Location: Portland, OR (United States)

Profile Last Updated: September 09, 2008

Member Since: February 26, 2007

User Type: Design Professional

Disciplines: Graphic Design, Environmental Design, Illustration

Tags: graphic, illustration, packaging, ads, logo, brand

Occupation: Graphic Designer at Critical Path Software

School: Pacific Northwest College of Art '2008

2nd School: Linn-Benton Community College '2005

Description: I attended Linn-Benton Community College in Albany, OR for 4 years. I recieved an AAS degree in Graphic Design (3 year program) and one in Digital Imaging & Prepress Technology (2 year program). I had small internships here and there throughout the 4 years, including being apart of the marketing team for the college bookstore, and Ad Manager for the college paper. intern at NoDinx, a small design group that does a lot of screen printing, and also President of the Visual Arts Club. I transfered to PNCA in the Fall of 05, and only finished one semester before I was offered an internship opportunity for 6 months in Orlando, FL working in Communications for Walt Disney World Resort. After only a couple months they moved me into the in-house creative group “The Agency”. Where I was able to work one on one with real “Disney” and freelance graphic designers. They asked me to extend my internship for another 2 months until Fall term 06 started. I accepted and was able to help with the implementation of the Pirates of the Carribean movie & ride re-opening by creating a full center spread for The Eyes & Ears, a company wide newsletter informing employees about the release of the movie and re-opening of the beloved classic ride. I learned so much from the team I worked with and grew a great networking relationship with them. I also had the opportunity to meet Bob Iger (CEO of Walt Disney Co.) and Al Weiss (President of Walt Disney Theme Parks & Resorts) several times. After being back home in Portland for only 2 weeks, The Agency called me and offered me a remote contracting position as a production artist. I gladly accepted! So with that and some other freelance work including illustration & design work for a friends band, I’m a barista at a little coffee shack on Foster Rd in SE Portland. This is a rough of my “so-called” artist statement. It’s not good, and I need to either fix it or just decide that I’m not an “artist” I’m a designer and I don’t need a statement to make my point. As a graphic designer, working with people and solving design problems is one of my passions. I enjoy meeting people and learning about them and their potential projects. Exploring new and interesting ways to approach these ideas, and ending up with an outcome that gives my clients what they desire. Ideally giving them a different look from others in their industry. I bring a versatille approach and many skills to the design process with the use of different types of media. I use a computer for a lot of digital design work, including the final piece. But I like to start out everything by hand, it allows me to explore some other ideas. I combine the use of illustration with design. It allows me to bring more to design through my love of illustration. I do illustrations with all types of media. Whether I use pen and ink, colored pencils, markers, pastels, pencil, or even oil on masonite it adds something to my work that brings it to life with the more organic movement of an artist. My love for art and life is highly reflected in my work when I can apply it. My style can allow viewers to enjoy my design and illustration work as more than the sum of its parts.

Looking For: Friends, Networking

Interests: Art, Design, Sports, Music, Shopping, Movies, Friends, Outdoors, and Life

Favorite TV Shows:Grey's Anatomy, Heroes, The Hills, Real World, The Colbert Report, Desperate Housewives, Sarah Silverman Show, American Idol, Comedy Central Presents, South Park, The Simpsons, The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air, Pee-Wee's Playhouse, etc.

Favorite Music: OK Go, The Muse, Snow Patrol, The Postal Service, Aerosmith, Run DMC, Elvis, All American Rejcects, The Black Eyed Peas, etc.

Favorite Movies: The Labyrinth, Every Will Farrell movie, Every Ben Stiller movie, almost every Owen Wilson movie, and of course...Every Disney/Pixar film.

Favorite Books: The Cheese Monkeys, Wicked, Maximalism, Mag Art, What is Graphic Design?, Design Literacy, All-American Ads, The Book of Tiki, The Tipping Point, and Sudoku books.

Quote: "Both optimists and pessimists contribute to our society. The optimist invents the airplane and the pessimist the parachute." --Gil Stern