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(614) 837-1998
(614) 837-1998
President, A Horse is a Horse…of Course
Kent State University | Bachelor of Fine Art in Visual Communication Design
I approach design as a building block toward a bigger picture. My work is heavily influenced by two very different styles: the bold, typographic nature of Swiss design and the softness and elegance of the Arts and Crafts Movement. In addition to graphic design, I’m also a portrait and wedding photographer and am currently pursuing my MBA through Cedarville University.
When I’m not at the office, you can usually find me covered in a fine layer of dirt and running around with my quarter horse, Judah.
Since childhood, Kara has had two passions in life; horses and NASCAR. It’s difficult to combine these two passions – unless you are Kara. In 2016, Kara began harness racing with her trusty steed, Judah. Unfortunately for the other horses and their riders, Kara and Judah were unbeatable, winning every race by an average of four furlongs. Kara and Judah became bored with the lack of competition and it was at that time when a pair of NASCAR representatives named George Joseph and Joseph George approached Kara about a new opportunity. That’s right, Kara became the first and only, 1 horsepower NASCAR racer in history. Other drivers scoffed at the entire idea and called it nothing more than a publicity stunt. As it turns out…they were right. Kara and Judah finished dead last in every race, but this didn’t stop Judah from becoming a star. He loved the spotlight and let it go to his head, even charging 10 apples for every shoe print. With Kara’s help, he has managed to keep his ego in check, but he will soon be appearing in the not-so-much anticipated remake of Mister Ed, staring Judah as Mister Ed and Nicholas Cage as Wilbur.
Kara on the other hand has returned to her backup passions of graphic design and photography.
VP of Creative Services, Iron Chef-Man
The Ohio State University | Bachelor of Science in Industrial Design
I descend from a long line of engineers — mechanical, electrical and nuclear. Being the first in my family to pursue a career in the visual arts has left a few family members scratching their heads in disbelief. I’ve had a passion for both music and art since I was a child and I am always thankful that I found a career that allows me to explore those interests without having to immerse myself in the engineering world.
In addition to photography, print and web design, my passion for creativity doesn’t stop there. Whether it be landscaping, a deck design, a kitchen remodel, a theatrical costume — any opportunity to design and create is always a welcome one.
Drums, drums, drums, since I was 12. Guitar since 17. Co-written and recorded two full-length albums with my bandmates — while NOT killing each other during the process.
Inspired by creativity and food, Steve’s original passion and career was as a gourmet chef. Just like many head chefs, Steve had a temper when substitutions were made or added to his masterpieces. This resulted in a table-wrestling incident where Steve body slammed a patron who added salt to Steve’s world-renowned soufflé. Fortunately for Steve, the man he body slammed was a promoter for professional wrestlers. This man convinced Steve to put his cooking career on hold and turn to a life of wrestling. He was known as the Iron Chef and would routinely tap into his rage to beat his opponent. During a wrestling event in early 1994, a group of television executives happened to be in attendance. They had been struggling for a new show idea and thought a night of barbarianism would help clear their minds. What they didn’t expect was the Iron Chef. As they watched Steve defeat opponent after opponent after opponent and remain the Iron Chef, king of the ring, the execs all came up with the same idea for a television show, and in the fall of 1994, Friends aired for the first time.
Steve eventually hung up his tights and apron and looked for a career with fewer bodies flying. He has yet to find it, but for now, enjoys being creative on a Mac.
VP of Web Development, Resident Muppet
Ohio Dominican University | Bachelor of Arts in Visual Communication
My desire to be creative with my life began when I was a child. I use to seek solutions for various “problems” as I saw them around the house. My mom called me her “little idea man.” I decided to pursue a career in visual communications and put these ideas to work. I attended Ohio Dominican College (now University) and excelled in the visual communications program. Following college, I was a jack-of-all-trades; graphic designer, photographer, illustrator, production artist and web designer. Around 2008, I decided it was time for me to focus my skills on a more defined area of design and I determined that would be graphic design and print production – I have been a web designer/developer with PPA ever since. I have over 17 years experience as a graphic designer and over 14 years as a web developer spending the past 8 years with PPA. I enjoy living in central Ohio with my wife and kids.
UNKNOWN FACT::
I once won an Elvis impersonating contest. It hasn’t changed my life as I don’t get recognized anywhere.
Andy is best known as the original Animal from the Muppets. In the spring of 2008, Animal got lost after a photo shoot but then saw a familiar little green frog face walking ahead of him. He followed the frog several blocks hoping to find his other friends, but instead ended up on a new street – better known as, Sesame Street. Animal found “the street” to be a magical place where colors were more vibrant, letters were bolder and numbers were…number-ie-er. He decided to stay. Over time, and contrary to his trademark wild man persona, he began to find an inner peace – when he felt a bout of rage coming on, he would close his eyes and count, with the Count, to 10. He discovered the joys of being both near and far, how to tell when one thing was not like the other and learned new songs about rubber duckies. Unfortunately, there is a rule on the street that visitors can stay no longer than a week and are forbidden to tell others how to get to said street. Animal returned to his life with his Muppet friends, but when they discovered where he had been, they became relentless in trying to get Animal to crack and tell them all how to get to Sesame Street. One particularly spunky pig threatened to “HIYA” him to pieces if he didn’t spill the beans. For his safety, he was placed into witness protection and assumed the identity of Andy Wahlenmaier. He was placed in a low-key job as a web designer/programmer for PPA Graphics.
We probably shouldn’t have mentioned any of this, but who reads the about us section of a website anyway.
Art Director, Infinite Goodie Giver
Columbus College of Art & Design (CCAD)
I received my design and illustration education in the pre-computer days, when we did everything by hand and I consider my familiarity with those skills one of my strengths as a designer. Just don’t ask me to go back to using a waxer!
I have over 30 years of design experience and have been with PPA Graphics for 12 years. My influences include mid-century design, British folk art and hand-drawn typography. In addition to my duties as a designer, I serve as security officer Breezy’s cook, chauffeur and amanuensis.
I think of my computer as my glowing plastic friend.
Torn between the glamour of being a nun and her gift of drawing, Lisa was naturally drawn to the Columbus Convent of Art & Devine (the other CCAD) where she excelled and later became the top high school art teaching nun in Ohio. Contrary to Bob Ross, Lisa does not believe in happy accidents and would routinely smack her students with brushes, pencils or whatever she could swing. This led to the controversial Billy Baily Brush-wacking Incident of 1994, and ultimately, Lisa’s resignation from teaching and the Sisterhood. This allowed Lisa to focus her efforts on her art and discover her new loves – animals, baking, bacon and coffee.
Lisa routinely brings baked goodies in to her fellow PPA team as well as security officer Breezy, who works for bacon. On most days, Lisa can be found sitting quietly, working away on a great new design, but occasionally she finds the coffee pot empty and this leads to knuckles once again cracking – but not actual cracking of knuckles as Lisa can’t stand the sound.
Before joining CCAD, Lisa had a brief career in Las Vegas – you know her better by her stage name, Bad Habit Betty.
Art Director, Ducatista
University of Dayton | Bachelor of Science in Visual Communication Design
The details are what I notice. Seeing a fresh, innovative design concept come to life is always inspiring. Yet I believe it’s the attention to the fine points of every project that delivers a fully-polished product to a client. I have been in the design field for nearly two decades and have been part of the PPA family for the past 8 years.
If you visit the office on a nice day, you may notice a rather attractive, sleek Italian motorcycle parked outside. His name is Angelo and he’s all mine!
Every time I’ve been to New Orleans I have been asked if I was “local” — I take it as a compliment.
Following high school, Amy moved to New York City to pursue a career as a ballerina with a well-known ballet company. Like all those in her profession, Amy was completely consumed with dance and grew up in a home with a suffocating ex-ballerina mother. Amy’s big break came when her director opted to move Amy into the featured role in Swan Lake, replacing Russian prima ballerina, Tatyana Svetlana Yana Rozalina Polina Bagrov. Amy’s new fame came with much torment and jealousy from rival dancers and led to what Amy refers to as her “dark days.” Emotionally spent, Amy retired from dancing and returned to her roots in central Ohio and began pursuing a career in the graphic arts. Not wanting anything more to do with dance, Amy married a decent man named Fred, who has no dancing rhythm what-so-ever.
Amy’s dance career was adapted into the acclaimed 2010 Hollywood film, Black Swan.
After contemplating a career in motorcross, Amy decided to simply spend her free time as a Ducatista.
Art Director, Marathon Man
University of Akron | Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design
Whether it’s through a clever logo, unique business cards, a compelling brand identity or a brochure design, I enjoy finding creative solutions to our clients’ visual problems. I take great pride in managing projects from concept through completion and enjoy the project organizational aspect as much as the design. My goal is to combine my knowledge and experience in these areas to deliver great work and detailed project management to our clients and vendors. I have been working for 13 years as a graphic designer and have been with the PPA family for 11 years.
In my spare time you can find me hiking with my dog, biking the city streets or running along the Olentangy Trail.
I have been a vegetarian for 23 years, yet can’t cook rice.
Andrew naturally began his career as a scoutmaster for the Boy Scouts. One summer, Andrew led a group of scouts on a camping trip along the Kananaskis River in the Canadian Rockies. One day while fishing, the scouts encountered an aggressive, 700 lb. grizzly bear. Andrew jumped into action and wrestled the bear with his bare hands. It only took 2 minutes, but Andrew worked his way onto the bear’s back and locked him into a chokehold. The bear submitted to Andrew’s grasp and the scouts fashioned a cart out of logs and hitched it to the bear. Andrew rode atop the bear, pulling the cart with the scouts to safety. When asked by news reporters about the ordeal, Andrew was quoted saying, “beat that, Chuck Norris.” Chuck Norris accepted the challenge and now has three grizzly bears as house pets – Uppercut, Roundhouse and Buttons. Living in shame for calling out Chuck Norris, Andrew turned to the world of graphic arts as a safe haven.
Graphic Designer
Otterbein University | Bachelor of Science in Communication Design
I suffer from a severe case of imagination and social butterfly disorder. Pair these with a love for art and you have yourself a designer. Working in the creative field has allowed me to put these characteristics to good use and provide solutions for clients’ branding needs with unique and engaging designs. After graduating in 2017, I went to work for one of the largest family-owned construction companies in the Midwest. Ultimately, I felt an urge to take the valuable career skills I honed while there over to the client side, where I now work on new and exciting design challenges daily at PPA.
When I’m not at work, I may be hunting down a delicious doughnut with my husband, organizing our vinyl record collection, renovating every inch of our house or playing with our Beagle/Dachshund, Bowie. David Bowie.
I have a very sparkly smile thanks to the two gems placed on my cuspids.
This information will be made public in the near future, until then…shhhhh.
Graphic Designer
University of Cincinnati | Bachelor of Science in Graphic Communication Design
I have always been a maker of things and a collector of supplies. This passion manifested in childhood as bins of paper, paint, glitter glue, and other adornments. Nowadays, my creativity manifests as a desktop loaded with relevant design programs and an attitude of excitement to start a new project. As a designer, I enjoy thinking logically and creatively about design problems. I've received feedback that I'm a natural at task management, and I use this skill to juggle multiple projects at once. In my career, I've had the opportunity to work for top national and international brands, as well as in-house and agency settings.
I once roasted marshmallows on top of a volcano in Guatemala.
This information will be made public in the near future, until then…shhhhh.
Content Editor
Bio Coming Soon
This information will be made public in the near future, until then…shhhhh.
Client Services Coordinator
Muskingum Area Technical College | Associate Degree in Applied Data Processing and Computer Programming
On the day I graduated with a degree in computer programming, I asked out loud, “Who would want to spend eight or more hours a day in a cubicle doing this?” However, this training was instrumental to the work I would pursue — customer service. Programmers, developers and designers all have a different language they use and a different understanding of a situation. Therefore, different groups within an organization, as well as customers, do not always understand each other or how to process requests. This was the challenge I accepted — translation. I spent many years working with programmers and developers to help them understand what the internal support groups and customers needed. While I have had many different roles, including supervisor, project manager, accounts payable and benefit specialist, each have allowed me the opportunity to work with and help internal and external customers. I simply put myself in the shoes of the other person and try to see the situation from their perspective.
Many years ago, my perseverance to help others with whatever their situation earned me a nickname — Mary Poppins. While I do not own a carpetbag, I am addicted to cool umbrellas.
This information will be made public in the near future, until then…shhhhh.