From Microsoft Paint to Limelight Media: Where It Really Started

Recently, I came across something that genuinely made me smile.

The very first graphic I ever designed.

It was created using a 3D text maker and Microsoft Paint, sometime around 2000/01. The little figures were scanned in to my computer and ripped off of an English workbook from school... painstakingly cut out and placed on the canvas. (There was only 1 CTRL+Z... so if a mistake was made you had no chance!)

I was about 14 years old, volunteering at a kids club our church ran called Go-Kidz. For reasons I couldn't fully explain, I decided it needed a logo. Not just a typed heading. Not WordArt. A 'proper' identity. At 14, I couldn’t have articulated why that mattered. I didn’t know the language of marketing, brand identity, digital engagement or content strategy.

But I knew this: It mattered.

The Instinct Before the Skill

Looking back at that little pixelated design, I can see something that’s been consistent throughout my life and career. Even then, I instinctively understood that how something looks affects how it’s perceived.

That Go-Kidz logo wasn’t just teenage creativity. It was the beginning of a professional mindset.

It was the first time I thought:

“This deserves to look intentional.”

That thought is at the core of what we do at Limelight Media today.

When we design a website, produce a video, build a brand identity or develop a content strategy, we’re doing the same thing I was trying to do at 14:

Taking something meaningful and helping it look as strong, clear and confident as it actually is.

From Pixelated Beginnings to Professional Delivery

The tools have changed. I’ve moved on from Microsoft Paint (thankfully). Now it’s professional camera systems, industry-grade editing suites, strategic web builds and structured content & marketing campaigns.

But the core hasn’t changed. I still believe that If something is worth doing, it’s worth presenting well.

Why This Still Matters

I share this because sometimes the earliest signs of calling don’t look impressive.

They look pixelated. They look amateur. They look small. But they matter.

What started as a 14-year-old experimenting in Microsoft Paint became:

• A career in content and marketing

• A passion for branding and communication

• A company dedicated to helping organisations show up professionally

Limelight Media didn’t appear out of nowhere.

It grew from years of caring about how things look, feel and communicate.

And apparently… that started with a kids club logo in a community centre in 2000.

Sometimes your origin story isn’t dramatic.

Sometimes it’s pixelated.

But it counts.