Everyone has a teacher that inspires them. Mine was Steve Larimer at Macomb Jr. Sr. High School. Mr. Larimer taught me how to use the basic functions of Photoshop, PageMaker (which would later become InDesign), he taught me photography and screen printing, moving editing, and most importantly patience. These lessons shaped the designer I would become today.
I owe a lot to Steve because he pushed me to learn new techniques and software. To this day I still think about his classes and how much fun I had in them. I remember my photography classes and the smell of the chemicals to develop the film. The inks we used to screen print our designs that wouldn’t cure unless you put them under extreme heat and would often ruin your clothes. His class no longer exists at the high school and he has retired but those classes will stick with me.
It is now almost 20 years later, and I am working as a Director of Public Information at a nonprofit. I look at over 20,000 names yearly, proofing and editing to make sure everything is correct before I send mass emails out to news media. I speak with reporters, parents, principals, and school districts to make sure their students are acknowledged. I helped develop the company website with a group of tremendous people and I get to update that site almost daily with stories of incredible students. I take photos of beautiful college campuses and students beginning their process in our program. I coordinate mailings to thousands of high schools and students. I create all the literature that promotes and explains the program. My team works with our partners to edit documents that are sent to tens of thousands of test takers and high schools. All of this happens each year and I have been doing this since 2011.
A lot has changed since Mr. Larimer’s class, I’m now a father to two girls, I am getting into woodworking and have created many different things for my friends and family. My last piece was a wooden mallet made with a walnut handle, zebra wood and curly maple. I enjoy playing guitar and have for the last 20 years of my life. I continue to take photos and have built a nice collection of lenses and cameras. I still create things and post them on my website (mattbudreau.com) but I will always remember my teachers and incredible bosses that have helped shape me into the person I am today.