About US

A Very Graphic Love Story

During the summer of 1978, I moved from Philadelphia to Los Angeles after graduating from the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts) with a BFA in graphic design and illustration. I had been a visual artist and musician throughout my life, so after relocating I worked as a performer and studio musician/singer while also pursuing freelance graphic arts projects.

One night, while performing, Laura and I met. It was not love at first sight. It was a deep and profound friendship that developed throughout the course of two years while we both languished in a series of unfulfilling relationships.

We eventually both realized how we were just waiting for each other to call and not caring about dating anyone else. In typical Hollywood rom-com style, as we were crossing the street in the rain, I professed my love to Laura by yelling, “I fucking love you!” and we locked lips in the middle of the street with horns blaring all around us.

We moved to Hawaii and lived happily ever after. For four months.

I had been playing in a band there and our contract was up so we went back to L.A. and Laura and I married the next year. Upon the realization that I was not going to be a rock star, I exited the music scene and began working for a graphic design/advertising agency named Pacific Eye and Ear. Ironically, PE&E was known for record album packaging for artists such as Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Cheech and Chong, George Carlin, Luther Vandross, and Black Sabbath; Laura went to work for an aerospace company, Tri-Star Electronics, as assistant purchasing manager.

The stork decided to surprise us with baby #1 and our son David was born. I went into business with one of the partners of PE&E and formed David Hale Associates (named after our son) where for six years we created marketing campaigns and graphics for Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Panavision, NGK Spark Plugs, and on and on.

Laura continued working at Tri-Star Electronics where she broke the glass ceiling and was eventually promoted to operations manager for the 300+ employee company. Baby #2, our daughter Dara, was delivered and we all lived happily ever after.

Of course the story doesn’t end there!

The graphics industry was slowly converting to computer-generated graphics and I saw the writing on the wall. I decided it was again time to reinvent myself and became a full-time freelance digital graphic designer working from our home office. By the early 1990’s I had been designing entertainment work for 20th Century Fox and MGM, non-profit work for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the American Red Cross, political work for The Strategy Group (Obama, Jerry Brown, John A. Pérez campaigns), and various creative strategies for companies like Solec, BucketBoss, Benwil Lifts, and many others.

We decided that Laura would leave her job to assist with the day-to-day operations of the business from our home. This accomplished a number of goals: we could hire outside contractors when needed, thereby keeping costs down for our clients by having a lower overhead. Plus we could spend more time with our children.

Two kids, a dog, a rabbit, a Meyer’s parrot, a guinea pig, an iguana, a skink, an albino python, a chameleon, a couple of special needs frogs, 30 fish – fresh and saltwater, some hermit crabs, and a snail all lived together in perfect harmony. Laura and I sat next to each other in our home office – working away and listening to the cacophony from our small zoo. It was music to our ears.

The kids grew up and moved away, the animals eventually crossed over the rainbow bridge, the work kept coming in, and the next thing we knew we were moving to Florida. So here we are, sitting next to each other with our dog, Baxter, at our feet, celebrating 39 years of marriage, still running our successful graphic design business, and yes, living happily ever after…

Saul A. Fineman

Partial Client List

ADVERTISING | PUBLISHING
Adage Graphics
Champion Press
Exhibitcorp
HP Associates
Leventhal Malkasian Advertising
Next Gen Magazine
Red Marketing
RnJ Printing
Rolling Stone Magazine
Splash Advertising
The Todd Group
Woodley Communications

ARTS | ENTERTAINMENT
20th Century Fox
AFTRA
Brainchild Media Productions
Center City Theatre Works
Chrysalis Records
Dennis Corrigan Fine Arts
Domo Records
D S Simon Media
Eliezer Films
Florida Studio Productions
Jackie Woolf Fine Arts
KRLA Radio
Los Angeles Metropolitan Opera
MGM
NightLife Media Group
Panavision
Randy Heddon Music
Sam Woolf Music
Sea Legs, The Musical
Singular Entertainment
State Of The Art Audio Visual
Soron Records
Topaz Entertainment
VDI Entertainment
Warner Bros.

AUTOMOTIVE
AAMCO
AMCI
Benwil Lifts
Exhaust Technologies
Iskenderian Racing Cams
Mac Tools
NGK Spark Plugs
Toyo Tires

EDUCATION
El Segundo Parks and Rec Dept.
Full Circle Opera Project
Green Dot Public Schools
LACHSA (L.A. County H.S. for the Arts)
Los Angeles Public Library
The Piano Studio of Cheryl Hall
Technology Training Corporation
USC Annenberg School of Communications

ENERGY | ENVIRONMENTAL
Breitburn Energy
Innova Energy
Rosewood Energy
Seatech Environmental
Solar Electric Company
Solec International
Uni-Solar

FOOD & DRINK
Bowled Life! Café
Brass Cannon Brewing
Orchard Sweet Candy Company
Schatz Bakery Café
Seneca Foods
StreetSide Bowl & Beanery

HEALTH
Aligned Health Products
Diabetes Prevention Systems
Etagen Pharma, LLC
Harbor-UCLA Medical Center
Leiner Pharmaceuticals
Longevity Through Prevention
Osteoporosis Center of Los Angeles
Parkway Animal Hospital
Ritter Natural Sciences, LLC
SPI Pharmaceuticals

INDUSTRY
BucketBoss
Columbia Mfg.
Dead On Tools
Maasdam Power Pulls
Nupla Corporation
Pull’R Holdings, Inc.
Steel Force Tools
Terrecon Paving

NON-PROFIT
ACCO (Association of Climate Change Officers)
Arts For L.A.
American Red Cross
Arts High Foundation
C2ES (Center for Climate and Energy Solutions)
Congregation Tikvat Jacob
Del Couch Music Education Foundation
Elton John AIDS Foundation
Girl Scouts of America
JAFAH (Jewish American Foundation for the Advancement of Humanity)
Josh Groban’s Find Your Light Foundation
Living Voices Audio Bible
TCR (The Climate Registry)

GOVERNMENT | FINANCE | LEGAL
AMK Capital Advisors
BLK Partners
Bolender & Assoc. Law Offices
Castle Communications
Crestwood Pacific Advisors
IBE Barter
Public Insight, LLP
The Strategy Group
The White House Council on Environmental Quality
U.S. Environmental Protection Agency

RETAIL
Alan Paul Diamonds
Beauty 101 Distributors
Brain Sushi Studios
Connect Bradenton
Coastline Realty
Gulfcart Fishing Charters
Venus Hearing Aids

TECHNOLOGY
Consumer Electronics Show
DISC (Dynamic Interface Systems Corporation)
Edwards Technologies, Inc.
XSOF Specialty Optical Fibers

About US

A Very Graphic Love Story

During the summer of 1978, I moved from Philadelphia to Los Angeles after graduating from the Philadelphia College of Art (now the University of the Arts) with a BFA in graphic design and illustration. I had been a visual artist and musician throughout my life so after relocating, I worked as a performer and studio musician/singer while also pursuing freelance graphic arts projects.

One night, while performing, Laura and I met. It was not love at first sight. It was a deep and profound friendship that developed throughout the course of two years while we both languished in a series of unfulfilling relationships.

We eventually both realized how we were just waiting for each other to call and not caring about dating anyone else. In typical Hollywood rom-com style, as we were crossing the street in the rain, I professed my love to Laura by yelling, “I effing love you!” and we locked lips in the middle of the street with horns blaring all around us.

We moved to Hawaii and lived happily ever after. For four months.

I had been playing in a band there and our contract was up so we went back to L.A. and Laura and I married the next year. Upon the realization that we were not going to be rock stars, the band split up and I began working for a graphic design/advertising agency named Pacific Eye and Ear. Ironically, PE&E was known for record album packaging for artists such as Alice Cooper, Aerosmith, Cheech and Chong, George Carlin, Luther Vandross, and Black Sabbath; Laura went to work for an aerospace company, Tri-Star Electronics, as assistant purchasing manager.

The stork decided to surprise us with Baby #1 and our son David was born. I went into business with one of the partners of PE&E and formed David Hale Associates (named after our son) where for six years we created marketing campaigns and graphics for Paramount Pictures, Warner Bros., Panavision, NGK Spark Plugs, and on and on.

Laura continued working at Tri-Star Electronics where she broke the glass ceiling and was eventually promoted to operations manager for the 300+ employee company. Baby #2, our daughter Dara, was delivered and we all lived happily ever after.

Of course the story doesn’t end there!

The graphics industry was slowly converting to computer-generated graphics and I saw the writing on the wall. I decided it was again time to reinvent myself and became a full-time freelance digital graphic designer working from our home office. By the early 1990’s I had been designing entertainment work for 20th Century Fox and MGM, non-profit work for the Elton John AIDS Foundation and the American Red Cross, political work for The Strategy Group (Obama, Jerry Brown, John A. Pérez campaigns), and various creative strategies for companies like Solec, BucketBoss, Benwil Lifts, and many others.

We decided that Laura would leave her job to assist with the day-to-day operations of the business from our home. This accomplished a number of goals: we could hire outside contractors when needed, thereby keeping costs down for our clients by having a lower overhead. Plus we could spend more time with our children.

Two kids, a dog, a rabbit, a Meyer’s parrot, a guinea pig, an iguana, a skink, an albino python, a chameleon, a couple of special needs frogs, 30 fish – fresh and saltwater, some hermit crabs, and a snail all lived together in perfect harmony. Laura and I sat next to each other in our home office – working away and listening to the cacophony from our small zoo. It was music to our ears.

The kids grew up and moved away, the animals eventually crossed over the rainbow bridge, the work kept coming in, and the next thing we knew we were moving to Florida. So here we are, sitting next to each other with our new puppy, Baxter, at our feet, celebrating 37 years of marriage, still running our successful graphic design business, and yes, living happily ever after…

Saul A. Fineman