Pete McCracken aka CRACK Art Music Design®

30 Years in the Creative Biz

Photos by Pete McCracken

This year marks my 30th in the creative biz. I first started using artist/musician moniker CRACK in the late ‘80s in Burlington, Vermont. The printed published single release from The Phobics, my band, demonstrates the use. I continued using the nom-de-plume when I moved to Portland Oregon to attend the Pacific Northwest College of Art. And have continued to use it for all my artistic endeavors - artwork, music, photography, design, printmaking and typography. While still in art school, I founded CRACK PRESS my Graphic Art and Custom Print Studio and THE JIM CRACK, as my singer / songwriter persona.

CRACK PRESS is my Graphic Art and Print studio which I founded while attending art school. My first large scale commission was creating 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 canvases. 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 focuses on creative / art direction, brand and typeface design, which evolved from Portland's first digital type foundry I created in the early 90s. Originally conceived as a conduit to release commercial fonts, it has grown into a multifaceted creative studio. As the primary creative, I am fortunate to have worked directly with incredible companies and talented internal teams to create brand solutions and bring over 75 type designs to life for global companies - MTV, Adidas, Starbucks, Dr. Martens, Target, W+K, SPORE (Electronic Arts), Dodge, Skylab Architecture, McMenamins, TaylorMade Golf, Nike, REI, Hydroflask, New Seasons Market and Columbia Sportswear.

Thanks for swinging by. - Pete aka CRACK