The Sunnyvale Sun

Cover Story

Photograph by Jacqueline Ramseyer

Artist Terry Smith sketches while (from left) Throckmorton, Mortimer, Blake and C.D.Ñcharacters from his project ÔMidnight, Madness and MayhemÕÑhang out on his drafting table.

Top Draw

Terry Smith is the go-to logo guy for local sports teams

By Erin Hussey

If you've attended a Bay Area sports event, bought an athlete poster from Adidas or played a video game recently, it's likely that you've seen Terry Smith's art.

He's painted Barry Bonds, Michael Jordan and Joe Montana, created characters for video games such as God of War and designed the logos for the San Jose Earthquakes, San Jose SaberCats and, most recently, the updated version of the San Jose Sharks' image.

But, unlike some of his competitors who use high-speed computer programs to create their images, Smith, who never really took any formal art classes, is proud to say he's still "old school" and starts every design with the same tool: a pencil.

"As a kid I loved sports, but I also really loved to draw," says Smith. Smith's design company, Terry Smith Creations, formerly JRS Enterprises, is located in Sunnyvale.

"As I progressed higher and higher into sports, art became even more important to me. It was a nice form of relaxation and a way for me to unwind."

The summer before Smith entered his freshman year at Stanford University on a basketball scholarship, he decided he wanted to take his paintings, drawings and logos to the next level as well. He founded JRS Enterprises, named after his father, Jimmie Ralph Smith.

"As an athlete you couldn't work during the school year, so my dad and I set up a company under his name," explains Smith.

During his vacation breaks he would come home and work for JRS Enterprises, selling T-shirts as well as other logo designs.

"If I had followed my dream exactly I would have been playing in the NBA after I graduated and, in the off-season, would be working at JRS Enterprises," says Smith.

But unfortunately, during his sophomore year, Smith sustained a degenerated disc in his back, bringing an end to his basketball career.

"I would have been a long shot at best," Smith admits, referring to his chances at advancing to the NBA. "In hindsight it was probably a good thing because it allowed me to focus more on my art."

Following his graduation with a degree in economics in 1982 (Stanford didn't offer an art major at the time), Smith was determined to make a living through his passion for art.

"The original plan was that I would go into business with my dad," he says. "I would do the creative stuff and my dad would run the business, but he passed away at 47 and I just never could find someone I was as close to as I was with him."

During his first few years out of school, Smith divided his time among working at a comic book shop in Palo Alto, coaching for the Decathlon Sports Club and building his portfolio. He did a number of local jobs, including posters and game programs for Stanford athletics.

"My first big break was getting a project from Adidas to do a poster of Kareem Abdul Jabbar when he became the NBA all-time leading scorer," Smith recalls.

"It was the first time a lot of people were exposed to my style of art on a national level and, at the time, it was very different. Even to this day, people look at my work and think I use computers, but all my stuff is hand-done."

Smith's signature painting style, which he calls "sports fantasy," is known for its uncanny photo-realism blended with the unexpected and impossible.

With the success of the Jabbar poster, other commissioned sports painting projects starting coming in, including one for the popular baseball card company Fleur.

But in the early 90s, Smith's classification as a sports artist changed.

"A couple of folks who knew they were going to bring hockey to the Bay Area saw me speak at an event," says Smith, who was filling in for the original speaker. After his presentation, they approached him about designing a logo.

"What we came up with is what you still see on the ice today," Smith says. "After it came out I started getting calls to do logos and no one was calling me to do paintings anymore."

Smith's new Sharks logo design will take center stage this coming season.

TSC's list of clients reads like a who's who of sports teams: San Jose SaberCats, San Jose CyberRays, San Jose Earthquakes, Golden State Warriors, San Francisco Giants, Oakland Athletics, San Francisco 49ers, Reebok, Nike and many others.

"All of my logo designs have what I like to call a 'peel-able' approach--a systematic layered approach which allows for greater continuity for all of the marks," Smith explains.

This "peel-able" approach is something Smith notes was influenced by his business studies at Stanford.

"They have to sell," he says. "So I make all of the different elements: the type face, the logos and the other marks in such a way that can be put together in a variety of different ways and still work."

For example, the new Sharks' logo, or brand, now consists of five images--the full logo, crest, a second Sharks image, logotype and patches--which can be interchanged to make unique yet similar looks.

"Now Nordstrom can have something different than Target without going and redesigning everything," explains Smith. "It allows clients to get their exclusives but when you see it, you know it's from the Sharks."

With the many sports, video game and entertainment projects Smith currently has, he now works collaboratively with a number of talented artists.

"It's kind of like mission impossible. When I get an assignment I go, 'Okay, who would be the right people for this?' " he says. "I have to put my ego aside frequently and say, 'My style is not right here.' "

Although Smith will come up with the basic design and concept himself, if he finds an artist whose style fits better, he will hire that person to do the final execution.

"It's a lot of mixing and matching and finding the right group of artists to work together to achieve the goal," Smith says.

Smith, along with artists Norm Felchle and Rob DeBorde, was responsible for the updated Sharks' look that was revealed July 24.

"Just like anything that an artist does, the longer you look at your work, it never seems right, it's never finished," says Smith. The new Shark now looks more aggressive, is 3-dimensional and has more teal in it.

"There were always some things that I wanted to come back to and clean up a bit and this was a good time to do that," he says.

While Smith says that the roles of athletics and art in his life have reversed since childhood (sports are now a form of relaxation), he's happy doing what he loves and wants to encourage others to do so as well.

"If you want to do anything in the creative field, you have to have a passion," he says.

"You might not always make as much money as your friends. Heck, sometimes you have a hard time getting paid, but if that is where your heart is, then you just have to persevere. It takes a lot of patience and a lot of hard work, but you can do it."

For more information on Terry Smith Creations or to view a collection of Smith's work, visit www.terrysmithcreations.com.