The Marco’s Pita logo.
I met Marco “Blue” Johnson in early 1994. This was right after Dallas Austin dropped Yall So Stupid from Rowdy Records. I was spending a lot of time developing my skills as an artist… and I linked up with Menelik, Karl Injex and Wayne Briggs. They had formed a multimedia company and enlisted me as an illustrator. We were working on everything from clothing designs to brochures. One day, a collective of cats from DC had come through the doors. Their team was called 2620 and was spearheaded by Kenny Burns. Each member had their own aspirations but they rolled as a single unit. I remember there being so many of them that I couldn’t remember their names. It didn’t matter in the beginning because, Kenny did most of the talking. But as they secured themselves in Atlanta, I began to see who they were.
Marco Blue was one of their members and he spoke the least of them all. He was the last person in 2620 to tell me what he had planned. “I’ma open this Pita shop H and I want you to do my logo. I’m gittin’ all of the permits and licenses together as we speak!” He laid out every detail involved but, I wanted to know what he thought visually. “Just do what you do man, I like your work and I know you can hook me up… just make that shit fly!!”
.
A few weeks later I finished his logo. It was hand-drawn and inked on 360 Paper. I gave it to Blue and to my surprise, there were no changes to be made. “You got me lookin RIGHT!! I love this shit and I’m bout to do this for real!” …from that day forward, he did just that. The store opened, he weathered the slow times and he saw his hard work pay off. In the following years he expanded the chain and opened a second location. He also did well with recruiting his staff, whom also used the shop for their services. Jax of Binkis Rec’s, Dj Mars and Dj Drama all worked there and sold their CD’s.
Marco interviewed by Brandi Pettijohn
Along with the growth of Marco’s Pita, came the transformation of the original drawing. I’d given it to him in clean black ink and that was the last time I ever saw it. I ran into Blue one day and he pulled me to side and said, “look at what i did to your logo!” He’d added color to it and I remember saying to myself, “that’s different!” It was obvious that the original had seen its share of low-res scans. But Blue was excited about it and that was all that mattered to me.
I can’t say that I would’ve picked that same color combination… and I’m not sure if I’d have used the one that I’m using now, back then. But after 16-years of progress, I’d say this touch-up was well overdue. There’s one more interesting encounter I had with Blue about this logo. Two years after i gave it to him we were in a club and he asked me, “why does the guy have ear plugs on?? Everybody keeps asking me that!!” I leaned over to him and said, “cuz he aint tryn’a hear nothin’ but them pitas!”
Photos appear courtesy of Marco “Blue” Johnson.
Videos appear courtesy of DirtyTV and Brandi Pettijohn.
.
The word is... aint no one dying over spilled ink!
This is real dope brah. Never knew the story. Appreciate and the update is BANGIN’!! FANG!!! Perfect colors to me. And the grill piece is mean as ever! HAAAAAAAAA! Nuff respect H. You inspired my style like a motha! HAAA!
Tons of thanks my brotha! I think you and I subliminally travel the same creative roads. From artwork to music and all the feel-good in between. Re-drawing this logo’s been on my mind since i started using Illustrator. But you know how we artists do, we hate to draw shit twice, lol!
WOW!!! I never knew the whole story behind the Marcos Pita logo either. Never knew what the ear plugs were about.
Also never knew why money only has one eye, what’s the science behind that?
So Glad you shared this story though. That’s one of my favorite spots to eat at. I just ate there earlier this week as matter of fact.
I used to go in there and drop off flyers and Be out. One day either Marco or Marvel asked why how come I never get nothing to eat, and I said, I don’t like Pitas. They hooked up something fresh just for me, a grilled chicken style pita wrap that was Jamming! I’ve been getting my eat on there since.
What would happen if the Pita Man, Oh.G.Fro, and Billy Binkis collabed? Things that make you go hmmmmm.
Thanks for sharing this story H.
ya know something Kaos, you’re the first person to notice the mistake and actually say something about it! He had two visible eyes in the pencil sketch… but while i was inking it, some of the lines were too thick and I messed up that eye in the process. So i covered it up in all-black to hide it cuz I’d come too far to start over. And to think, I almost got away with it, lol! Props to you for that one.
You might have been one of the catalysts for putting the grilled chicken wrap on the menu. Cuz I remember walking in there one day and all of a sudden it being a choice. If that’s the case, Blue needs to name it after you and shoot a commercial for it. Marco’s Señor Style Pita, what!!
If the Pita Man, Oh.G.Fro and Billy Binkis collabed? That shit would raise hell like Run-DMC!!
NIIIIICCCCCCEEEEEEE!!!!!!! Love to hear the origin of joints
Me too fam… and we’re still alive so we can tell em. Just think of all the artists who never got the chance to say their piece. And also think of the ones who are still here and never say anything at all. This is history from your era.
Yo! that collabo would be crazy. Like others have mentioned I never heard the story either; good to get back stories like this keep that history alive.
I’m trying big bro! Not about to be erased by this over-dubbing generation. The foundation still stands!
Dope, ran into him the other day and mentioned that u did the back story. That logo is an institution kid. You know I still have a bunch of flyers from back in the day with your work…..”Freaky Situations” indeed.
Big Spekt, many thanks for the upfront push on that my man. I saw Blue re-post it on his FB page and that’s prolly after you saw him. This logo is a representation of his ambition and without that, it’d be just another design that I never saw again. There’s so many that I could seriously write a book about it.
Good to hear you kept up with the “Freaky Situations” as well. After the third one, the strip clubs started censoring Spearhead X and his team. Magic City told him he couldn’t put their name on them anymore, lol!
DOOOOOPPE!! man this is phenomenal. the story makes it all the more fresher!
Thanks my G! Almost everything that’s happened in Atlanta can be traced to someone you know.
Its funny….for years, I looked at that logo, and said to myself. That looks like something my boi H, would do! and what ten years later….I see that you did create it! love ya work….I wish I would have listened to you waaaaay back in the Art Institute…instead of wasted my money….sigh!
I’ll tell you what’s funny… me and you were in art school together and all you wanted to talk about was some music shit, lol. You abandoned the arts like none of that ever happened… and all you had to do was stay widdit. I bet you’re sittin on a whole bunch of work right now and just came to my site to mess with me!
I have an idea for a website, and I need to find some skilled web developers and designers. What are the best websites to post my wireframes and mockups, so that developers and designers can bid on the project?.