OUR STORY

When I was 5 years old, my parents took me to Badger Raceway in Dousman, WI to watch some kart races. My family was hugely into motorsports and as a result, so was I. It wasn't until I was 11 though, that I'd get a shot at it myself when my parents bought me my first kart. That was 10 years ago, and I'm still in love with the sport. I've won local, regional, and national championships and have gotten to travel all over the country and make a ton of great friends. Those friends were my first client base.

In high school I was voted "Most Artistic", probably because I spent most of my days in the art rooms and the graphic design lab (the art supply closet that had 2 laptops in it). Here's where my initial career as a designer took shape. By 17, I was designing logos, advertisements, and more for small local businesses, fellow kart racers, and friends in the motorsports industry. After graduating high school, I went to Madison Area Technical College to get my degree in graphic design. About the same time, I started to consider the possibility of me painting helmets. I already had done tons of designs for myself and friends, and it seemed the perfect way to combine my love of art and design with auto racing. So after some research, I had purchased my first spray gun, airbrush, and paint.

Before too long, I had painted my old karting helmet, and although it wasn't the prettiest, I had done it myself and a certain amount of pride came with that. People started asking me about the paint job; who did it, how much it was... And just like that, I decided to take it to the next level and begin painting helmets as my job.

Since that first helmet, I've learned a ton and continue to do so each and every day. I strive to constantly improve and get better with each lid. A lot of time, effort, research, blood (dropping X-Acto blades), sweat, and tears (real men cry too, just rarely) has gone into this, and these days the helmets Oktane Visual is cranking out are a lot prettier. We've become one of the top helmet painters in the Midwest and I hope that we continue to grow. In the end, producing an awesome-looking piece of art is what makes everything worth it. Seeing the look on the customers face when they pull the freshly painted helmet out of the box is what it's all about.

-T.J. Koyen