Ed Dwornik recalls:

Jeff and I met when I was 19 years old and working in a silk screen shop. The Eastern Rainbow Factory was my first job in the printing business. I had just finished a stint of vagabonding that was considered a rite of passage for many of us in the mid 70's. The two owners of the Eastern Rainbow Factory, Robert and Denny, were barely 5 feet tall. When I was hired, Denny commented that I didn't look like much, but at least (at 6'5") I could reach things on the high shelves.

They started me at $50.00 per week. My main duty was cleaning silk screens out using a blast of mineral spirits from a garden hose. The shop was a poorly heated, unairconditioned, toxic waste dump of a commercial space. We worked 18 hour days in the summer printing T-shirts, and sat around, drank and froze most of the winter.

Jeffrey (Jeff Durham) was interested in photography and printing and had taken some classes at the University. (Jeff is still a great photographer.) Denny had come up with the idea of sending a "print shop in a truck" to events to produce shirts on the spot. Jeff became The Eastern Rainbow Factory's man on the street, working on the mobile T-shirt shop. Aside from the Brandywine Arts Festival, the most popular events for the mobile T-shirt factory were things called "Van Truck-ins." These were bizarre gatherings of customized vans that had been painstakingly converted into pleasure palaces on wheels, equipped with huge stereos, bars, weird lighting (presumably to set the mood!) and miles of ultra plush, brightly colored shag carpet. The Truck-ins featured contests, vendors, lots of drinking and some great stage shows. (Ask Jeff about the great stage shows!)

Jeff's times at the Van Truck-ins helped to shape his world view, filled his mind with unforgettable images and simply put, scarred him for life. Because Jeff was an outside man at The Eastern Rainbow Factory and I was an inside man, I had little contact with him at work. What cemented our friendship was the happy accident of moving into houses on main street in Newark, DE right next door to each other. We shared friends, the basic staples of life, and lots of good times.

After moving on from the silk screen shop I moved into offset printing, where I worked in the dark room and stripping area, the bindery and maintenance, and eventually I became an account rep.

I saw the turnaround times for printed projects grow shorter and shorter. As computers became the main engines of the graphic arts business, I began to manage more and more of the design and typesetting for my clients printed projects. It all seemed to take the projects from start to finish.

I the meantime, Jeffrey had gone out West and was running copy shops at military bases and then at Kinko's. It was an exciting time in the copy business and Jeff proved to be one of the top in his field.

Jeff and I saw each other on occasion and always seemed to be able to pick up were we left off. Jeff ended up running the Kinko's in Cherry Hill. I visited the store several times. I was blown away by the volume of work and the energy of the staff. Jeff had started in the store by himself and in 6 years built a 3.8 million-dollar-a-year business. As computer imaging and graphic design migrated from printing into the copy business Jeff and his staff were on the cutting edge. Jeff's operation was a massive engine for business communications.

I saw the three business, copying, printing and graphic design, converging.

Jeff's success, dedication and aggressive work ethic caught the eye of some of the newly emerging management intelligentsia at Kinko's. They of course FIRED HIM!

At this time, I was a key account rep working with a design studio. Jeff, after trying to get some key Kinko's managers to do a start up with him, resorted to his Rolodex. When he reached the "Dw's" I got a call.

"Ed, this is Jeff Durham, I got fired from Kinko's. Would you be interested in going into business with me?"

"Yeah, I'll do that."

Jeff was taken back. I think he wanted to sell me on the Idea. He was sure I was yanking his cord.

"Ed, I'm serious, I really what to do this."

I cupped the phone and addressed my wife, Carol, "Honey, I'm going into business with Jeff Durham."

Carol, who had known Jeff since middle school said, "Well, OK."

Back on with Jeff, I said, "I'm ready to go."

Jeff called 10 minuets later, still convinced I was kidding. He called and hour or so after that. He called the next morning.

7 weeks later we were in business. Aztec offered what Jeff and I call "project management." It is the implementation of printing, design, copying and all forms of digital imaging to communicate our clients' ideas and information. Tell us what your need done, convince us you will pay for it and we will do it for you.

Ed Dwornik & Jeff Durham