The Publisher of the InterMixx Webzine
is a Changed Man
by Christopher Marz
Noël Ramos began his career as a professional artist at the tender young age of 16. "I was working for the Trefz Corporation. They owned over 58 McDonald's Restaurants in the Northeast, plus a trucking company to supply them all and who knows what else." Noël was hired to paint window displays at the restaurants depicting the current special promotion running in each location. "You know, Shamrock Shakes for St. Patty's Day, Banana Shakes in the summer, Golden French Fry Gold Rush... that sort of thing." This early start as a freelance artist helped instill the entrepeneurial spirit in the young Designer. "I certainly enjoyed the taste of freedom that I got when I discovered what it was like to be your own boss. I wanted to pursue that goal."
At the time, Noël was also studying to be a comic book artist with the man who was then President of DC Comics, Dick Giordano, and a fellow DC Artist, Frank McLaughlin. "I had been pretty convinced since I began creating and illustrating my own original comic books at the age of 13, that I wanted to do it professionally, make it my career." Frank, who was best known for his inking of famous books such as Batman, The Flash, and the Justice League of America took a liking to Noël and after a few classes had passed, invited the young artist to have dinner with his family at their home. "I met Frank's wife and kids, they were a happy bunch, and enjoyed a very good meal, but it was just after dinner that my life changed course." Frank gave Noël a tour of his Graphic Design studio, located in an addition that had been built onto the house. There, amongst the logos, brochures and advertisements, Noël began to get a sense of a career he had previously known very little about. "Frank earned much of his livlihood as a Graphic Designer, which surprised me, I thought all he did was comic books."
Intrigued by the work, Noël decided to gather more information about Graphics, and by the time he graduated High School, he was determined to become a Designer. "I still draw comic book characters, and illustration is one of my specialties, but I fell in love with the variety and scope of the Graphics field."
Immediately after graduation, his desire to attend college led him out west. "Although my Dad was a Teacher, my relationship with him was, well... let's just say; strained at best. He had made it clear that he wasn't going to give me a penny of his money to go to College. I was on my own."
Even though he was only 17 years old, Noël struck out on his own to pursue College in California. "My older brother was in training, stationed at an Air Force base in Sacramento, he told me school was free once you established residency in California, and he could put me up at his home on base for at least a couple of months... to get me started. I was on a plane a few weeks later!"
Only two weeks after arriving in Sacramento, Noël landed a job as a Graphic Artist at Artco Services. "All that early job experience paid off, I was knowledgeable enough to work in my field, even without any college as of yet." Artco designed and created shopping mall directories for Developers all over the country. "Chances are good that I worked on the 'You are Here' maps in your favorite mall! We also did showcards, signs and other related graphics." The job at Artco also put Noël in contact with the Developers, and some of this interaction led to more freelance work as well. "My first big freelance job in Sacramento was designing the floorplan and wall graphics in a new Video Arcade being built in a local mall. The Developer was a customer at Artco, and my Boss suggested me to him for the side job." Other "side jobs" followed; signs, banners, logo designs, brochures, mailers, T-Shirts, and more. "I even got to re-create a painted glass panel for an antique jukebox. That was challenging."
Soon, however, Noël's brother was transferred out of state, and the 17 year old found himself, alone, 3000 miles from where he was born, with only a few new-found friends. "I moved in with my skiing buddy, Wayne Junes, and we became pretty inseparable for many years, moving from one apartment to another, and skiing a lot." It was during this time that Noël also began to exercise his entrepeneurial spirit in regard to his love for music. "I had been a choral singer all through school, and I loved all kinds of music. Dance music was all the craze at that time, New Wave, Punk and Dance were everywhere. So I started my own DJ Company!" He dubbed it 'Tunesmith' and a dual career was born. "I have been a professional M.C. ever since, and I have hosted thousands of events: weddings, anniversaries, fashion shows, college parties, corporate dinners, live music showcases, even a live Gong Show. I also spun in many of the hot clubs in the area." Noël also began pursuing Radio work and became quite familiar with many of the Radio Station personalities in the Sacramento area. "On top of all that I was already doing I began working part time as the Assistant Manager of a Record Store, which was a great way to keep up on the hot new music, and get it cheap. We also did many promotions and I met quite a few Musicians, and Radio personalities." Noël also utilized his artistic talents at the store, doing display work and signage.
His dual career of music and art began to lead him in the direction that would result in the creation of Mixx Magazine. "After living in Sacramento for 8 years, I moved back home to Connecticut, where I basically began doing the exact same kind of work." Noël began working for two childhood friends, Al Vagnini and Jon March. "I had known Al since Kindergarten, and Jon was my best friend all through High School, he turned me on to Elvis Costello! They were both musicians, and DJs... they had started a successful company called Powerstation DJs and I began working for them." Jon and Al had also opened a Record Store called Music Plus, in order to better supply their DJ company with music. Noël began managing it for them, and working as a DJ as well. "Then they set me up with a small Graphics Studio in the back of the store! I started doing all their ad layouts, brochures, signs, etc... It was just exactly what I had been doing out in California." Since Powerstation was so large, they were supplying DJ entertainment to a vast majority of the nightclubs in Connecticut at one point. "I began designing co-op newspaper ads which Powerstation would split with the Clubs. The local paper began to look like my portfolio! I had designed almost all the ads on the club page in many editions." This led to more contacts with the club owners and managers. "Many clubs were doing DJs one night and live bands on other nights. I really started getting to know the scene at that point." Noël's graphics business picked up so much, he had to quit the Music Store and open his own Studio. "Noël Ramos Graphics, or NRG as it is now called, was born."
More Radio Station contacts were made through his DJ work, and Noël became an Associate Member of WYBC, the Community/College Radio Station of Yale University. "I obtained my FCC License at Yale, and began getting on the air at several stations, either in commercials, or as a live guest, or "voice-man." Noël served a stint as intern for Kelly Nash of KC101 and as a member of the "Camp Chaos Crew" on WPLR with Chaz. "I got to do lots of funny voices on Chaz's show, he was a wild man, and the comedy bits we did were pretty non-PC."
Noël's friendship with so many Radio Station people led to a dream Graphics job! "I was hired to redesign the logo for the biggest station in the state: Kiss FM out of Hartford. They were making industry headlines with their recent ratings and it was a great chance for major recognition as an Artist." It paid off, Noël's new logo design appeared EVERYwhere, billboards, bumper stickers, hats, keychains, watches, T-Shirts, even on TV! "They had their own MTV style show called 'Kiss TV' and my logo opened up each show!" Kiss began announcing Noël as the artist who did the logo on the air and he was often asked to broadcast live, because of his DJ experience. "I would go to all the promotional events of course, because it was great way to promote myself too. The DJs were all my buddies, so they would put me on the air all the time. I got so much publicity out of that job it was unbelievable! I also got to record my own Radio commercials which aired on their station." All this publicity led Kiss FM's biggest competitor, KC101 to seek out Noël and ask him to re-do their logo as well. "I guess they liked what I had done. I ended up with the same type of situation on their station. Live broadcasts, commercials, billboards, bumper stickers, the works!" For quite some time in Connecticut, you could often see cars with only two bumper stickers on them, and they had both been designed by Noël . "I would be driving down the highway, and there would be my Kiss logo on one billboard, and shortly after my KC101 logo on another!"
Thus, in a marketing inspiration, Mixx Magazine was born. "I still had all this credit for radio commercials on Kiss and KC101, so I began advertising Mixx Magazine. It worked like a charm and Mixx really started to take off. Within six months I was distributing it all over Connecticut." For its first two years Mixx served as a successful promotional tool for Noël's Graphics business, and the young entrepeneur was "living the eighties." "I was on my way to the American Dream. New car, cel phone, lots of clients, five employees including my own secretary and two other Designers... the whole enchilada!" Mixx was a slick, glossy covered Arts oriented magazine that looked as upscale as Noël's outlook. Unfortunately, it was not to last.
"In 1990 I was already fearful of what was about to happen to the economy. Graphics are always the first thing to get cut out of the budget when a company starts to smell tough times ahead." Noël's prescience was chronicled by his editorials in Mixx Magazine, and the Publisher found himself foretelling his own doom. "When the recession hit Connecticut, it was a bone-crusher. We felt it harder than almost anywhere else in the country, and I felt it to the bone." During the next two years, Noël's Graphics business dissolved around him as his clients, cut back, or went bankrupt. "It was so hard to watch my friends; hard workers and dedicated to their businesses, fold up shop one by one. It was even harder when it was me."
The recession led to a dark period in Noël's life, made infinitely worse by a near-fatal car crash that left him handicapped. "It was... so bad at one point... I was still in the wheelchair, with five broken bones and I became so angry at my bad fortune - angry and doubtful, wondering if I myself was to blame for all my troubles - that I stood on the one good leg I had, and with the one good arm I had, I picked up that evil chair and hurled it all the way across the room. It had become a symbol of my despair, and I hated it."
Symbolic though it may have been, the act of "casting off his despair" represented by his wheelchair proved instantly cathartic for Noël . "I looked at the mangled chair, for a long time it seemed, balanced on one leg... and I changed. I hopped to the chair, straightened it out as best I could, and began rebuilding myself that day, piece by tiny piece."
Nowadays you can't even tell Noël still suffers damage from that wreck, and he has re-dedicated himself a thousand-fold to building what has become InterMixx.com, Inc. into a viable, profitable internetwork for independent musicians. "Mixx has become much more than just an advertisement for Noël Ramos Graphics, it has morphed into a powerful source of publicity and support for independent Artists and Musicians, and a powerful part of what InterMixx is growing into. As it keeps growing, I keep growing along with it. I learned something about myself that day in the wheelchair, and it changed me for the better."
In order to capitalize on all this powerful publicity for his Graphics business, Noël struck upon the idea of combining all his talents and experiences and publishing an Arts & Entertainment magazine. "I thought; I know the clubs, the DJs, the bands, the artists, the music, and the SCENE... why not create a living brochure of my work? It would spotlight my graphics ability, my writing, my photography, and I could advertise all my noteworthy accomplishments."
