It all started back in 2004 when I was bought my first camera. It was only a Sony Compact Point and Shoot but I loved it. At the same time, I was introduced to "stunt riding."

I used that camera to take pictures of the people I was with. Soon after, I took over a website that was dedicated to the stunt riding scene. I taught myself the HTML coding and basics on building a website.

In 2005 I decided it was time for an upgrade. So I went out and bought a Nikon D60 Digital SLR Camera with all the bells and whistles that could come with the camera. I expanded the website to show not only the people I saw every Sunday but people from all over the East Coast. I started going to shows and competitions and always brought my cameras.

Enjoying every minute of it, I decided to take a photography class at Monmouth University and get my Web Design certification from Brookdale College. Passing both with flying colors helped me expand my knowledge of photography and every phase of web design.

It wasn't long before friends came to me with help designing their own websites and MySpace pages. I am reminded of the saying “One person tells one person, then they tell another person, etc.” because pretty soon I had calls, texts and emails asking “I have an idea. Can you design it in Photoshop?” and “I need a website built. Can you do it?”

As Gary and I got more involved in the stunt scene, we got more involved in other things as well. One day, Gary said to me “I want to make T-Shirts for Dirty Jerzey” (which is the team he belonged to). So we saved our pennies, Gary researched what we needed, and I got a lot of help from Scott Fury. Scott set up me up with the same company he uses, how to design the artwork to be sent out and even which machine to buy. [Thank you so much for all your help Scott!!!] Gary and I bought a HIX Heat Transfer Machine (pictures below)., I sent out the artwork and a few weeks later when everything came in, we started making the T-Shirts. I have to say they came out a lot better than I expected and it wasn’t long before we started getting orders for more.

After we got a trailer to haul the bikes in, Gary said to me “I want to letter the trailer.” At shows and competitions, we saw a lot of teams had really nice trailers. So instead of paying someone a lot of money, Gary decided we should get our own vinyl machine and vinyl for only a few hundred dollars more and do it ourselves. Once again, we saved our pennies, Gary researched everything and we ended up buying a 48” Vinyl Cutting Machine and tons of vinyl. (pictures below).

I learned that the same company that we got our regular vinyl from also stocked heat transfer vinyl. This meant instead of sending out the artwork, I could make the clothing on my own. I ordered some heat transfer vinyl and even though I was a little wary about it, everything came out perfect. Now we were able to make our own clothes without having a mass produced look to the artwork. Each piece of clothing is now able to be original.

In the future I hope to buy a printer/cutter so I can expand the variety of colors and services we can offer. It amazes me that we’re able to work full time jobs and still have time for everything else. Thank you for taking the time to read about Design By Megan.