Early 2000s
Learn by doing.
What began as curiosity at A.M.T. grew into graphic design, screen printing, signs, vinyl, vehicle graphics, production and working directly with customers.
About LaChute Designs
I didn't set out to become a designer. I got curious.
More than 20 years later, I'm still doing what I did at the beginning: learning, creating and figuring out how to turn an idea into something real.
20+ years of learning by doing.
Where it started
The challenge
“Here's a magazine. Recreate the cover.”
That changed everything.
One skill led to another
Print
Screen Printing
Signs
Websites
Custom Code
Still learning
Where It Started
It started with a magazine cover.
In the early 2000s, I was hired by a small printing company in Belle Chasse, Louisiana, called America's Marketing Team. I was there to help with everyday office work. Design wasn't part of the job.
I had started watching one of the owners, Jason, create designs in CorelDRAW and Photoshop. He showed me the basics, and after a couple of weeks he gave me a magazine and challenged me to reproduce its cover.
I worked on it whenever his computer was available, learning as I went. It took about a week of working on and off, but I finished it. He was impressed, I was hooked, and before long I was being trusted with actual design work.
From there I learned screen printing, then vinyl, signage and vehicle graphics. Eventually I was meeting directly with clients, planning their projects and handling the design and production work myself.
The Long Version, Made Short
The tools changed. The reason I do it didn't.
2006
Build something of my own.
I left A.M.T. and started Prodigi Grafx with my sister. Running a shop taught me as much about the business side of creative work as it did about design.
The years after
Keep adding tools.
Freelance work followed, first under Drunken Monkey Graphics and later LaChute Design Services. Illustrator, After Effects, Filmora, WordPress and Shopify joined the toolbox along the way.
Today
LaChute Designs.
Today the name is simpler and the toolbox is bigger. Graphic design, branding, websites and custom code all live under one roof—with the same hands-on approach that started in that print shop.
How I Work
I don't mind hearing, “Have you ever done this before?”
Actually, a project I've never done before tends to get me excited.
I like figuring things out. A new challenge is an opportunity to learn something new, and every new skill becomes another tool I can bring to the next project.
What I enjoy most is the creative process—and the moment a customer sees the finished piece and gets excited about what we've made. That's still the best part.
You work directly with me.
No sales team and no handoff to someone who wasn't part of the conversation. The person you explain the project to is the person designing it.
Small doesn't mean second-rate.
I especially enjoy helping local businesses, startups and people working with a real-world budget look established and professional.
All are welcome.
Local and small-business work is close to my heart, but good ideas aren't limited by business size. If I can help make yours better, I want to hear about it.
Based in Marrero, Louisiana · Working With Businesses Near + Far
Enough about me. What are you working on?
Tell me what you need, what you're trying to accomplish and where you're stuck. We can figure out the rest from there.