About

A North Shore Trip

My family and I were on Lake Superior's North Shore and I wanted a unique shirt to commemorate our trip. The shirts in the shops didn't represent Lake Superior like I thought it needed to be represented. I finally found one that had 'North Shore' on it and thought I'd give it a run. But upon return to the office, a co-worker had the identical shirt with 'Madeline Island' imprinted on it.

That's when I realized that something needed to be done to give some originality to the places we love. I started sketching 'Lake Superior' within the silhouette of the lake and it took off from there. Hundreds of lakes later, I can't seem to stop. If you don't see your favorite lake, contact me and I can add it to the shop.

My background

Growing up on a dairy farm in south-central Minnesota, I was outdoors a lot, working with animals and in the field. As a youngster, I only went fishing a few times, but in my teenage years I was able tag along with friends that talked their dad into using the boat. Fishing was a diversion from daily chores for us farm kids, a diversion I latched on to. Another diversion I had was drawing, mainly cartoons, which escalated when my parents bought a drafting table at a garage sale down the road.

After receiving a diploma in Advertising Art & Design, I began interviewing for potential employers and the running theme from them was "your good at lettering and designing with type". Well, I seemed to ignore that for quite a while, but got to thinking that I'd like to break out the pen and paper again. That's when I combined the two things I really enjoy: lakes and lettering to bring Lakes Supply Company to life.