Tommy Tsunami and me

I first met graphic designer Tom Weeks when I was working part time as a marketing specialist for Oregon State University's Summer Session. I was setting up a Summer Session window display on the first floor of OSU's Administration Building when Tom ambled by on his way to a morning coffee break and introduced himself. I liked him right away. He was personable, intelligent, easygoing, gracious, and funny. We could be friends, I remember thinking.

Three years later, the office Tom worked for—Extension and Experiment Station Communications (EESC)—hired me as a full-time publications editor and designer. So now Tom and I were colleagues, at least, if not yet friends. That would come soon; Tom and I had a rapport that made friendship inevitable. We had a similar absurdist sense of humor, similar tastes in music, similar values, even similar political leanings. 

I not only liked Tom, but I admired and respected him. He was a gifted artist and graphic designer whose work was in high demand not just within EESC, but across campus. If there was anything I couldn't handle design-wise on a particular publication, after a five-minute consultation with Tom it was a done deal—usually within a day, and usually on the first draft. 

His graphic designs also won a lot of awards, and even helped me win a few on publications I produced. I appreciated that. 

I appreciated the hell out of Tom and his mad skills.

I wasn't alone. Another person who appreciated Tom's mad skills was an OSU Extension Sea Grant scientist named Jim Good. In the early 2000s, when scientists like Jim were becoming increasingly concerned about the Cascadia Subduction Zone off the Oregon Coast and the potential for an earthquake and tsunami, they started working on ways not only to make people aware of the threats but to guide them toward safety should such events occur.

When Jim decided some kind of warning/action road sign might be in order, he went to Tom. Together, and with the additional input of some state geologists, Jim and Tom came up with the instantly recognizable designs that now appear not only on the Oregon Coast, but in Thailand (one of the countries most affected by the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami).

Look familiar?

I guess one could say that Tom Weeks is good not only at making waves, but at saving people from them.

About the nickname "Tommy Tsunami": When Tom retired after 30+ years of service to OSU, I created a silly flyer in which I referred to him as Tommy Tsunami—a moniker of my own invention, I thought. Wrong. At Tom's retirement party I learned that OSU Art Director Amy Charron, a longtime colleague and mutual friend, had also come up with the nickname—probably years before I had. Sigh...

In case of humiliation, run for high ground!

Endnote: Sadly, I don't have a photo of Tom to include here (and I couldn't get the Interwebs to cough one up). Fortunately, I do have another example of his work to share: this cartoonish rendering of yours truly eating a pizza box ("Ricardo's," ha ha). The illustration accompanied an article about edible packaging in an issue of EESC's quarterly magazine, Oregon's Agricultural Progress.

Nom nom nom! Did I mention that Tom and I shared an absurdist sense of humor?