About the name

I thought of the name of Oregon Art Company long before I began this project. I immediately did an internet search to make sure the name didn’t already belong to another business. The search revealed that a kindred business venture in the same name had existed in Central and Eastern Oregon more than a century ago. Some history about the first Oregon Art Company and its founder Bruno Bakowski from pdxhistory.org’s page about postcard history:

Bruno Bakowski was a noted post card photographer from Central Oregon, who was well known for his post cards of scenic Central and Eastern Oregon, stage and freighter wagons and signature city views. His post cards are sequentially numbered and he produced over 3500 views. Bakowski first operated a studio in La Grande, Oregon in 1908. Over the next three years, he also operated Oregon Art Co., a studio at Bend. His cards were signed either “B.B. Bakowski” or “Oregon Art Co.”On a photo shooting trip to Crater Lake, Bakowski disappeared in 1911 while photographing Crater Lake during a winter blizzard. Search parties found his camp and camera but his body was never recovered. According to the local press, the Medford Mail Tribune, reported search parties were looking for him on Feb. 22, 1911 then on March 1, 1911, the Mail Tribune reported that Bakowski was presumed dead.

Here is a photo of Crater Lake by Bakowski, available on the Library of Congress’ website: 

About the logo

I first designed the logo of Oregon Art Company by hand and then rendered it in Adobe Illustrator. The lettering was inspired by the logo on a jeweler’s kit that I found at a yard sale in north Portland. The logo was from a long-gone Portland jeweler called “Paul Feldenheimer, Inc.” The Oregon Historical Society and WSU archives have many photos of the Feldenheimers, who were a prominent Portland family from the late 19th to mid-20th century, and ran a jewelry and goldsmith shop on Park Avenue in Southwest Portland for much of that time.