Today we’d like to introduce you to Aaron Belyea.
Aaron, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I have taken a very non-linear path to my design / art direction career – and honestly, I wouldn’t want it any other way. After playing in bands in Boston, and working with emotionally disturbed children in the city for 10 years, I had the opportunity to start creating visual identities, merchandise and music packaging design for a number of prominent local bands being signed to major labels. Up to that point, my design work was more of a passionate hobby, but creating work for Sony, Geffen and EMI Records, I quickly realized I had stumbled onto my new profession. It turns out, I have always behaved like a designer; obsessing over typography and logos, analyzing marketing campaigns, collecting illustration and type specimens and shooting a lot of film (okay, it used to be film). After working as the in-house creative for a local start-up for a few years (and generating a name for myself), I launched my own studio, Alphabet Arm, in 2001. As an example of being a designer / art direction before I knew what I was doing, I had the alphabet tattooed around my right arm, hence the moniker and eventual studio name. I have since added quite a bit of inked type to my arms – but that initial tattoo – clearly set the bar. After running my studio for 15 years, and having the opportunity to hire like-minded, super talented designers, illustrators, interns, the unique opportunity to craft a studio culture, our reputation, and work on more projects than I can count, I accepted a full time Creative Design Manager position with New Balance in 2016. My family and I live in Fort Hill, Roxbury and enjoy all things Boston (okay, maybe not traffic).
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
Smooth road? Not at all. But if everyone could do it…right? Starting a small business right after 9/11 was ill-advised at best, and the recession a few years’ later all but decimated life / work as we knew it. As in any business, there are countless struggles, challenges, stresses, but at the end of the day, being able to choose who you work with , and who you work for, establish your dress code (or lack thereof), have fun, listen to non-stop music, drink much lovely coffee, and create your own path is the ultimate goal.
Alphabet Arm and New Balance – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
Alphabet Arm had a reputation of being a top notch design & branding studio in town (and beyond New England). We tended to lean more unique, irreverent, youthful, fun, than typical, corporate design work. At the end of the day, potential clients would contact us due to the portfolio, but hire us due to the open, frank, and honest conversations we would have with them regarding the previous designer experience, their design needs and our process.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
We have had many logos, t-shirt designs, packaging examples, etc. featured in quite a few design book collections and seeing your work represented globally is rather gratifying. But, for me, seeing my former designers / employees continue their high level of work and career successes brings me a lot of happiness.
Contact Info:
- Website: www.alphabetarm.com
- Phone: 617-312-7697
- Email: aaron@alphabetarm.com
- Instagram: AlphabetArm
- Twitter: @alphabetarm
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