About Mad Mike and his lettering.
About Mad Mike, the man, the myth, the urban legend, the sign guy, the mischief
of mayhem
and the margarita makinest S.O.B. around.
OK, first and foremost despite opinions I am not really mad or insane, and I am not mad at anyone....YET!!!
I get the nickname for some of the crazy and unpredictable things I do, mostly legal but all in the name of fun and good times. I had a roommate once that was asked what it was like rooming with me. He said "it is like living in a comic strip, you never know what that crazy S.O.B. is gonna do next".
I have been a computer programmer and consultant since 1980 (OK, so I am an old teenager). For those who know the trade, I program IBM mid range systems in RPG and COBOL, for those that don't know the lingo I am not a techno nerd (at 6 foot 3 and 335 pounds you smile no matter what you call me) . I enjoy many things, riding motorcycles, racing, SCUBA diving, am a PADI Divemaster, and enjoy some quiet time at home once in a great while. I don't quite fit the corporate mold.
I originally started the sign business in a spare room in the basement in Manhattan Kansas, as a side line and hobby around 1990 or 91 and at various times it toggled between some time and full time. My lettering like most things in my life, is self taught. As a kid I lettered my own stuff, and obviously some stuff was cooler than others. When I started lettering for other people I lettered most anything and everything to survive and further learn the trade. My my my, how it has grown. Many customers I did work for in the early days are still here, and most new customers I do work for come back again. I time share between computers and signs today and enjoy both.
Today I am in Mesa Arizona, doing signs pretty much full time and enjoying the year round sunshine. I actually lived in Mesa and conceived the idea for the sign business about 1990 while working for a computer company as it would allow me to return to Kansas to live. Who would think years later I would be back here again, moving southwest in pursuit of my "True North".
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My love of racing was what started me and what keeps me going. I have been around racing, had family members that raced, and I have raced circle track and drag cars, street cars and motorcycles for as long as I have been able. Heck, I'll race a shopping cart through the store if I have competition.
 Mad Mike's Modified, circa 1988 |
 Mad Mike's Modern Day Metric Monster Malibu 540 inch injected alcohol chevy |
 Street Stock, circa 1983 |
 Mad Mike's Current Shop Truck |
Modern day I letter commercial
stuff too but my true love is still the race cars, or any vehicle. It is a
mobile billboard of my work, and something the customer and myself can take
great pride in. Heck, anyone can live with an ugly sign on their building but
they won't drive a vehicle home every night that is ugly. OK, maybe they do now
that is why I adopted the following motto years ago....
I take a great deal of pride in my
work, and I hope it shows.
Check out my photo albums and I hope you agree that my customers made a good choice
in trusting their lettering needs to a mad man.
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Now Offering in House |
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Email
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Mad
Mike