editor@yourmonthlypaper.com
August 2016
Serving the Lafayette Community
A Chat with John Otto By Fran Miller
John Otto never planned to become the “go-to graphics guy” for nearly every volunteer organization in Lafayette. It just happened. “I never came forward to volunteer,” says the 87 year-old Lafayette resident. “But volunteering came to me, and I’m glad it did.” Otto currently provides graphic design work for Lafayette Senior Transportation, the Lafayette Library and Learning Center Foundation (LLLCF), Lafayette Historical Society (LHS), Lafayette Improvement Association, the Lafayette Community Foundation, Lamorinda Village, and Las Trampas organization for the disabled. He designs logos, business cards, folders, brochures, mailers, flyers, posters, banners, and even t-shirts. “He is an awesome partner,” says Kathy Merchant, capital campaign liaison for Las Trampas. She and Otto began their collaborations when she was executive director of the LLLCF, and their partnership continued when she began work at Las Trampas as development director. “Want to know about fonts? Want to know how to hone your message to its essence and then be enhanced by amazing graphics? Want fresh peaches? Then meet John Otto, my mentor and great friend.” Otto began drawing as soon as he could hold a pencil. In the fourth grade, he was drawing Disney’s seven dwarfs, Donald Duck, Popeye, Bugs Bunny, Batman and Robin, and Superman. At age 11, growing up in Portland, he started a hand printed neighborhood newspaper with two other kids on his street. He took art classes in high school where he painted signs and school event banners and designed the student body card. He entered art school at the University of Oregon where he studied drawing and painting, and he designed portions of the yearbook. After a three-year stint in the army – where his skills were put to use stenciling names on helmets and drawing for the yearbook – he attended the Chouinard Art Institute in Los Angeles where he earned a degree in advertising design and, more importantly, where he met his wife Sue. His first job out of art school was with TV Guide as an assistant art director. He moved on to ad agency work where he ultimately retired as VP/executive art director. “When I began in graphic design, everything was done by hand,” says Otto, who, despite drastic industry changes over the past few decades, has managed to evolve and adapt. “The graphic arts industry required many talents before the computer. We made use of typographers, illustrators, photographers, retouchers, printers, engravers, and others. When this new 20th century marvel arrived in the 80’s, all things changed.” Otto can now handle most graphics jobs on his trusty Mac using Adobe Illustrator software. “I still use a pencil to think and draw with,” he says. “That’s where
Local Postal Customer
Crayon sorting is fun for all ages. Photo courtesy of TCI.
The Crayon Initiative: As Innovative as Child’s Play By Jody Morgan
What’s cooking in the Ware family’s kitchen? Fuel for the imagination generated by a recipe that keeps a non-biodegradable product out of the landfill. Bryan Ware, Founder and President of The Crayon Initiative (TCI), leads his team in remaking unwanted crayons into new 8-color boxes specially designed for pediatric hospital patients across the nation. From collection to distribution, TCI makes a complex process proceed as innovatively as child’s play. In 2011, while celebrating his 40th birthday at a family-friendly establishment, Ware wondered what would happen to the crayons the restaurant had given his two young sons if they didn’t take them home. Restaurants, he discovered, fearing contamination and being risk averse,
See Crayon continued on page 8
Urgent Need for Volunteers
Many have found great personal satisfaction in volunteering with White Pony Express (WPE), a nonprofit group dedicated to helping to end hunger and poverty in Contra Costa County. The proAn exuberant volunteer shows cart loads of food she gram has been so well has picked up from a generous donor. received that additional volunteers are urgently needed to help keep up with its rapid Volume X - Number 8 See Otto continued on page 20 growth. The need in our com3000F Danville Blvd #117 Alamo, CA 94507 munity remains very great. Telephone (925) 405-6397 Seven days a week, WPE Food PRSRT STD Fax (925) 406-0547 U.S. Postage Rescue volunteers take trucks to editor@yourmonthlypaper.com PAID supermarkets, restaurants, and Alisa Corstorphine ~ Publisher Permit 21 farmers markets where they pick The opinions expressed herein belong to the writers, and Lafayette, CA not necessarily reflect that of Lafayette Today. Lafayette up thousands of pounds of surplus do Today is not responsible for the content of any of the adECRWSS vertising herein, nor does publication imply endorsement.
See Volunteer cont. on page 4