Teen launches logo firm

Palm Coast Observer
Business

All Josiah Davisson wanted to do was jump off the roof.

He was 15 and didn’t have much time. Soon, a screened-in pool would be built in his backyard, and so if he wanted to leap from the shingles and onto his trampoline, he’d have to act soon.

He climbed up, collected his nerve, peaked over the gutters above the second floor, then jumped. And just as he suspected: Yeah, it was awesome.

“As far as I can remember, I’ve always loved falling, spinning, flipping. And I’ve always wanted to fall through the air,” he said, three years after the roof-jumping incident. Now a dual-enrolled senior at Flagler Palm Coast High School, he grinned: “And I also skydive.”

Before taking on the roof, Davisson says he “trained” for his now-31 skydives by jumping out his second-story window. On his first dive, he skipped the introductory tandem jump, opting instead to hurl himself out of moving plane solo.

Davisson isn’t your everyday high-schooler. Along with being an adrenaline junkie, he’s also an artist and businessman.

In July, he beat out students from Flagler Palm Coast, Matanzas and Seabreeze high schools for first place in the Flagler County Voters Guide cover design contest. And now, he’s opening his own logo-design firm, Top of the Class Graphics.

He only started learning graphic design last year.

“I didn’t do too much teaching myself at first,” Davisson said, sitting on a couch in his parents’ house, petting one of his dogs. “But once I got into it … I think of it as a hobby. Whenever I have a (school) project, I’ll spend tons of time on it at home.”

Davission took his first graphics class after a sponsor in Future Business Leaders of America stressed the importance of multimedia in today’s business world. So he enrolled, bought a Mac, won a graphics contest and, with a friend, Kelly Kryspin, went into business.

Kryspin, who won best in show at the Flagler Auditorium’s Holiday Art Extravaganza last year and recently had an art opening at Ocean Publishing, works as a freelancer for Top of the Class, submitting sketches for mockups, which Davisson then transfers digitally.

With birds chirping somewhere downstairs and a massive painted giraffe statue postured beside the front door, Davisson explained that when he sees companies around town with boring, one-word names — like “Laundry” or “Tattoo” — he always has an urge to go inside, learn about the business and help promote it.

“It doesn’t show high quality,” he said. “You can’t go anywhere with (a name like that).”

Eventually, Davisson wants to incorporate branding into his business plan, as well. But for now, it’s all about design.

“I want to (help) small businesses who can’t really afford to hire big businesses for a logo,” he said.

A while back, Davisson’s parents wanted him to sell his Mustang for something smarter, something with better fuel efficiency and lower insurance rates. So he did, and he used the profits to buy a motorcycle. What was left he put toward his skydiving certification.

Using what he’d saved from other jobs, at Cracker Barrel, babysitting, at his parents’ ministry and selling legal insurance, he then bought a business license.

“This is probably the best time of my life, and I’m running around every day,” he said, smiling. “People sit at home bored when they could be doing so much more things to improve themselves and improve their lives. I almost never sit at home bored. … In what little free time I have, I use that to call businesses. … If I don’t get an answer, I call them back the next day.”

He’s not shy promoting himself or getting an edge over competitors, either. Before launch, he conducted undercover reconnaissance to measure local price points. Before our interview, he called a few prospects who were on the fence — Benjamin Moore and D&M Carpet Cleaning Services — and told them he’d give them a newspaper shout-out if they signed on.

“I’ve actually always loved business and entrepreneurship,” Davisson said. “I (just) didn’t see myself opening one so soon.”

Even faced with current economic woes, Davisson remains resolved. After all, he’s still in high school, he says — it’s not like he’s known anything else. And plus, if you’re going to take a leap, it might as well be off the roof.

“In this terrible economy, people don’t have jobs, (so) they’re starting tons of new businesses,” he said. “Businesses need logos. And so I thought this could be right place, right time — if I’m lucky. If I work hard enough. “

Currently, a logo from Top of the Class Graphics, from mockups to final draft, goes for $120.

In the fall, Davisson will attend the University of Central Florida. Write Josiah. [email protected] or call 627-3086.