Start with an eye for detail and a penchant for turning the so-so into the “oh, wow!” Nurture with encouragement from an artistic family and finish with a BA in Communication Arts & Design from Virginia Commonwealth University. Blend in 15+ years experience in advertising/marketing, and if you’re lucky, you get an art director as easy-going and talented as Mike Patina. Mike’s as skilled at cooking up innovative (and award-winning) graphic design solutions as he is flavorful (and famous) concoctions in the kitchen. Not only does kicking around creative ideas come naturally, but he also defends his best with the dogged determination you’d expect of a soccer goalkeeper (20+ years’ experience; now “retired”). For Mike, it’s a simple mix – start with good, strong design. Finish with a visual splash that gets the message noticed. To us, that sounds like a recipe for marketing success – one, of course, we’re happy to share with EdgeMark clients.