A Brief Introduction

I was born in Racine, Wisconsin early on a foggy Monday morning in October. Some years later, my parents relocated to a small city in Ohio. For eighteen years Napoleon, Ohio was home. Napoleon was a pleasant place to live, though it was never a good fit for me. Art and technology, the two things that interested me the most, were largely absent from the small town culture that surrounded me.

In 2003, I moved to Bowling Green, Ohio to attend Bowling Green State University. I studied graphic design and visual communication technology. The design program taught me how to conceptualize and appreciate the aesthetics of high design, while the visual communication technology program grounded me in the actual production of design (preparing artwork for pre-press, the physical printing processes used on-press, etc.)

Bowling Green was a much better fit for me, but it wasn’t enough. In 2006, I moved to Chicago, IL to intern as an art director at an advertising agency.

I had no experience in advertising, but I jumped in headfirst. The other interns had studied for three or four years at their schools to prepare for their internship, but I hadn’t taken a single class or read any books on the subject. To compensate, I spent every free evening at the library reading books on advertising, copywriting, marketing, and art direction, took assignments home, and worked feverishly to get caught up to speed.

In less than three months, I secured full-time employment as an art director at Chicago-based agency.

Four years later, I now live in Saint Louis, MO. Though I no longer live in Chicago, I still work for the same agency as a senior art director/user experience designer.