Tim Vega was an American graphic designer

Graphic designer

A graphic designer is a professional within the graphic design and graphic arts industry who assembles together images, typography or motion graphics to create a piece of design. A graphic designer creates the graphics primarily for published, printed or electronic media, such as brochures and...

 best known for his work with several musical acts, especially jam band

Jam band

-Ambiguity:By the late 1990s use of the term jam band also became ambiguous. An editorial at jamband.com suggested that any band of which a primary band such as Phish has done a cover of be included as jam band. The example was including New York post-punk band Talking Heads after Phish performed...

s. Among his patrons were Blues Traveler

Blues Traveler

Blues Traveler is a rock band, formed in Princeton, New Jersey in 1987. The band has been influenced by a variety of genres, including blues-rock, psychedelic rock, folk rock, soul, and Southern rock...

, Gov't Mule

Gov't Mule

Gov't Mule is a Southern rock jam band formed in 1994 as an Allman Brothers Band side project by Warren Haynes and Allen Woody.The band released their debut album Gov't Mule in 1995...

, and Spin Doctors

Spin Doctors

Spin Doctors is an American alternative rock band formed in New York City, best known for their early 1990s hits, "Two Princes," and "Little Miss Can't Be Wrong," which peaked the Billboard Hot 100 charts at #7 & #17 respectively....

.

Background

Vega, a New York City

New York City

New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...

 native (and Suzanne Vega

Suzanne Vega

Suzanne Nadine Vega is an American songwriter and singer known for her eclectic folk-inspired music.Two of Vega's songs reached the top 10 of various international chart listings: "Luka" and "Tom's Diner"...

's younger half-brother), started out in the graffiti art scene. Before long, his art appeared on official T-shirts for Blues Traveler, and even created the cover art

Cover art

Cover art is the illustration or photograph on the outside of a published product such as a book , magazine, comic book, video game , DVD, CD, videotape, or music album. The art has a primarily commercial function, i.e...

 for the band's self-titled debut

Blues Traveler (album)

Blues Traveler, the eponymous debut album from Blues Traveler, was released on A&M Records in 1990. It establishes the band's trademark jam band sound featuring John Popper's harmonica...

 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

Logo

A logo is a graphic mark or emblem commonly used by commercial enterprises, organizations and even individuals to aid and promote instant public recognition...

 for Gov't Mule, and several items for Spin Doctors. He designed the Warhol-esque tour t-shirt for his sister's album 99.9F°

99.9F°

99.9F° is the fourth album by the American singer/songwriter Suzanne Vega. Released in 1992, the album marked a significant departure for Vega, as she embraced a more electronic-influenced, experimental sound. It peaked at #86 on Billboard Magazine album charts, as well as two songs to their Modern...

. 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 Center

The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...

 in New York City.

Vega inadvertently avoided being one of the victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks

September 11, 2001 attacks

The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/119/11 is pronounced "nine eleven". The slash is not part of the pronunciation...

, because he called in sick for work that day.

Death

Vega died on April 29, 2002. Later that year, a fortnight-long tribute was held (beginning December 6, 2002) and featured performances from Blues Traveler John Popper

John Popper

John Popper is an American musician and songwriter.He is most famous for his role as frontman of rock band Blues Traveler performing harmonica, guitar and vocals...

, Warren Haynes

Warren Haynes

Warren Haynes is an American rock and blues guitarist, vocalist and songwriter. Haynes is best known for his work as long time guitarist with The Allman Brothers Band and as founding member of the jam band Gov't Mule. Early in his career he was a guitarist for David Allan Coe and The Dickey...

, Joan Osborne

Joan Osborne

Joan Elizabeth Osborne is an American singer-songwriter. She is best known for her song "One of Us". She has toured with Motown sidemen the Funk Brothers and was featured in the documentary film about them, Standing in the Shadows of Motown.-Biography:Originally from Anchorage, Kentucky, a suburb...

, among many others.

Suzanne Vega's Beauty & Crime

Beauty & Crime

Beauty & Crime is the seventh studio album release by New York-based singer/songwriter and musician Suzanne Vega. It is her first album of new material since 2001's Songs in Red and Gray and is also her first for Blue Note Records. It was released on July 17, 2007...

was released in 2007, dedicated to the memory of Tim Vega.

External links

• Tim. Vega. Net Official site