512 Designs was founded in 1990 by me (Mike Martin) and my wife Loretta in Pittsburgh Pennsylvania. After purchasing a VHS video camera for fun, I videotaped my first wedding for a friend that I worked with. Right off the bat, I seemed to have an eye for taking great shots and editing them into a fun and memorable video. This is when Loretta and I decided to start our own video business called 512 Designs.
After a few years of growing that business, we added photography to our service and we’re now satisfying our customers who need video, photography or both. No matter what we’re shooting, we make it a fun experience and try to liven the mood with some laughter and jokes….and yes…some of them are bad. But at the end of the day, you’ll remember having a great time during the shoot and after you receive your photos or video.
Our business now includes our son David as a second video shooter and our daughter Alexis who is a second photographer. She also does most of our photo retouching. So you can definitely say it’s a family business.
So where did the name 512 Designs come from? Well, Ferrari’s are my favorite super cars…especially the older ones. I’d love to own a 308 GTS some day, but I also like the Ferrari 512…which includes the Testarossa. So we chose 512 as the number since it looks better as a design element and is also easier to pronounce as a company name. And now you know 🙂