Tim Vega (born Timothy Martin Vega; September 14, 1965 – April 29, 2002) was an American

graphic designer A graphic designer is a practitioner who follows the discipline of graphic design, either within companies or organizations or independently. They are professionals in design and visual communication, with their primary focus on transforming ...

best known for his work with several musical acts, especially

jam band A jam band is a musical group whose concerts and live albums substantially feature improvisational "jam session, jamming". Typically, jam bands will play variations of pre-existing songs, extending them to musical improvisation, improvise ove ...

s. Among his patrons were

Blues Traveler Blues Traveler is an American rock band that formed in Princeton, New Jersey, in 1987. They are known for their extensive use of segues in live performances, and could be considered a key part of the re-emerging jam band scene of the 1990s, sp ...

Gov't Mule Gov't Mule (pronounced "Government Mule") is an American Southern rock jam band, formed in 1994 by guitarist Warren Haynes, bassist Allen Woody (both of The Allman Brothers Band at the time) and drummer Matt Abts (whom Haynes had worked with in ...

, and

Spin Doctors Spin Doctors are an American alternative rock band from New York City, best known for their early 1990s hits "Two Princes" and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong", which peaked on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart at No. 7 and N ...

Background

Vega was a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

native, son of novelist Edgardo Vega Yunqué. He is

Suzanne Vega Suzanne Nadine Vega ( Peck; born July 11, 1959) is an American singer-songwriter of Folk music, folk-inspired music. Vega's music career spans 40 years. In the mid-1980s and 1990s she released four singles that entered the Top 40 charts in the ...

's younger half-brother. He started out in the graffiti art scene. Before long, his art appeared on official

T-shirts A T-shirt (also spelled tee shirt, or tee for short) is a style of fabric shirt named after the T shape of its body and sleeves. Traditionally, it has short sleeves and a round neckline, known as a '' crew neck'', which lacks a collar. T-shir ...

for Blues Traveler, and even created the

cover art Cover art is a type of artwork presented as an illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product, such as a book (often on a dust jacket), magazine, newspaper ( tabloid), comic book, video game ( box art), music album ( album ar ...

for the band's self-titled debut album. He would later design posters for H.O.R.D.E, the music festival founded by the aforementioned act. In addition to his work with Blues Traveler, Vega is credited with creating the original

logo A logo (abbreviation of logotype; ) is a graphic mark, emblem, or symbol used to aid and promote public identification and recognition. It may be of an abstract or figurative design or include the text of the name that it represents, as in ...

for Gov't Mule, and several items for Spin Doctors. He designed the Warhol-esque tour T-shirt for his sister's album . During the tour supporting the album , he worked for his sister selling merchandise, including t-shirts with the images he created. He was the in-house painter for Larry Bloch's

Wetlands Preserve Wetlands Preserve, commonly referred to as Wetlands, was a nightclub in New York City that opened in 1989 and closed in 2001. It was located at 161 Hudson Street in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood. Wetlands has been called "ground zero for po ...

nightclub in New York City. He painted everything from the Volkswagen bus in the lobby to the bathrooms (which were painted several times). His work can be seen in the film Wetlands Preserved: The Story of an Activist Rock Club. In 2001, Vega worked as a production assistant for ''"On Stage! At the Twin Towers"'', a music festival held at the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are the hundreds of sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may also refer to: Buildings * World Trade Center (1973–2001), a building complex that was destroyed during the September 11 at ...

in New York City. He avoided being one of the victims of the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, because he called in sick for work that day.

Death

Vega died on April 29, 2002. He worked at the

, and though not present during the

September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

, his alcoholism in the months that followed proved fatal. Later that year, a fortnight-long tribute was held (beginning December 6, 2002) and featured performances from Blues Traveler

John Popper John Popper (born March 29, 1967) is an American musician and songwriter, known as the co-founder, lead vocalist, and frontman of the rock band Blues Traveler. Early life Popper was born on March 29, 1967, in Cleveland, Ohio. His father was a ...

Warren Haynes Warren Haynes (born April 6, 1960) is an American musician, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his work as longtime guitarist with the Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was ...

Joan Osborne Joan Elizabeth Osborne (born July 8, 1962) is an American singer, songwriter, and interpreter of music, having recorded and performed in various popular American musical genres including rock, pop, soul, R&B, blues, and country. She is best kn ...

, among many others. Suzanne Vega's '' Beauty & Crime'' was released in 2007, dedicated to the memory of Tim Vega.Press release referring to NYT article

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Vega, Tim 1965 births 2002 deaths American people of Puerto Rican descent American graphic designers American graffiti artists 20th-century American painters 20th-century American male artists American male painters