Bot Roda is a Lancaster born freelance illustrator and cartoonist working out of a studio in his home in Lancaster, PA which he shares with his wife, Joanne. They have two children, daughter Kate and son Zachary.

After service in the Navy and graduation from York Academy of Arts he worked at a Baltimore package design studio for a year before being hired by Lancaster based Godfrey Advertising as an art director/illustrator. Bot provided Godfrey’s clients with original and stylized humorous illustrations for use in the clients’ ads and marketing materials, while at the same time polishing his skills and developing the many styles he’s become known for.  Some of this work went on to garner industry recognition through a national Cleo award nomination and several ADDY awards from the Central PA Association of Advertising Agencies. He was also a finalist in the New York Society of Illustrators national juried humor show. The decision to pursue his dream of being self-employed led him to part amiably with his friends at Godfrey.

Bot’s assignments since then have originated from sources that include corporations, ad agencies, design studios, web designers, book and magazine publishers, theme parks, major league sports teams,  and businesses large and small. Clients include the American Red Cross; AT&T; Delaware Solid Waste Authority; Coldwell Banker; Conrail; GTE; Independence Blue Cross/Pa Blue Shield; McGraw Hill; National Safety Council, Pepsi; Prentiss Hall;  Rohm & Haas; Smith Kline Beecham; Times Mirror Magazines; UGI Corporation; University of Pennsylvania; Wolters Kluwer Health; Wyeth-Aherst Labs and Zerox.

Bot’s also illustrated media guide and program covers for the following professional sports teams: New York Yankees; Baltimore Orioles; Atlanta Braves; Boston Celtics; Utah Jazz; Phoenix Suns; Los Angeles Lakers and Philadelphia Flyers.

When not at his drawing table or working on his Apple Power Mac computer Roda’s hobbies include reading military history and current events, playing ice hockey several times a week  as a goaltender,  computers and playing online computer games. His former hobby as a Civil War re-enactor led him to be hired as a storyboard artist in 1992 by Ron Maxwell, the director for the Turner Pictures feature film “Gettysburg”, and Maxwell utilized his talents again for storyboards for his 2001 prequel “Gods & Generals” which was released February 2003.