The once notable icon of Big Red Ape has gone into retirement.
I was happy to note that many people seemed put off at first, mostly because they mentioned how much they liked the art. But times change and a smart business will also change when the time comes.
I created this in a flurry of genius back in the year 2000 A.D. I was a clock puncher at the time, and had visions of self employment one day. This little logo lasted me 12 solid years, not bad for a designer.
My Ape logo and ensuing social personality provided me a memorable place to wave my flag from and grow my freelance business from. It was cute, well designed, and ubiquitous. For a part time life of getting extra work in, this was more than sufficient.
Enter 2009... I was the Senior Illustrator at The Arizona Republic at the time. As most of you know, traditional media's profits were more than circling the drain of obscurity. In July of that year, I was unhired and set free.
It was the catalyst that allowed me the opportunity to buckle down and get serious about being solo. Best of all, it was the worst economy America had seen, and I had no choice but to forge ahead.
In 2011, I finally put my chips on the table and committed to becoming and Anchor company at Gangplank in Chandler, Arizona. Big Red Ape was welcomed into the worlds most unique group of entrepreneurs and innovators. I also began to frequent a number of Small Business Networking groups to finally go from freelancer to deliberate job hunter.
Along the way, I was blessed to meet some amazing people and help design agency level identities for small companies that could never otherwise afford it. I also became very close with real industry mavericks and visionaries that really opened my eyes. Thanks to people like Jeff Fagin, Gia heller, Vince Costa, Ely Delany, and many others, I took much bigger steps than I would have ever taken on my own.
Enter 2012. My instincts and subconscious are really digging at me. Thanks to the generous time and input of those I respect and call friends, the problem became clear.
The Big Red Ape is now a liability to me moving forward. At 41 years of age, it was time to stop having a cartoon represent me. It was time to pull together the vast and varied skills and paths I walked on to numerous industries, and finally be myself.
So on New Years Eve, I went live with ME....
Lederman Studio.
Please be my guest and see a little of what's ahead. I welcome you to join me and stay tuned.
I will be making a regular point of blogging the kinds of things that interest me, and sharing my progress along the way.
Thanks for reading...
Hugs and Corndogs,
Jeremie Lederman
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