Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Jaimie Muehlhausen. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Jaimie, appreciate you joining us today. Let’s jump back to the first dollar you earned as a creative? What can you share with us about how it happened?
In 1987, I had just moved to California to try to find work as a graphic designer. My dad was in the convenience store business, and I had grown up working in 7-Eleven stores since I was 16. So when I heard that a family friend was getting a 7-Eleven franchise just north of San Diego and was looking for someone to manage the store, I used it as my opportunity to head west from Oklahoma. I had met a lady at a dinner party back in Oklahoma who was the creative director for OP, a huge beachwear brand at the time, and I contacted her when I got here and let her know I had made the move and was hoping to find a way out of the 7-Eleven store and into graphic design. A few months later, I got a call from her and she said there was a new footwear company that had just started, but looked promising. They were looking for an entry level designer to come to work for them and it might be a good foot in the door. After a few job interviews and some begging and pleading, I was offered the job. At 7-Eleven I was making $24,000 a year, and this job only paid $18,600. I was taking a $5400 pay cut from 7-Eleven! I knew this might be my only chance, so I took it. The company was Airwalk, and we built the company from the ground up to about a $250 million company over the 6 years I was there. My first day on the job was designing an ad for Thrasher Magazine featuring Bones Brigade legend Tommy Guerrero. I still have the ad to this day. I remember getting my first paycheck and wondering how I was going to pay the bills, but knowing that this was going to put me on my path for the rest of my life.
Great, appreciate you sharing that with us. Before we ask you to share more of your insights, can you take a moment to introduce yourself and how you got to where you are today to our readers
My name is Jaimie Muehlhausen, and for the last 20 years, I have been the creative director for Tony Hawk, Inc. and The Tony Hawk Foundation (now The Skatepark Project). I also have my own design studio called Vibrosonic, working with clients like Airstream, ESPN, The Phoenix Suns, Slim Jim, Playboy, Iris Guitar Company, Vans, Rossignol, Wiley Publishing, Chronicle Books, The Fretboard Journal and many others. Although I do all kinds of graphic design work, lately I seem to do a lot of branding/logos and big picture stuff. With Tony Hawk, I have been in charge of creating every aspect of his brand and marketing over the years. When Tony goes on a nationwide tour, I design the logo, the marketing materials, the tour merchandise, the website, the designs on the trucks and the stage design. And I usually write the press release too. And that’s just one aspect of his business. I do his website and tons of other one-off projects that pop up all the time. I also work as a liason with other companies that Tony might have deals with to ensure that Tony’s image and brand are represented the way we want them to be, and often times contribute artwork for those situations as well. One key attribute that it takes to work for someone like Tony is the ability to create and adjust on the fly. Often times something is needed immediately and it has to look great and on-brand from the start. I love working on projects like this, using my years of experience to come up with designs that meet everyone’s needs in the blink of an eye.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
Although I want to earn as much as possible, and I know what value I bring to a job or project, I am not driven by money. I’m driven by the process of creating and the thrill and satisfaction that comes from it. The feeling at the end of the day that I designed something or painted something or wrote a song or wrote a chapter of a book that might mean something to someone today, tomorrow, and maybe even stand the test of time. I actually get a bit of a thrill when I see a logo i designed thirty years ago on the side of a shoe that you can buy today. I am incredibly proud to see a piece of my artwork hanging in someone’s home and know that it actually means enough to them to display. It’s the process of creating something from nothing every day that still makes me excited to head into my studio each day.
How can we best help foster a strong, supportive environment for artists and creatives?
Treat art and music education as equally important aspects of young people’s lives. Fund art classes just as much as you fund math and science. Teach music and celebrate it the same as you do high school football. Don’t treat the creative arts as though they are expendable, because they aren’t. And the world needs to stop treating music as though it has no value. Be willing to pay for and support creatives the same way you do accountants and district managers and doctors and fire fighters. We are all part of the same world, contributing different things to enrich each others’ lives. There is value to that and sometimes that gets lost. Art and music is an integral part of our lives, from childhood until the end.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jaimiemuehlhausen.com
- Instagram: @vibrosonic