We recently connected with Kevin Rivas and have shared our conversation below.

Kevin, thanks for joining us, excited to have you contributing your stories and insights. Do you take vacations? How do you keep things going – any advice for entrepreneurs who feel like they can’t step away from their business for a short vacation?

Being an owner and design director for my studio it is hard to get away but I have made it a priority to carve out time to get away (although I work remotely when needed). One of my family’s passions is traveling. I believe travel is the most important thing to experience new cultures and enjoy life.

My wife and I promised each other we would take some sort of vacation (no matter how small) at least twice a year when we got married. It took a few years after our honeymoon to get up to speed on this promise but we have done quite a bit of traveling over the last decade-plus.

Here are some of the locations we have been to over the years and would definitely recommend visiting:

– Barcelona, Spain
– Amsterdam, Netherlands
– Playa Del Carmen, Mexico
– San Juan Del Sur, Nicaragua
– Athens/Naxos, Greece
– North Side, Grand Cayman
– Playa Conchal, Costa Rica
– Soufriere, St. Lucia
– Puerto Moreles, Mexico
– Vancouver, Canada
– San Pedro, Belize
– Willemstad, Curacao

Kevin, before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

I started out going to art school at the Art Institute studying Computer Animation and MultiMedia. After graduating I got a job as a Productions Artist for a video game development company. I worked there for about 2 years before they decided to move the office to North Carolina. Several of my team members and I decided to not move and instead leave and start our own video game development studio.

We worked on very cutting edge massively multi-player online games and partnered with several large companies to share technologies. I created the artwork for the games including 3d models, graphics, and also animated characters models. I eventually became Art Director and had a great time collaborating with a special team of talented people. I learned quite a lot over my tenure there.

I then moved on to being an Art Director for a studio that created themed video slot machine games for casinos in Oklahoma and Las Vegas. This was an especially fun job that I enjoyed very much. We got to go to trade shows twice a year in Las Vegas to show off our new games and network with other studios etc. My time there was great but I was approached by a head hunter that was working with a newly formed design studio to become the Art Director and piece together a team. The salary was considerably more and the scope of work was very exciting.

I took the new opportunity, pieced together a great team, and worked on some very interesting projects. The new studio I joined did exciting work with museums and cultural centers creating displays, interactive kiosks, and video games for entertainment and learning. The company eventually had to close its doors due to financial issues so I moved on to working for myself as a freelance designer.

After a few years of working as a freelance artist, I started to network with a few people that provide complementary services. I started Dallas Logo Design a few months later. Currently, we provide several marketing services including logo/graphic design, website design, SEO, mobile application development, animation, and video production.

We continue to provide solid and exciting work for local Dallas businesses. The art world and online marketing world are constantly evolving. NFTs and other crypto-based projects are currently being planned. We look forward to what lies ahead in the future.

Alright – so here’s a fun one. What do you think about NFTs?

NFTs are a very grey area as of now. Any kind of artwork linked to Crypto is going to be questioned. I have my reservations about NFTs for sure. As an artist, I am willing to embrace the possibility of it being an avenue of not only additional income but also being able to spread my vision and creativity.

We are going through a very volatile time in our existence right now. I value all forms of expression and I think if NFTs are a vehicle to expand the overall expression of art and culture then I believe it is something worth investing in. Making money is one thing but being able to create a piece of art that someone values is special. The bottom line is any new form of expression and creativity is welcome in my mind.

We actually have a few NFT projects that we are discussing and planning. The possibilities are really endless with this type of art form and investment. I think that as this evolves we will see more exciting ways of promoting art and creativity.

Where do you think you get most of your clients from?

As a graphic design and website development studio, Google is our number one resource for obtaining new clients besides referrals from past clients. We invest in SEO and other online marketing to be able to be found on Google and other online search engines. We find this is the most efficient and cost-effective way to market our services.

We also offer our own SEO services for our clients to take full advantage of being able to be found on all search engines. In the end, the value of being found online is the most important marketing strategy.

Contact Info:

• Website: logo-design-dallas.com