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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Pacesetters

SIGMADOG owners keep clients running smoothly

Steve Merryman pauses in his home office, where he produces promotional and advertising artwork, including posters for the Lilac Bloomsday Run. (Jesse Tinsley)
Michael Guilfoil Correspondent

Bloomsday always attracts a few characters.

Two years ago, there was “carbo-loader extraordinaire” Spaghetti Betty.

Last year? Starlet Johansen.

This year’s A-list includes Bruce Sprintsteen, because he was “born to run.”

All of the above are trading cards created by illustrator Steve Merryman, who also digitally paints the annual race poster and has five Bloomsday T-shirts to his credit.

Merryman and his wife, Faith, together with Beorn, their Bernese mountain dog, and Boris, a black Lab/English Mastiff mix, collectively go by the brand name SIGMADOG.

“Everyone asks, ‘Why SIGMADOG?’ ” says Faith. “We’d been doing business as SIGMA for years, but when we went to incorporate, SIGMA wasn’t available. So we chose SIGMADOG, because our dogs are a large part of our business.”

During a recent interview, the Merrymans discussed how graphic design is evolving, the challenge of working with committees, and the curse of (maybe) knowing what this year’s Bloomsday T-shirt looks like.

S-R: Where did you grow up?

Steve: In the Seattle area – Maple Valley.

S-R: What was your first job?

Steve: Doing weekly circulars for Sears – layouts, paste-ups – way back in 1979, when I was a senior in high school.

S-R: What career did you envision?

Steve: I always wanted to be a fine artist. But when I got to college, I realized I also liked to eat. So I decided to prostitute myself as a graphic designer, and that’s what I earned my bachelor’s degree in at Central Washington University.

S-R: Tell me about the decision to be your own boss.

Steve: I’d held a variety of design jobs for nine years. Then two months after Faith and I got married, I said, “I’m quitting my job in two weeks and starting my own business.” The look of fear on her face was amazing.

S-R: And?

Steve: I figured I’d try it for six months, and if it didn’t work I’d become an employee again. Within six months, she’d quit her job, too, and joined SIGMA as our salesperson.

S-R: Why SIGMA?

Steve: I always hated signing my paintings, because I’m a clumsy speller with a brush. So I decided to come up with a symbol for my signature. At the time I was really into ancient languages, so I chose a Greek letter “S” – sigma – because it looks like an “M” on its side, and my initials as S.M.

S-R: How much did it cost to start your graphic design business?

Steve: I borrowed $10,000 from my parents, because that’s what computers cost back then.

S-R: What service do you offer clients?

Steve: I give them the creative spark they need to develop a marketing plan. My gift is being the smartass who comes up with good, funny, creative ideas to help sell their product or organization

S-R: How do you get commissions?

Steve: Faith is the wunderkind at that. She can walk into a room not knowing anybody and within 20 minutes be best friends with everybody.

S-R: Did the recession impact your business?

Faith: Not so much, because our two largest clients – Bloomsday and Sterling International – weren’t affected by the recession. So we lucked out.

S-R: What challenges do you face?

Steve: I struggle with whether I want to be a technical person or an artist. Trying to stay up with computer and software trends can be so overwhelming that I forget there’s a creative side.

S-R: What equipment do you use?

Steve: I do a lot of painting on a Wacom Cintiq monitor – it’s like an oversize iPad with pressure sensitivity. And I use Painter, Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign software.

S-R: Do you have a busiest time of year?

Steve: Winter, because that’s when we’re cranking out all the Bloomsday stuff.

S-R: Does that include the T-shirt?

Steve: I submit a design each year, and mine has won five times.

S-R: What do you get for winning?

Steve: $1,000.

S-R: And you also do the annual Bloomsday poster?

Steve: I have for the past eight years.

S-R: Do you have a favorite?

Steve: I’m partial to the first one I did – the 2004 poster.

S-R: What’s your work schedule?

Steve: I get up at 7, walk the dogs for an hour, then roll into my home office around 9 o’clock. I leave around 6, come back at 7 and work until 10. This is my first day off in about three months, including weekends.

S-R: What are the advantages and disadvantages of working from your remote, rural home?

Steve: I miss interaction with other artists. But I tend to be a hermit anyway. The advantage is I don’t have to commute, and I get to work in a gorgeous, wooded setting.

S-R: Where do you get your ideas?

Steve: A lot of them I get from just being outside, walking the dogs. Getting away from that blank piece of paper is sometimes the best thing you can do.

S-R: What do you like most about your job?

Steve: Being able to sit by myself and play with ideas. I’m still amazed I get paid to do that.

S-R: What do you like least?

Steve: Tight deadlines – having a great idea but not enough time to execute it the way I want.

S-R: What distinguishes SIGMADOG from your competition?

Steve: I can draw a picture, and I’m amazed how many other designers can’t. That used to be how we got into design, but nowadays it’s more software-related assembling skills. I’m not saying that’s not creative, but it’s creative in a different way.

Faith: If we lose power, Steve can still work. How many agencies can say that?

S-R: What’s the career outlook for this field?

Steve: Spokane Falls spits out a new crop of graphic designers every year, and they seem to find work. I see a lot of opportunities on the Web and social media.

S-R: What sort of person is best suited for this career?

Steve: Someone who can take criticism. For instance, you’ll be working with a committee, and after you’ve gone through multiple iterations of design work, someone will pipe up, “I don’t like pink.”

S-R: Are they in charge, or are you?

Steve: It’s tricky working with a committee. We always try to find out if there is one ruler, because we don’t want a henhouse of everybody talking at once with an equal say. I tell people, “Committees are where all good ideas go to die.” So every committee needs a leader.

S-R: When people learn you do artwork for Bloomsday, what do they ask?

Faith: “Can you tell me what the shirt looks like?” One friend we’d just met had Steve cornered for half an hour. It happened to be a year he had the shirt, which he can’t even say. And she pleaded, “Can you at least tell me the color? I get these shirts and I can’t wear them because they’re not in my color palette.”

Steve: I was crying by that point.

S-R: When is the winning shirt design chosen?

Steve: In October.

S-R: So, did yours win this year?

Steve: I can’t say! (laugh)

This interview has been edited and condensed.

Freelance writer Michael Guilfoil can be reached via email at mguilfoil@comcast.net.