Wyandotte Artist Is Part of Ferndale's Rust Belt Market

Wyandotte artist Doug Zuba has already made strides with his marketing talents through his work with national companies. Now he's trying to bring his skills closer to home and plans to make a name for himself, rather than just for the large companies he works for.

After hearing about the , which opened last weekend in Ferndale, Zuba contacted the owners, Chris and Tiffany Best of Oxford, to learn more. After some initial meetings, Zuba was brought on to create marketing materials for the market.

The Bests bought an empty Old Navy and cleared it out to create the artist market. The space will give artists, hobbyists, designers, collectors and foodies the ability to meet consumers face-to-face and sell their products.

“I think it’s going to be really cool,” Zuba said. “It could totally become an attraction. ... I want everyone to feel like there is something for them there."

 Zuba will eventually have his own booth at the market, selling prints and T-shirts with his own graphic designs.

“I see an opportunity to take the stuff I design in my free time and make a name for myself,” he said.

Zuba said he is hesitant to call himself an artist, but rather, more of a designer.

“Like an artist would paint, I make graphic art,” he said.

Since 2000, Zuba has been designing his own T-shirts. It started out as a summer project while he was home from college. He was studying industrial design at the University of Michigan and wanted to learn computer programs such as Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop.

Zuba taught himself the programs by experimenting with them and making graphic designs to print on T-shirts. That summer, Zuba USA was born and he began selling his shirts at the .

He designed new shirts each summer and sold them at the art fair, as he plans to do again this year.

In 2004, Zuba and his father, Ed Zuba, delved into designing clever sports-themed T-shirts. They started with a popular Detroit Lions design with a slogan that read: “Rebuilding since ‘57”.

In 2006, Zuba moved to Atlanta for a job in graphic design. He took a break from designing T-shirts.

By 2008, Zuba missed Wyandotte, the city he grew up in. He also decided he wanted to try working for himself. He moved back to Wyandotte and started Zuba Creative, a graphic design company.

He designs material for companies like Coca-Cola, Nintendo and Mercedes Benz. All of his clients are located in large metropolitan cities such as Los Angeles, Boston, Chicago and New York.

“I love that I’m bringing money to this area,” Zuba said. “The more people know about me, the more work I can bring here.”

He works from his home in Wyandotte, and said that working at home is an art itself.

“It took me six months to figure it out,” he said. “The trick was teaching myself to think of my home office as an actual place of business as opposed to my home.”

Zuba goes to every morning for a cup of coffee and sits by the Wyandotte riverfront before returning home to begin his workday. He calls it his commute.

“I love that we have a waterfront,” he said. “Anyone I have shown Wyandotte to, I feel like they always leave impressed by our downtown and parks on the river.”

Once his graphic design business was established, he began working on T-shirt designs again and started a second company, Alternative Hero. He came up with the name by checking available website names and then trying to think of something both unique and positive. Alternative Hero shirts blend Zuba’s love of sports and graphic design.

Zuba said he finds most of his inspiration through everyday things, mainly music and movies.

He acknowledges that his job as a graphic designer is cool, but no one knows him by name. He can’t show his designs for other companies if he wants to stay in business. Alternative Hero gives him a venue to share his creations.

“When people see a banner for Coke, they think Coke made it, not Doug Zuba,” he said.

In the future, Zuba would like to use his original graphic art to get more jobs. Eventually, he would like to have a downtown Wyandotte workspace.

Zuba said he would love an opportunity to work with small businesses in the area.

“I just turned 30 and I can’t sit still,” he said. “I want to become known for myself. I want to make a name for myself.”

He recently started a website that contains his portfolios, blog and online store. On the website, Zuba explains where his ideas for designs come from and also offers tutorials on how he made each piece.

Besides making a name for himself, Zuba also hopes to make a positive impact on Wyandotte and the surrounding area.

“I’m a designer for a living," he said. "I don’t cure cancer. But I could do interesting work and become more well-known and then do something good with that.”