About TechArt Media
  My name is Hunter Harrison.  I started my Technical Illustration business as a freelancer after acquiring an Apple Macintosh Plus Computer and a Laserwriter Laser Printer through an employee purchase plan in 1986.  I can't believe that I worked on that 9-inch diagonal, black and white screen for so long, but it got me where I am today (as I write this page using my 27" LCD)!  I started using Adobe Illustrator when version 1.0 came out, so I have about as much experience with that software as one could wish for.

  Before Adobe Illustrator came on the scene, I developed Technical Illustrations the old fashioned way, using mechanical pencils, triangles, ellipse templates, vellum, airbrushes, electric erasers and Rapidiograph pens.   That probably sounds like a foreign language to a lot of illustrators today.  I have to be honest - I'm glad that I learned to illustrate that way, but I'm also glad that those days are gone.  I spent half my time back then trying to keep my fine-line Rapidiograph pens and airbrushes unclogged!  And there was no "undo" button when you illustrated by hand.
 I have four years of college education and received an Associate's Degree in Drafting and Design (Technical Illustration Option) from Texas State Technical Institute in Waco, Texas in 1980.  After having worked initially for Texas Instruments in Dallas, as well as for a provider of technical manuals for heavy equipment and for a patent illustration firm, I made my way back to my home town of San Antonio, Texas.  I worked for a computer manufacturer there before going to work as a contract illustrator for Lockheed Missiles and Space in Austin.  Upon completing that contract and marrying my wife of 30 years, I accepted a full-time position at Fairchild Aircraft in San Antonio.  At Fairchild, I had my first exposure to Corporate Aircraft, as I was hired to develop Corporate Interior Maintenance Manual Supplements for corporate completions of five Saab-Fairchild SF340 Aircraft.

  The Texas economy at the time seemed to be an obstacle to my success.  I left Fairchild Aircraft just before the company folded amid slumping sales and an embezzlement scandal.  I then went to work for Eagle Bus Company in Brownsville, TX as a contract technical illustrator.  As my contract was running out there, that company went bankrupt.  My wife and I were interested in moving to North Carolina.  I found an employment opportunity through the Greenboro newspaper.  I was offered a position at Triad International Maintenance Corporation (TIMCO) in Greensboro, North Carolina.  TIMCO, a startup aircraft maintenance and repair facility, moved our family to Greensboro.  I worked at TIMCO for 7-1/2 years as a Technical Illustrator, Technical Publisher, Engineering Designer and Macintosh System Administrator.  While at TIMCO, I learned AutoCAD, a skill that has served me very well over the years.  

  After leaving TIMCO, I went to work for Endura Products in Greensboro, a manufacturer of home exterior door components.  I received a certification in AutoDesk Mechanical Desktop (a 3D modeling CAD application) after taking a training course in that software.  While at Endura, I developed product price lists, catalogs and marketing materials as well as developing a number of manufacturing and specifications databases using FileMaker Pro.  These databases are used extensively throughout the company to this day.

  After leaving Endura Products, I was hired as the Engineering Manager for Matthews Specialty Vehicles in Greensboro.  Due to some financial and personnel upheaval within the company, and largely due to the fact that 9/11 occurred within one month of my taking this position, I found myself unemployed within six months.

  Fortunately, I had been building strong relationships with some local companies by working for them as a freelance technical illustrator since arriving in Greensboro.  One of my clients had dropped off a large commerical dishwasher in my garage for me to illustrate.  Up to that time, I had not had much time to work on it, but that suddenly changed.  I completed CAD-accurate isometric exploded views of that entire dishwasher.  That job was crucial in enabling me to convert my part-time freelancing into a full-time, home-based business.  Starting a home-based business and abandoning those secure weekly paychecks is not for the faint of heart, but I successfully made the leap to self-employment at that time.

  Over the past 34 years, I have built my home-based business, called TechArt Media, by developing technical illustrations for a wide variety of clients.  My main clients have been in the automotive, aerospace, industrial dishwasher and home construction product fields.  However, I have done miscellaneous technical illustrations of many different products.

  As it turned out, I was able to use my comprehensive skill set, including experience that I gained during my short tenure at Matthews Specialty Vehicles, to land a large project developing mechanical engineering of interior and structural components for the first dedicated Homeland Security Vehicle in 2005.  This vehicle, developed for Lafayette Parish, Louisiana, was built on a high-end Prevost Road Bus.

As the economy slowed around 2009, business for TechArt Media also slowed down. So I took a contract Technical Illustrator position working on UH60 Special Mission helicopters for L3 Communications in Lexington, KY. After that contract ended, I came back home to Greensboro.

I was fortunate enough to have Honda Aircraft Company base their new manufacturing operations in my home town of Greensboro. I was able to acquire employment with the company and start up a Technical Illustration component of their newly formed Technical Publications Group. I remained with Honda Aircraft for almost 13 years before retiring from the company in November of 2023.

I was then hired by RCM Technologies of Parsippany, NJ for a full-time, work-from-home job - working on Sikorsky military helicopters. However, the contract that I was hired to work on was not ultimately acquired by the company. So I was laid off due to there being more illustrators than work. So I have started up my home-based business again.

  TechArt Media has established itself as a reliable source for technical illustration products, as well as for a variety of related products and services.   Please enjoy my comprehensive TechArt Media Web Site.  Feel free to contact me if I may be of service in any way!

Hunter Harrison
TechArt Media