When I first started One With Life Tequila, I needed a graphic artist to help me create a label for my bottle. I immediately thought of Jeff Radden, who I met through a mutual friend, Jay Baron, in 2006 when I promoted pro-boxing shows at The Washington Ave Armory. I needed help designing my boxing posters and heard Jeff did amazing work. Though he mostly did much bigger jobs for major corporations, Jeff took mercy on me and did the work at the special ‘local boxing promoter rate’.
His work was beyond creative. He ended up creating a poster for each of our 15 shows. The posters were so beautiful that I had them all framed and they are still hanging in my office. We had the best boxing posters in the nation at the time. Each poster is literally a work of art!
After graduating RPI and working as an architect, Jeff opened his own studio, Animated Arts, as a freelance animator. He worked on several children's shows for ABC network - providing animation for segments of the shows. He also- produced commercials for almost every state agency and advertising agency in the region. Some of his notable work involved introducing the brand Price Chopper to the marketplace, along with numerous other new businesses - including the Great Escape, the Times Union, Colonie Center, Whiteface and Gore Mountain, Curtis Lumber, WRBG & WNYT, as well as statewide campaigns for I Love NY and the NYS Health Department.
So, turning to Jeff to have him create the label for my bottle was a no brainer! I told him the type of logo I had in mind for the label, an Owl in the tree of life. Within an hour, he sent me hundreds of images of owls and trees! He worked throughout the night trying to create a peaceful yet intense looking owl. There were so many owl images that looked angry or cartoonish. It actually took us a long time before we found our One With Life owl! Jeff came up with the idea of blending the owl into the tree of life and making a heart on the outside of the owl’s chest. It is all very subtle yet sends a strong message.
On a personal note, Jeff is a humble, intelligent and humorous guy. He shares my eastern philosophy and we spent a lot of time waxing poetic about what it means to be one with life! He is also a very talented musician who plays the guitar and writes songs - a man of many talents. Jeff was the second member of Team OWL and I am so grateful to have him in my corner!