Experience
Internet and new media are my primary focuses. Print and photography are also areas I routinely work in, often blending the three together to meet a clients needs.
Currently, I do double duty as a private freelancer and also as the Creative Director for DeGauss Interactive Technology. DeGauss and I have been working together since 1998.
In the past I have also done the following:
- Lead Developer and mentor for two years to a boutique ad agency.
- Contracted to one of the nations top ten largest independent advertising agencies for fourteen weeks, filling a critical gap while they restructured.
- Information Architect for a major trade publication company, responsible for several prominent web properties.
- Interactive Designer with another ad agency ranked in the top 30 US interactive agencies, serving multiple Fortune 500 clients.
- Creative Director for niche development company, overseeing all creative aspects of projects.
- Art Director for smaller ad agency serving local clients.
- Digital Prepress Internship with leading mid-west printing company.
Education
I began "serving time" in Pittsburg, KS. Highlights included attending Pittsburg Middle School - PMS, which really looks like a prison. I wrapped up at Liberty Senior High, where I graduated as "Joe average". However, I did take away a strong interest in architecture and design.
I went on to Northwest Missouri State to knock out the basics for architecture. I then made an important realization; math wasn't nearly as fun as drawing. So it was back to KC and three more years at the Kansas City Art Institute. Which is how I ended up being a designer. On my own accord, I saw this Internet thing and decided I needed to know as much as possible about it. So I have been teaching myself as much as can get my hands on.
Over the years I have spent literally thousands of hours researching and refining my skills as a designer and developer. I am not your ordinary creative person; I love knowing what makes things tick and solving problems. Therefore, I get much deeper into the design than most, it isn't just about pretty images and winning awards. Behind every design there is a problem that needs solved.
I believe that understanding the mechanics of things helps me provide better solutions. So not only do I have first hand experience around printing presses, but I also can build a web server from the ground up!