{"id":6992,"date":"2017-12-07T07:00:05","date_gmt":"2017-12-07T13:00:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/?p=6992"},"modified":"2017-12-06T14:07:33","modified_gmt":"2017-12-06T20:07:33","slug":"killer-designer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bestofswla.com\/2017\/12\/07\/killer-designer\/","title":{"rendered":"Killer Designer"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lifelong Learner Chad Moreno Has Carved Out Several Niches In The Computer Design Business<\/i><\/strong><\/p>\n

By Brad Goins<\/em><\/p>\n

A Lake Charles native, Chad Moreno was a \u201c\u201970s and \u201880s kid.\u2019\u201d That means he grew up in the time of Atari, The Commodores and 360 PCs.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Some of the portfolio of Killer Websites<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

His love of computer games eventually evolved into attempts to put computers together. He built them by consulting with friends and looking for parts in the massive computer parts magazines published at the time. (Some of these he got from his father, who was, Moreno says, \u201ca super computer guy.\u201d)<\/p>\n

Although he did get some computer instruction in school, Moreno was largely self-taught in the knowledge that enabled him to become the Lake Area\u2019s killer web designer.<\/p>\n

His computer-oriented businesses whose names begin with the word \u201cKiller\u201d began in the early 1990s, when Moreno started charging for his computer repairs. This was the era of Dell and Gateway, and the demand \u201cwas keeping me fairly busy,\u201d says Moreno. What he couldn\u2019t pay for with his repair work, Moreno funded with jobs at KPLC-TV and Players Casino.<\/p>\n

In his early years of computer work, Moreno recalls, \u201ceverything was done by modem.\u201d Everything was \u201ctrial and error \u2014 figuring it out.\u201d<\/p>\n

He knew he wanted to go into a computer business for himself, but determined not to do so until he was able to pay for health insurance for himself and his wife Kim. When he reached that threshold, he started his business in his trailer near Nelson Street and created the website shopswla.com. He was assisted by Kim, who has worked with him to this day.<\/p>\n

Moreno decided to go with the design end of the computer business. It was, he says, \u201cless research-intensive.\u201d He could do it anywhere. And he didn\u2019t have to drive all over town looking for parts.<\/p>\n

But for many in the Lake Area, website design was unknown terrain in the 1990s. \u201cThe internet was so new, no one knew what a website was … People \u201cweren\u2019t sure how to use\u201d a website. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t a necessity for them …<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything was static web pages … Back then, everything [on a website] was built on one page … There wasn\u2019t a lot of commerce [on websites] …\u201d<\/p>\n

Learning about websites and how to design them \u201cwas also an educational process for us. I think that\u2019s why I loved it so much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Showing People What They\u2019re Missing<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Some of the portfolio of Killer Dye and Killer Photography<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

He and Kim were \u201cbasically selling websites\u201d \u2014 first to friends, then to clients. Moreno hoped that shopswla.com would function as an \u201conline mall\u201d where potential clients would look to see what websites others had and, as a result, decide they wanted one for themselves.<\/p>\n

\u201c[I thought], \u2018I\u2019ve got to sell something to someone who doesn\u2019t know what it is,\u2019\u201d says Moreno. \u201cShopswla was to show people what they were missing.\u201d<\/p>\n

At this time, Moreno was working from 10 pm to 6 am at Players. When he got off, he went home and saw what he needed to do for his business. He usually turned in at 2 or 3 pm.<\/p>\n

Although marketing would eventually become a feature of Moreno\u2019s business, his marketing of his business at the time was strictly DIY. He saturated the area with posters for his business that he stapled onto telephone poles. \u201cWe were just hitting the pavement.\u201d He says that even up to the present, \u201cour business has always been a word of mouth type of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

The Moreno family moved to a house in Oak Park and business was good. Perhaps a little too good. When the couple\u2019s second daughter came along, Kim pointed out how many clients and employees were going through and hanging around the house. It was time to move the business out of the home.<\/p>\n

In 2001, the Moreno\u2019s business \u2014 now nearly a decade old \u2014 moved to the Common Street office it still occupies. It was incorporated under the name of Datasys, another feature that remains intact in 2017.<\/p>\n

One day, when Moreno was looking though PC magazines at Books-A-Million, he saw the headline \u201cCreating Killer Websites.\u201d With that, he had the name of this first Datasys enterprise \u2014 Killer Websites.<\/p>\n

\u2018We Didn\u2019t Have Any Idea What We Were Doing\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

As the business grew, it became clear it would have to branch out in new directions. Clients were demanding promotional materials that bore their company\u2019s logo. But when Moreno asked for a copy of the logo, too often he was given a shoddy looking image that had been faxed or repeatedly photocopied. Moreno was obliged to remake the logo on a computer, often using skills he\u2019d learned from his mother, who\u2019d long used the computer design program CorelDRAW to create the designs she used in her cake decorating business.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Moreno’s Common St. office in 2001<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As this design work went on, Moreno eventually obtained a full-color printer. Soon he was applying his regenerated logos to clients\u2019 business cards and brochures and giving them the pop of full color.<\/p>\n

But clients also wanted T-shirts. Once again, Moreno was faced with the process of learning about a facet of design from the ground up.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t have any idea what we were doing,\u201d he recalls. The acquisition of a direct-to-garment printer that used full color; textile ink; and digital printing was a great help. \u201cWe weren\u2019t limited by colors.\u201d<\/p>\n

Because his printer enabled him to print one shirt at a time, Moreno promoted his business as print on order. A client could order a shirt one day; on the next day, Moreno would print and mail it.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Moreno’s office now<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Moreno studied the pre-treatment process for various shirt materials. He went through three direct-to-garment printers. He also obtained a direct-to-vinyl printer, which enabled him to print sports shirts and similar items.<\/p>\n

He thought, \u201cI\u2019m ready for this to be right.\u201d And indeed, he says, \u201cThings have gotten better. We made it work.\u201d<\/p>\n

It wound up becoming Moreno\u2019s next big business \u2014 Killer Dye.<\/p>\n

Today Killer Dye often creates \u201cspirit store sites\u201d for schools. \u201cSchools love that,\u201d says Moreno. Teachers can ask for a shirt one day; the next day, Moreno can give the number of shirts requested to the teacher, who takes it from there.<\/p>\n

With his versatile printers, Moreno made other promotional products, such as banners and bottle labels. His printers are versatile and state-of-the art. But they aren\u2019t huge. Moreno doesn\u2019t want to run the gamut of promotional products.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re not a sign shop,\u201d he says. \u201cI didn\u2019t want to become a full sign shop.\u201d What he did want to do was become knowledgeable enough in the field to be able to give his clients good, solid advice about T-shirts.<\/p>\n

Lakecharles.com<\/b><\/p>\n

As the years passed, more Datasys projects developed. One was lakecharles.com.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Moreno was familiar with the internet domain. It was owned by a friend who\u2019d once lived in Sulphur, where he\u2019d been a \u201cdomain hoarder\u201d in the 1990s, buying internet domains then selling them \u2014 at greatly increased prices \u2014 to those who wanted to use them.<\/p>\n

Moreno already owned the domain Overclocking.com. (\u201cOverclocking\u201d is a term that means increasing the speed at which one\u2019s computer runs.) Moreno proposed that the two friends swap domains. Lakecharles.com was now Moreno\u2019s to do with as he pleased.<\/p>\n

What Moreno wanted to do was make the site a source of information about the Lake Area.<\/p>\n

Lakecharles.com has never become very \u201cmonetized.\u201d Moreno thinks that the right person could generate a lot of revenue with the site. But as happy as he is to learn about new facets of design, Moreno has no desire whatsoever to learn about the world of sales. He won\u2019t be the one to make a bundle off lakecharles.com. At present, lakecharles.com remains what it has always been \u2014 an informational site about things local.<\/p>\n

Killer Photography<\/b><\/p>\n

There was one more Datasys project to come \u2014 Killer Photography. It grew out of Moreno\u2019s desire to get more material for lakecharles.com. Moreno, who\u2019s spent
\nmuch of life playing in bands, thought it might be a good idea to post photographs of bands playing in local venues.<\/p>\n

He bought a camera and put out some feelers to Golden Nugget. Soon he was in the front row of the casino\u2019s venues during performers\u2019 first three songs, and taking pictures to his heart\u2019s content.<\/p>\n

Moreno, who\u2019s \u201calways taken pictures of all sorts of people,\u201d says that his photography is still a hobby, \u201cbut [now] I can do it and get paid for it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Of his recent photographic work, Moreno says, \u201cI\u2019ve got a different style. I\u2019m an urban, outdoors, events person.\u201d It may be quite a while before you see a wedding or high school graduation shot with Moreno\u2019s name on it.<\/p>\n

\u2018Self Education<\/b>\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n

You don\u2019t have to be a genius to figure out that Moreno loves learning for the sake of learning.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou don\u2019t know what you know until you have to know it,\u201d he says. The process of self-education has never lost its appeal for him. \u201cI like it. There\u2019s always something new.\u201d<\/p>\n

Fortunately, in this case, the long process of learning has paid off in material terms. \u201cBecause we got in so early, and we\u2019ve done the amount of work we\u2019ve done, people know who we are. We\u2019ve outlived a lot of companies.\u201d<\/p>\n

Has all this self-education in a variety of fields made Moreno into some sort of tech guru? That\u2019s not quite how he sees it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve done this so long. I wouldn\u2019t say I\u2019m great at any one thing. I\u2019ve had to do all sorts of things.\u201d But, he is careful to emphasize, \u201cI do know some stuff.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Lifelong Learner Chad Moreno Has Carved Out Several Niches In The Computer Design Business By Brad Goins A Lake Charles native, Chad Moreno was a \u201c\u201970s and \u201880s kid.\u2019\u201d That means he grew up in the time of Atari, The Commodores and 360 PCs. 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