Crack Press 1995 Portland Type 2010

I moved to Portland from Vermont in the early 90s to attend the Museum Art School after an art director / mentor sat me down in her office – “Pete,” she said, “you should go to college.” So, I did. In my second year, I had the opportunity to work on my first project at Wieden + Kennedy for OK soda. After that I worked there for several years and since, have had great opportunities to work with top creatives, companies and agencies. After I graduated in '95, and formally setup my studio, I won my first big art commission to create large format screen print canvases for artist Peter Wegner. This all started the ball rolling and an intersection in my creative life of art, music, design and type with two unique businesses and perspectives.

Crack Press is a Graphic Art and Print studio which I formed while attending art school. The first large scale commission I created was Peter Wegner’s seminal body of art, titled American Types. My very good friend Hawthorne Hunt worked with me, side-by-side to make large format screen prints on canvas. Since then, the studio has become an avenue for creating my artwork as well as working directly with artists, musicians, designers and illustrators to realize their vision.

Portland Type is a design studio that specializes in creative / art direction, brand and typeface design, which evolved from Portland's first digital type shop I founded in the early 90s. Originally conceived as a conduit to release commercial fonts, it has grown into a multifaceted studio. As the primary creative dude, I am fortunate to have worked directly with great companies and internal creative teams to create brand solutions and bring over 75 type designs to life for global companies, including MTV, Adidas, Starbucks, Dr. Martens, Target, W+K, SPORE (Electronic Arts), Dodge, McMenamins, TaylorMade Golf, Nike, REI and Columbia Sportswear.

Thanks for reading and swinging by,

    - Pete McCracken

Founder | Owner | Creative, Dude