Born of necessity, H.O.W.D.Y. Media is the creation of owner Steve Baldwin. Many factors went in to the making of H.O.W.D.Y. Media, so see if you can follow along.
Background, Check
Coming from a time when home computers were uncommon and a new idea, Steve began programming as a child. In the early 80s, he programmed on the Apple ][, Timex Sinclair ZX-81, and Commodore Vic-20. Eventually, he'd taken college level courses in high school for machine language using an IBM PC with an Intel 8088 processor. With his experience, while still in high school, he entered the workforce as a computer programmer for a beverage distributor.
In 1991, Steve had attended college for Computer Graphics Engineering Technology, which encompassed CADD (Computer Aided Design & Drafting). This curriculum covered mechanical and computer drafting and 3D modeling.
While at college, his musical interests grew and he formed his first band. Eventually, music became his central focus. Eventually, H.O.W.D.Y. Music was formed in 1994 as a self-publishing music label. Music demands promotion and products, so on top of composing songs, recording, and performing live, he began creating designs for album covers.
Enter the Print World
In 1995, he began working in the print industry for the long defunct Salina Press, in Manlius NY. Working on offset presses gave a first hand view of print production and concerns that pressmen have. Due to his computer experience, he began working in the prepress department, handling client files in QuarkXpress and Page Maker within a Scitex based department. During this time, he also attended Scitex school and became a color specialist, responsible for scanning and color correcting/matching.
Eventually, Salina Press went bankrupt, and Steve found work at Dellas Graphics, Syracuse NY. For 3 years, once again in the prepress department, he would expand his design and graphic arts abilities. When slow, he would help out in the press room, mailing department, or in the bindery area. As such, he was exposed to virtually every angle of the print industry.
In 1998, Steve made way for warmer shores and landed in Wilmington, NC. There, he worked at Graphic Spectrum doing design work. Steve began focusing on video and web production off hours, planning to start a TV based ad agency and purchased the Video Toaster 4000 from Newtek. This included an early version of LightWave, a 3D modeling and animation program, which brought his love of 3D graphics back in to the fold.
Returning to Syracuse NY in 2000, he was hired again at Dellas Graphic as a supervisor, and his roles within the company expanded to include not only prepress and color specialist, but computer techician and network administrator. Steve began moonlighting and taking on projects for both web and print design. Needing a company name, he went with H.O.W.D.Y. Media, a name that could encompass his many varied skills.
The Future of the Internet
Come 2004, Tom Dellas, CEO of Dellas Graphics, approached Steve about making an eCommerce website for the American Cancer Society. Steve set up a merchant account, payment gateway, and created a website which still operates today. He also set up a department in which he trained employees to manage the website, as well as coordinated with the mailing and fulfillment departments to make sure their needs were met.
Upon the massive success of the website for the American Cancer Society, Steve decided to create his own product to protest the war in Iraq and President Bush's actions. In 2005, he launched fadishist.com, and this site was quickly successful after ads on The Onion website and in their newspapers. The advertising manager from The Onion praised the click-though rate, being higher than the large companies also sharing the ad space.
Recognizing the dire future of the print industry with the push toward the internet, he tendered his resignation with Dellas Graphics and focused his time on relaxing after many years of hard work. This was short lived, though, as fads come and go, and focused on developing websites as a main line of work.
If You Made it This Far
You are commended for your due dilligence! Steve has had his toe in virtually every facet of media production, and brings a diverse skillset and well-rounded knowledge to every project. Reach out with your project requirements and get an honest response of what we can do for you.
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