I, like many people, have ended up as the sum of my parents in a lot of ways. My mom and dad represent both sides of the traditional “left brain/right brain” sort of thinking, and I think of myself as a pretty even split.
Graphic design ended up being a natural extension of my personality; right brain aesthetics and creativity married to left brain structure and organization. My value as a designer comes from being able to speak both languages fluently and create work that is beautiful and solution-focused.
Frank Chimero wrote a very apt analogy for that concept:
I am for a design that’s like vanilla ice cream: simple and sweet, plain without being austere. It should be a base for more indulgent experiences on the occasions they are needed, like adding chocolate chips and cookie dough. Yet these special occasions are rare. A good vanilla ice cream is usually enough.
Frank Chimero, “Plainness and sweetness”, 2017
I went to school to study journalism and ended up finding design during my junior year. Since then, I’ve worked for a live-event production company, a digital design and development agency, and a research/consulting firm. The last company was Forrester, where I spent the last 7 years of my career growing from an associate level design to managing a team of 5 designers within the Consulting division. I feel that my time at Forrester most accurately tells the story of where I’m at in my career, so I wrote a lot more about my time there.
Outside of design, I play a lot of guitar (mostly Fenders) and spend a lot of time eating cheap food (mostly Taco Bell) with friends. I got married to my best friend (Emily) in 2015, we adopted a dog (Indy) in 2017, we had a son (Wesley) in 2019, and we had a daughter (Elle) in 2022.