Shane Townley, born in 1972 Ithaca, NY, grew up in the beautiful town of San Clemente spending most of his time as a kid surfing the San Clemente Pier in perfect 70-degree SoCal weather. Years later, Kurt Cobain had just died and Townley, depressed, was painting in his garage when a close artist friend urged him to attend graphic design school, a place where he felt would further develop his creativity. It was in 1994, while attending the Platt School of Art & Design that Townley was actually asked to leave the school for creating personal works of art in defiance of the designated educational curriculum. 

Since then, Townley has worked for several commercial newspaper and magazine publications, where he felt that, as a designer, his artwork was a tool for corporate waste.