing appreciation for what I did, and my manager was just grinning. They were all cool people.
The reason I tell this story is that every time I visit Charleston, SC, I expect it to have changed. To this day, they are not just using the same logo I made back then, but literally the exact same file. And this was quite some time ago 😎
I know this because there are details in it that I recognize.
I did not spend much time at the company. My life plans took me elsewhere, but I truly enjoyed working there. It is just cool to know that, in the short time I was there, I somehow had a lasting impact.
It is not like I think the thing I created is the best thing ever, just a cool thing I think about. They had no ego about it, and it is a good memory.
Anyway, I have a couple more that are blog worthy. Maybe I will post them if I have time.
You can see it here!
They’re still going strong — !!! AnchorSign’s website !!!
Good stuff.
Thanks for reading!
-Christian
