Discovery: Othelo Gervacio, Jr.

Photo by Jack Siegel

AGE: 25  HOMETOWN: Virginia Beach, Virginia. OCCUPATION: Graphic artist. REASON FOR MOVING TO NEW YORK: To live the dream.  DAY JOB: Half my time is spent alongside artist Scott Campbell. I help run his creative consulting agency, Mama Tried Inc., in Brooklyn.  There, I also operate and manage our in-house laser machine. The other half is split between being the art director of Bing Bang jewelry and designing websites. LAST THING YOU FOUND THAT YOU LOVED: My good friend Anna Sheffield recently made me a one-of-a-kind two finger ring.  It’s an upside down cross when you put it on your hand.  She made it in like five minutes one day. She is truly a wizard. WHAT WERE YOU LIKE IN HIGH SCHOOL: Pretty goofy. I joined all sorts of after-school activities so I could be in charge of things. When I was a senior, I took all freshman-level classes because I had skipped them when I first entered high school. I thought it was going to be cake, but it turned out to be Hell having classes with 14-year-old teenagers from Mars. WHERE’D YOU PICK UP YOUR CRAFT: I was one of those graffiti kids who stole stickers from the post office and put them everywhere with my name on it. I like drawing on old paper nowadays. There’s just something about it… HOW DOES ONE GET INTO LASER ENGRAVING: Laser engraving is the act of leaving a lasting, permanent impression or image on a given object. It’s used for a variety of things, ranging from a customized, one-of-a-kind plaque for “The World’s Greatest Grandma” to imprinting tracking numbers on seeds for agriculture. We use it as a medium to create art. A few years ago Scott bought a machine for the studio. After we somehow managed to get it into our small studio, Scott says, “Here it is, Othelo. Now learn how to tame this beast.” GOOD DESIGN IS: simple design.