I
was born in Brooklyn, raised in East New York and Canarsie. I attended Public Schools, Brooklyn College, and received a Bachelor's of Science in Architecture from City College. For the next 17 years I worked for architectural firms in New York City. In my spare time I continued to work on my own projects, which included designing and building stained glass windows and furniture, as well as drawing. Ira's Peripheral Visions was officially launched in 1983. With only a minimal investment of cash, I wanted to start my own business and to generate enough money to support my desire to do intricate pen and ink drawings. I was living in the Park Slope section of Brooklyn at the time. In the early 80's there were many more small independent greeting card stores. I showed my drawings to the local
merchants who owned these stores. Alan, the owner of the Windmill Greeting Card Shop, suggested there was an untapped market for note cards with neighborhood scenes. I did two drawings, each of a scene from the neighborhood. I had them printed and I sold them to the Windmill Shop. The cards sold well. It was so rewarding. I was
getting paid to provide the type of drawings that I enjoyed doing. I did more drawings and sold cards to the other greeting card stores in the neighborhood. I spread out to other neighborhoods in Brooklyn including Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens and Windsor Terrace. I did drawings of different areas of Manhattan and sold to stores in those areas too. My
father retired. He came to work for me. He walked the streets of the City, showed my cards to buyers and got orders. He also took inventory at the stores where our cards were placed, and he received reorders. I continued adding new cards and new products. When we began selling Christmas Cards, things really took off. That taught me the most important lesson about this business. That is, if you have a product that people really want, they will find you.
Over the past five years we have increased the range of products we offer. We have gone from prints of black and white drawing to full color images. We have taken over the printing process ourselves, in house, with the aid of computers, computer programs, and laser printers. We offer many custom products including custom cards, invitations, birth
announcements and business cards. We can personalize any of our products to meet our customer's specific needs. We've also begun selling gifts, such as decorated light switch covers, refrigerator magnets, and coffee mugs. The World Wide Web has increased our popularity and our business tremendously. It has allowed us to introduce ourselves and our
products to the entire world without ever leaving our studios. | 
