Meet Our Magazine's Maker - Andrew Koorey

By Lauren Curtis

Growing up in a Navy household, moving was nothing new to a young Andrew Jay Koorey. Born in Northern California, he was raised in a handful of different places including Naples Italy, and Washington DC. His father’s work as a Naval Officer would also land him right here in Coronado, where he would one day return to create a long-lasting career in graphic design at The Eagle. “That’s a fair amount of travel for a young’n but that’s pretty standard for kids around here… I actually feel lucky that I didn’t have to move more,” explained Andrew. “The extended stay in Italy was certainly interesting and I have a lot of unique memories from that time, even though at that age my primary and abiding interest was in Transformers toys. But seeing (and crawling over and through) tangible evidence of thousands of years of history did leave an impression… I can’t think of too many places where you can walk a quarter mile from your house and see ancient ruins poking out of an abandoned field.”

His time in DC was a little less of a culture shock, but it is still a time he feels grateful for. “I also got to witness the post Desert-Storm National Victory Celebration parade in person, and subsequent mindcrushingly awesome Fourth of July fireworks display at the Capitol,” he recalled. Andrew refers to his childhood as that of a “typical military brat,” thus it is no surprise that much of his adolescence was also spent here in Coronado. Andrew attended preschool, middle school, and high school here on the island, graduating from CHS in 1998. During his time at CHS Andrew was on the Track & Field and Cross County teams, as well as a brief stint in soccer. “I was an extra in The Sound of Music one year at CHS, and was a light and sound tech in two different small theater productions in college… I think I much prefer the tech life to dancing the Leandler,” he said, “I still have a clock that I made in CHS wood shop, that was kinda fun.”

Pictured: precious childhood memories of Italy.

About to execute his special move (a left turn) in track.

Andrew’s first real exposure to what would eventually become his career also occurred at CHS, in a graphic design class taught by Doug Kipperman, “…of Kippy’s, though that no longer exists on Orange Avenue, sadly.” He was also able to tap into and discover his creative side through a creative writing and design class at CHS taught by Kipperman and Melissa McKinstry.

Andrew is seen here demonstrating his incredible physical strength and stamina, as well as his ability to change photo captions to whatever he wants. (I can also change captions on the online version!) :D

After high school Andrew made his way to Redlands University where he studied as a graphic design major. During his time at Redlands, his family was now permanently residing here in Coronado, where he would return to visit for summer and holidays. This is when his (unbeknownst to him at the time) over 20 year career with Eckenroth publications would begin. “I started at The Eagle while I was still in college in Redlands, I think I worked here temporarily for a few months over summer vacation and it was implied that I could come back full time when I returned… I think I heard of the opening through the newspaper itself.”

While in his fourth and final year at Redlands, an emergency appendectomy caused Andrew to miss a large chunk of class. “I took my credits and ran, finished up my schooling at Platt college, a designspecialized school in downtown SD where I learned design for print and web design.” After leaving Redlands and returning to San Diego, he began working full time at The Eagle, “I would do graphic design at The Eagle during the day and then learn graphic design during night classes at Platt… often stuff I already knew from work experience, but a little more practice probably didn’t hurt,” he said. “I’ve now been here somewhere in the vicinity of 20 years.”

In his time here he has worked mainly in ad design, but has recently moved into layout design. “My main job for about the last year has been the design and layout for CORONADO magazine… (this one, this one right here, the one you are holding.)” Andrew worked formerly under the able direction of Susie Clifford who retired earlier this year. “A good rule of thumb is that if it looks great it was probably me; but if not, I’m not sure who did it,” he joked.

One could describe Andrew as both wildly creative, and design-centric. When he is not designing graphics at work, he is often designing with other mediums. “I am a hobbyist indie game developer… Recently I have remade a number of arcade classics (Joust, Defender, Lunar Lander) and created a few games just for my kids. I believe that when developed with intention and care, the right kind of game can help us explore and understand ourselves and our world in just the same way that books, movies, or other forms of entertainment can,” he explained. “I have a long-term goal of joining other developers in making games with a narrative meaning that goes beyond twitch-reflex gratification… Game development is a complex blend of technology, artistry, and prediction that I’m still getting the hang of after almost seven years of practice, but pretty much every minute of it I find enjoyable, even the mistakes.”

Andrew also writes and illustrates (often in service of the games he creates) and has been taking 3D modeling and animation classes. He simply loves to create.

Along with his successful graphic design career, Andrew is also a caring father to his two children. He currently lives off-island with his six year old son, 11 year old stepdaughter, and his partner. “We usually get together with my dad and stepmom once a week on the island, go swimming or head down to the beach.”

Although Andrew describes himself as a “raging introvert,” he has a very tight group of friends and family here in San Diego. Prior to COVID and having children, he was involved in the local Burning Man community, which proved to be another avenue in which Andrew was able to create. He has provided both design and muscle power to a number of unique projects… “spanning the gamut from hauling trash barrels to helping design a twenty-foot-tall flaming rocket fish, and a forced perspective arcade hall with custom arcade games and psychedelic, color-changing wallpaper.” Andrew said that it was extremely motivating to be involved with such fantastic people creating something even more fantastic in a “completely wild environment.”

Not certain if she is making fun of me, or if the expression is just inherited.

To this day Andrew is very close with his father, Alfred, who he says continues to be there for him and his kids “like the champion dad and granddad he is.” Andrew wanted to thank both his father and his mother Elva, who passed in 2016, for “giving me an incredible start, and putting up with what a weird little kid I was, as well as the weird big adult I turned out to be.” He is also thankful for his partner Darcy, whose support he describes as invaluable. Andrew is one of the longest working employees here at The Eagle. He is an irreplaceable presence and member of this team, the magazine you are currently holding would not exist without him. “Looking back, it’s fun to think about having been involved with around 1,000 issues of the Eagle & Journal, and having a major hand in around 24 issues of CORONADO magazine… so far.”