Artist’s Design Fits Carnival to a ‘T’

Dave High acknowledges he isn’t much of a businessman.

Doesn’t matter. The Simi Valley artist, who says he would be bored punching the clock at a regular job, lets business take care of itself.

“I am more of an artist than I am a businessman,” said High, a T-shirt designer. “I don’t look at the clock.”

The former cartoon animator, who owns a sportswear manufacturing firm, designed the T-shirts that will be used for the upcoming Simi Valley Days parade and festival that gets underway next month.

In years past, High’s T-shirt designs have included images of a Chumash Indian peering over a lush Simi Valley from atop a mountain, a colorful carnival scene and an Art Deco style shirt that featured the city’s Cultural Arts Center.

This year, the T-shirt will feature a jolly couple cruising down the Ronald Reagan Freeway in a red convertible on their way to the carnival.

High’s T-shirts are popular at the annual carnival, said Jo Ann Macek, director for Simi Valley Days.

“He does a great T-shirt,” she said. “His artwork is really good and colorful.”

For the first time this year, High will make his shirts available to local nonprofit groups to sell at booths at the carnival and festival.