DC Design Mouth Guards

As any business owner knows, when you start your own business, you have to wear many hats.  You become the lead sales person, marketing director, buyer, customer service rep, copy writer, technician, spokes person, and the list goes on. I did not mind fulfilling any of these roles when I started Damage Control, for all these things came natural to me because of my passion for the business, and my previous work experiences.   As the company started to take shape, however, I started to take other roles that did not come so natural to me, namely, the company’s lead graphic artist.   Because I was catering to the MMA demographic, initially, and MMA is what popularized the designs on mouth guards, I was getting a lot of request to put designs on the custom mouth guards I was fabricating.  When we stared the business in 2009, there were companies like Jawzz Mouth Guards and Unbreakable Mouthpieces that were killing it with their custom design mouth guards. Though I have always been an art admirer, and and avid art collector, my attempts at art had been much to be desired.  I would soon find myself taking various courses in graphic design.  The more I worked at it the easier it became, and the more I started to enjoy it.  I managed to squeak by the first couple years fulfilling the art requests of many of our clients;  however, it was something that did not come natural to me.  I had envisioned Damage Control to provide the best designs for custom mouth guards, and in order for that vision to be met, I would need top talent.  

Fast forward to 2016.  Now Damage Control Mouthguards currently has two top talent full-time graphic design artist that create the designs on our boil and bite mouth guards, and create kick ass designs for your custom design-custom mouth guard requests. For those that wonder what goes on behind the scenes at Damage Control, and our abilities, I would like to introduce to you our graphic design team here at DC. 

Vic Masayesva

Vic is the person who fabricates all the custom mouthguards at Damage Control. You can say Vic has artistic abilities that has run in his blood for generations.  Throughout his life, starting at the very young age of six, Vic helped his grandmother design Native American pottery.  Each piece of pottery was hand crafted and hand painted.  In his grandmother’s later years she could not keep her hand steady, so Vic would draw the artwork for her on the pottery with a pencil that she would later paint in.  When I was hiring for a mouth guard fabrication position my hope was to find someone with an artistic background. I knew it was a long shot, but I was blessed to find that ability in Vic when he applied.  I put a Facebook post out that said Damage Control was hiring, and he was one of many that responded.  I creeped his Facebook page briefly before his interview, and what sealed the deal for me to hire him were his Facebook picture posts. He had many posts of his artwork. I saw that he had his entire room spray painted with graffiti artwork.   He also had some pictures posted of some canvas artwork paintings he had painted along with his and his grandmother’s pottery work.  I knew he would be a great addition to the DC team as a fabricator and art designer of our custom mouth guards.  Vic now uses his past experience to hand craft one of a kind custom mouth guards for each our clients.  Custom mouth guard fabrication in and of itself is a very time consuming process, but add custom design artwork creation and art application to the mix, and you get a process that requires much patience and artistic dexterity. Vic having the background he did, prepared him for the awesome work he currently does at Damage Control.  Soon after joining Damage Control Vic would learn graphic design and go on to fabricate the best mouth guard designs the industry has ever seen. Check out some of Vic’s various work below and also on his Instagram page @v_bam_bam.

Josh Romero

For those that do not know, Josh is related to me, and I had recognized his artist ability at a very young age.  When Josh was just a kid, years before sophisticated software design programs were readily available, Josh would create elaborate art pieces in Windows paint. I remember me encouraging him to keep it up as his talent could someday foster into a profession as, during that time, the digital age just started to take shape.  Little did I know that someday I would start a company that would be in demand for such artistic talent as his. Before Josh started working for DC, he honed his artistic abilities by way of hobby, and his aspirations to become a tattoo artist.  Before working for DC Josh had a plethora of hand drawings and canvas paintings that I had really admired.  Ever since joining the DC team Josh has learned Photoshop and Illustrator, and has been killing it as a graphic artist.  Josh is responsible for many of the custom design mouth guard requests for the "We'll Design it For You" option.  He also does all the artwork for our company's website, as well as our rash guard and t-shirt designs, and all our printed and digital media.

Look at some of Josh’s work below, and also on his Instagram page @joshtromero_portfolio.