PPB September 2018

Tim Kuppe r A s a child growing up in Rockwall, Texas, Tim Kupper watched his parents oil paint together on the weekends. During the week, however, they packed up their canvases and brushes to work in conventional jobs that did not offer much of a creative outlet. As the lucky recipient of his parents’ aesthetic DNA, Kupper resolved to pursue his passion for art as a career. Kupper studied commercial art and advertising at Texas State Technical College and was later hired as a cover artist for Taylor Publishing Company, where he created artwork by hand with ink, paper and glue. He was introduced to the prepress and production processes for printing, as well as manufacturing operations. With the advent of desktop publishing, Kupper moved to advertising to learn computer graphics as an illustrator. He was subsequently promoted to roles in ad design and account management, and to a long-term general management position in prepress and printing. In 2004, Kupper opened the doors of Xpert Media Management LLC, a graphics and advertising firm in San Antonio, Texas. Among a long list of duties, Kupper relishes his role as the driver of the creative engine, so he can focus on the production and management of the company’s artwork. Howdid you get interested in promotional products? I have always been interested in how things are made, and after working in the prepress and printing industry I realized that most promotional products are decorated with a similar process. At that time promotional products were looked down upon in the advertising world, but everyone used them. Our company produced print, but we put our own logo on promotional products to give to our customers. One of our customers asked if we would take over their corporate store, and now promotional products are 50 percent of our business. We produce promotional products for all our customers as an extension of their advertising needs. What started with hand sketches led to business ownership for Xpert Media Management’s Tim Kupper. by Terry Ramsay An Artist’s Evolution 106 | SEPTEMBER 2018 | CONNECT