By Pat KRAMER

Sunland-Tujunga has nearly always had a rough reputation and one resident has thought of a way to turn that into community pride. Painter/graphic artist Joseph Kenck of Tujunga has created a T-shirt design that immortalizes the strength and no- holds barred attitude of his hometown.

“It’s quite recognizable,” said Kenck, who lettered the Sunland-Tujunga name using the Jack Daniels’ whiskey font.

“The Jack Daniels logo was kind of a joke because we can have the reputation of being a rough town, with the bikers and all. I think my design kind of goes well with the history of the label, which has been around forever,” he said. “I’ve always loved the mountains and this design is very simple and direct using white lettering on a black T-shirt.”

Kenck started printing his T-shirts about two years ago after deciding that this might be a good thing to do for his neighborhood in Tujunga, then later added “Sunland-Tujunga” to his design to embrace more of the community.

“I’ve always loved the town,” he said. “Unfortunately, we’ve seen it change a lot over the last few years. Coming up here from Los Angeles is great. It’s kind of quiet and peaceful, the birds are singing all the time and we have a nice view with trees. I know that people are proud of this town and they would like to have a T-shirt to wear to promote it. Since I have the means to do this, as a graphic artist, I decided to go ahead and make up some shirts for local sale in the community.”

Kenck graduated from Pasadena Community College with a degree in graphic design. In addition to providing design for logos and screen printing his custom designs on T-shirts, he also does commission work, painting signage on buildings. His clients include a non-dairy ice cream shop in Santa Monica, and businesses in Culver City, Encino and Torrance for whom he’s painted murals, hand-lettered signs, commissioned canvas pieces, and painted portraits.

Last year, his Sunland-Tujunga T-shirts sold out at July’s Summerfest at Sunland Park in just five hours. In January, he printed up another batch at the request of former STNC board member Gail Carlson (Auntie Gail’s Pet Sitting service), so that the STNC board could have them to wear at community events.

“I think my T-shirts could be a conversation piece,” said Kenck. “Even though our neighborhood is small, there’s a good [number] of people here so you don’t always know your neighbors. If you happen to be walking through the market wearing this T-shirt, you might meet new friends who share your sense of pride. That’s also kind of important to me.”

To order a Sunland-Tujunga T-shirt, email Joe at SunlandTujungaTshirts@gmail.com or view his online art gallery: www.joekenckoriginals.com.

  Pat KRAMER