Russell Martin
B.S., Graphic Design, ’09
Sanford, Maine
Why Champlain? Upside-Down Curriculum let him jump into graphic design classes right away.
Why Graphic Design? Wanted to start his own apparel imprint business, Image3.
Empire builder
“I’ve just started to scratch the surface of the BYOBiz program,” says entrepreneur Russell Martin. “With the help of [program director] Bob Bloch, I spoke at a dinner of about 150 alumni, faculty and investors.” A fellow student is helping him create a five-year business plan. And he’s teaming up with gaming students who studied at Champlain’s Montréal campus to retool his Web site for online purchases.
“There’s a lot of passion but not much profit now,” Russell grins. He’s getting involved with area artists because “t-shirts are a moving canvas and a perfect showcase for local talent.” His business niche? “Creating threads that support all types of riding, on wheels, snow or water.” Promotion tactics? He wants to host a slope competition. “It’s a lot of work and sometimes stressful,” he admits, but also “a lot of fun.”
Extracurricular activities:
starting a business, working at local silkscreen company so he could use their equipment for his prototypes
