Ron Grice Bio  |  Fun Facts About Ron

Most every family has one of these kids in it - the one who spends hours upon hours drawing, painting or building stuff and is generally referred to as the "artistic" one the family. Ron was that kid.

He was the best drawer/colorer/finger painter in art class in McClellan Elementary School. In second grade, his original work "Tree" (No. 2 pencil on a piece of brown paper that his mom cut from a grocery bag) was selected to the student art show. He still remembers how good it felt to see his "masterpiece" displayed in the gymnasium for the world to see - neatly framed in manila card stock with his name, grade and home room number written on a small white tag stapled to the bottom. Ron still has this drawing, and to this day it is just about his favorite.

In middle school, 3 students from Ron's class were selected to take part in Saturday morning art classes at the Carnegie Institute, which were taught by Joseph C. Fitzpatrick. He was a larger than life character who was an early inspiration to many in today's graphic design community. He always made you feel like you truly were an artist, and Ron considers himself fortunate to have experienced 3 years of those Saturday mornings. It was not until recently he learned that Andy Warhol had taken the same Saturday morning classes a number of years before him, that's kinda cool, eh?

Ron took many art classes in high school but did not have a clue as to how to make a living being creative. To many, art was something you did as a hobby, how could you get a job doing THAT? At his school's career day, someone from the Art Institute of Pittsburgh came and spoke to his art class about careers in graphic design. It was then that Ron decided what he wanted to be when he grew up. 

The 2 years at the Art Institute of Pittsburgh went by quickly and gave Ron a well-rounded base to start on. He was hired the day he graduated to become an Associate Art Director at an aerospace manufacturing company in the Pittsburgh area. It was there that he began to develop as a professional graphic designer. Ron was responsible for creating all visual materials associated with the company - anything from product brochures and concept drawings to trade show and annual report design. At the same time, he was also doing freelance work for a graphic design firm in downtown Pittsburgh. When an opening became available, he jumped aboard. Little did he know that almost 19 years later, Ron would still be at that graphic design firm! Yep, he started here before people used computers on a daily basis to design and have been here ever since. Throughout the years, Group 2 has allowed Ron the freedom to use all of his graphic design skills in every conceivable application. In addition to his design responsibilities, Ron is also called upon when illustration is needed for a particular project, or whenever there is a dimensional project in the shop. He has gotten to do a lot of different things at Group 2. A variety of projects runs through the shop and that keeps it fresh! He loves seeing the development of a rough concept grow into a finished piece and is lucky to have such a fun job! It's never the same from one week to the next.

Outside of Group 2, Ron does illustrating, paper sculptures and his newest "hobby" - chainsaw sculptures (still has 10 fingers!). He loves to work with his hands and feel the satisfaction of creating a piece that people can get a kick out of. It never gets old to hear someone say "hey, did you make that? That's pretty cool!"....

Thanks Mom...

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