Hello, my name is Mat Cherkus. I design identity, advertising, and web sites as a freelancer and in-house creative. My goal is to unite with your company’s vision and use my talents and experience to net you results.
To this end, my methods involve developing a solid strategy and executing with an informed process. Research into your industry, competitors, and especially customers are taken into great consideration but one must go further beneath the surface and really ask the hard questions. “Why?”, being the most important of them. Truly getting to know the problem or difficulty your company may be experiencing can mean all the difference between success and wasted efforts. When I first sit down and strategize with a client, I need to know what they know, feel what they feel and put myself in their position to get at the heart of they problem they are experiencing.
As a business owner, working with a new designer can feel risky if good communication and rapport is not established from the outset. I find that being a communicator is also about being a good listener- two ears, one mouth. Building a strong peer relationship helps me gain real insight as to your goals and concerns. Designing with that in mind brings much faster results and naturally adds value to my services.
I came to design in a roundabout way. Specifically, a class project in first grade that involved gluing a cotton ball beard to paper plate drawing of Santa’s face. As we pinned our finished heads to the wall I remember stepping back to regard my attention to the fine detail in the reflection of Old St. Nick’s eye. “I should be an artist.” I thought to myself, and so it goes.
The Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg also made a lasting impression at the age of six. This naturally lead me to a love affair with things like Mad Magazine, Garbage Pail Kids, and heavy metal album art. Flash, zany products, and over the top advertising… being a true product of the 80’s, I took it all in and never let it go. Becoming a skateboarder at the age of twelve also significantly altered the course of my life in ways that I may never fully appreciate. Board graphics, punk zines, clothing, and things like Thrasher Magazine opened new vistas to me. The D.I.Y. ethic suddenly put the means and motivation in my hands that my small world had never offered up before.
I chose to major in painting at Pratt Institute because I wanted toto build on a solid foundation of traditional art, critical thinking, and continued learning. Desktop publishing was still in it’s infancy at that time and I could see the possibilities on the horizon. I found my first design job creating promotional products and it has lead me through a depth of experience in designing and producing wearables, embroidery, vehicle wraps, displays, signage, and print products.
Design is how we differentiate ourselves, let me help take your next project somewhere different!
About
Hello, my name is Mat Cherkus. I design identity, advertising, and web sites as a freelancer and in-house creative. My goal is to unite with your company’s vision and use my talents and experience to net you results.
To this end, my methods involve developing a solid strategy and executing with an informed process. Research into your industry, competitors, and especially customers are taken into great consideration but one must go further beneath the surface and really ask the hard questions. “Why?”, being the most important of them. Truly getting to know the problem or difficulty your company may be experiencing can mean all the difference between success and wasted efforts. When I first sit down and strategize with a client, I need to know what they know, feel what they feel and put myself in their position to get at the heart of they problem they are experiencing.
As a business owner, working with a new designer can feel risky if good communication and rapport is not established from the outset. I find that being a communicator is also about being a good listener- two ears, one mouth. Building a strong peer relationship helps me gain real insight as to your goals and concerns. Designing with that in mind brings much faster results and naturally adds value to my services.
I came to design in a roundabout way. Specifically, a class project in first grade that involved gluing a cotton ball beard to paper plate drawing of Santa’s face. As we pinned our finished heads to the wall I remember stepping back to regard my attention to the fine detail in the reflection of Old St. Nick’s eye. “I should be an artist.” I thought to myself, and so it goes.
The Salvador Dali Museum in St. Petersburg also made a lasting impression at the age of six. This naturally lead me to a love affair with things like Mad Magazine, Garbage Pail Kids, and heavy metal album art. Flash, zany products, and over the top advertising… being a true product of the 80’s, I took it all in and never let it go. Becoming a skateboarder at the age of twelve also significantly altered the course of my life in ways that I may never fully appreciate. Board graphics, punk zines, clothing, and things like Thrasher Magazine opened new vistas to me. The D.I.Y. ethic suddenly put the means and motivation in my hands that my small world had never offered up before.
I chose to major in painting at Pratt Institute because I wanted toto build on a solid foundation of traditional art, critical thinking, and continued learning. Desktop publishing was still in it’s infancy at that time and I could see the possibilities on the horizon. I found my first design job creating promotional products and it has lead me through a depth of experience in designing and producing wearables, embroidery, vehicle wraps, displays, signage, and print products.
Design is how we differentiate ourselves, let me help take your next project somewhere different!
mat@matcherkus.com