Yes, that’s me at age 18 finally nailing that 14’x40’ painting of a diesel truck for the billboard agency. It took me years to understand color theory, perspective and composition to get it right. I was so proud of that moment, and the one thing I took with me throughout my career is what I call the Billboard Effect.
It’s a very simple principle that I learned without ever knowing it, which is through the combination of composition, copy, colors, fonts and images you have about three seconds to capture and communicate with someone driving 60 MPH on the interstate highway. And today it’s less than that, but the general rule of design here at Primary Theory is to be sure whatever you do, connect with the audience in 3 seconds or less.