About Us

Going into the graphic design field was an unexpected  destination. Since I was a child, I always had talent in art. Painting, drawing, sculpting, and photography came naturally to me, and I was pretty good at them. Throughout high school and college, I was always in some sort of art class.

However, the idea of a career in design didn’t really occur to me. Or, at least if it had, it was quickly met by “self talk” that “there’s no way to make a living doing art.”

I attended Trinity University in San Antonio, Texas and studied International Affairs and Sociology. After some sales experience I then went on to grad school and received an International MBA from the Thunderbird School of Global Management in Glendale, Arizona. During this period in my life I did extensive traveling abroad and even lived and studied in London, England and Guadalajara, Mexico.

My journey then brought me back to San Antonio, and I went to work in my field of study. First, I went to work for the Greater Chamber of Commerce, assisting small businesses in marketing and exporting their products into Mexico. This was the era of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and cross-border trade and manufacture was increasing in leaps and bounds. I also worked with a Mexican-owned steel manufacturer importing products into the U.S.

That’s when things changed.

Despite the fact that I was working in my field of study, I didn’t feel like I was “in my element.” It was rewarding to help businesses market their products, but something was missing. Was I perhaps ignoring that artist inside me?

Well, after a lot of prayer and mustering up a lot of courage, I found a great job at a “Service Bureau” in San Antonio that did digital pre-press work. Those are all fancy words for a company that works between graphic designers / ad agencies and printers. I learned all about high-end scanning, film output for printing presses, proofing, and the software and hardware that produced graphics. My function was in sales. I would call on agencies and design shops throughout San Antonio and South Texas. This job gave me exposure to businesses needing graphics and printing work, and the those producing it.

So, in 1996 I jumped.

I founded Van Wyk Design for two reasons. First, I wanted to serve others. And secondly, I wanted to put my marketing and art skills to work for companies with a commitment to quality marketing. I suppose there is another reason: I was just crazy enough to become self-employed!

Despite having only one employee (me), this article is definitely “About Us.” We are a group of designers, illustrators, web programmers, printers, and photographers that collaboratively meet the needs of our clients. We always do our very best to serve others with an eagerness to learn their needs and full dedication to the project at hand.

We have done many, many print design projects over the years, especially catalogs and product-related brochures, ads, and packaging. Each and every job is done with the primary focus on financial return for dollars spent.

Websites, email marketing, and PDF-delivered newsletters are now the majority of the creative work we do. We are now learning the value of leveraging social networking strategies to increase a company’s visibility.

Want to hear what our clients have to say about us? Check this out.

Have you had a chance to visit our portfolio?

Thanks for reading! We are excited about serving you.