Jeff Colon was born one scary day in 1951. He was a Halloween treat for his mom and dad, Bert and Murray. He was the first of four boys. He had the chicken pox, the measles, and did the things that boys do—rode bikes, played ball, climbed trees, dug holes, built forts, played war, read books, sneered at girls, baby-sat his brothers, and attended school dutifully until he graduated from Ferndale High School in 1969. He attended Oakland Community College and Oakland University before leaving school for the wider world.

Jeff was married to Lynn Daley in 1980. They moved into a home in Oak Park, Mich. where they live today with their two cats, Squeaky and Buddy. They have had many other cats over the years and continue to rescue and place strays that wander into their lives. Please spay and neuter your cats and dogs.

Jeff and Lynn enjoy gardening, taking walks, bird watching, socializing at their clubs, vintage movies, and baseball. They spent many games in the bleachers at Tiger Stadium while dating and have remained fans despite the lean years through which we have suffered prior to 2006. The 2006 World Series didn’t work out too well but we enjoyed the ride getting there.

Jeff has been a member of the board of directors of Michigan Audubon Society since 1996. It is Michigan’s oldest conservation organization and today works to connect people with birds for the benefit of both. He has helped organize Michigan Audubon’s largest event, CraneFest, from its inception in 1994 and has donated his services to produce its newsletter, the JPW, and its website since 1998.

Jeff began his career in the commercial art business in 1975 when he went to work for his father at Art Works, Inc., a supplier to AAA Marketing, Ford Graphics, ad agencies K&E and JWT, and others. Art Works produced collateral materials, ads, brochures, displays, special projects, and more. Jeff started out in the darkroom shooting stats, learned the business, and eventually became production manager marking up type and coordinating the work of several artists, keyliners, and typesetters. Finally he started shlepping a bag, as well, until the business closed upon his father’s retirement in 1993 and the advent of the computer age.

In 1993 Jeff set up shop with his brother Terry as Design King, LLC, sharing space with Orbit magazine in Royal Oak, Mich. until 1999. He began to teach himself QuarkXPress, Photoshop, Illustrator, Word, and BBedit on the Mac and continues to learn today. His tools now also include Acrobat, InDesign, GoLive, and the rest of the MS Office Suite.

Technology has changed dramatically the way we do things in our business. One person can now do what took many to perform a few years ago. We can be more precise and faster but good design and good typography doesn’t just happen with the push of a button. Until computers can be made to be creative it will still take talented individuals with knowledge and experience to produce quality work.

Contact me. We can make good things happen. 248-867-9124.