4 minute read
Last Call
Sarah Connell Sanders
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Special to Worcester Magazine USA TODAY NETWORK
Image Custom Cases director of design Tyler Lussier and vice president Brandon Forsyth are building on their shop’s trusted legacy by expanding the business to include Image Custom Designs. In a year where touring, conventions and concerts have come to a halt, Lussier and Forsyth have parlayed their skills into creating custom acrylic pieces along with wide format printing like commercial car wraps and decals. Lussier’s craftsmanship combined with Forsyth’s marketing prowess makes for a versatile and highly effective team.
Are you from the area?
BF: I grew up near here. I live out in Barre now. I actually came into the business to help Tyler’s family drum up some interest through marketing. We wanted to build a forecast and a plan. His father owns Image Production and he was doing a whole bunch of things all at once. I took on an ownership role about a month before COVID hit when we were honestly just busy manufacturing for productions, trade shows and concerts. With the pandemic, it was like, “Now what do we do?” We were constantly pivoting and we naturally became this creativity factory, which has been a total blessing.
I was going to ask about a typical job, but it sounds like maybe there isn’t one.
BF: Our first “new” project was when we started doing acrylic work. We just got off doing acrylic for Virgin, carving cases for their DJs. We figured, what the hell — let’s lean into acrylic work because we’re certainly not making things for trade shows or concerts for the foreseeable future. We just continued getting more and more creative. We had a lot of other friends with relatively new businesses and we wanted to figure out how we could help them.
Tyler, can you tell me more about the evolution of your family business?
TL: We are a comprehensive manufacturer of the Airline Transport Association and it has really spiraled into specializing in road cases for the touring industry. My dad worked at United Metal, right down the road, all through his teenage years. He learned how to weld and fabricate, then taught me. He would never buy us stuff, he would force us to make whatever we wanted. I learned how to fix cars and got really handy from a young age. I’ve been welding and fabricating for 28 years.
BF: We’ve gotten super into the classic car scene, so we build old VW Buses and Bugs. We’ve talked about how that can become more of a commercial thing for us as pop-ups get more and more popular. If nothing else, it’s how we like to spend our free time because we’re just addicted to it.
What has been your favorite manufacturing project now that you guys are branching out?
BF: Our favorite project is always the next one. Solon Kelleher down at Coney Island just asked us to do their sign for Polar Park. We’ve really enjoyed collaborating with our friends like Susie and Joe Skrzek of Glazy Susan and my cousin Justin Pitz from Axe to Grind. I like when somebody comes in and says, “Hey, I have this crazy idea.” And then, they give it to us and we make it even crazier. We love participating in building a new brand. The unpredictability of the last year has really afforded us to do more of that. One of the coolest things is that Tyler was always set up to do this for Worcester because his family is so ingrained here. His grandpa was one of the best hand sign painters in the country.
TL: He painted most of the signs around here for 40 years.
BF: Plus, Tyler’s uncle is one of the best neon guys in the country. Their knowledge and skills are at our disposal, which has been amazing. It’s in his blood.
Do you have any goals for the future?
BF: We want to be the catalyst for making creative ideas a reality. We’ll come up with concepts and find these really cool projects, then discuss if we want to be involved and how it might happen. We connect the skilled people who we know can make it happen. We are a melting pot.
Brandon Forsyth, left, and Tyler Lussier of Image Custom Designs. PHOTO/DYLAN AZARI
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the Youth Center has made a public service announcement and members have made some two-minute films.
There will be more, and this summer, the Youth Center will hold a “Violence Is Not Normal” two-minute/short film festival city-wide, Colon said.
“How is the pandemic affecting violence in our neighborhoods? We decided to gear it up and have a conversation with youth in the city, hoping youth will tell us what we can do to curtail violence in the city of Worcester,” she said.
It’s also a way the Youth Center can keep its members engaged.
Through the time it has been physically closed due to the pandemic, “I do have some people who have drifted away. But with the new activity, we’ve been able to attract new blood, new members,” Colon said.
“Everything that we have done has been remotely. We do go in the center for administrative work once in a while.”
Martin said that the youth center will soon likely be open on an appointment-only basis. Then gradually in May and June there will be a hybrid of virtual days and days when the center is open.
“There will be a lot of outdoor activities when we’re open. Recreational stuff will be outside. And we’ll see what the summer brings. We’ll do what we can to open up,” Martin said.
Kubicki is willing to lend a hand.
“There might be a little bit of time for me to go in and set up,” he said.
