About
A little background info
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I spent most of my life avoiding a design career.
I wanted to be an archaeologist, or an astronaut. Around the time I turned 13 I thought I'd settle for life as a rockstar. Every time I wound up in an art class, I enjoyed it (and usually fared pretty well), but never took it too seriously.
This included my college experience. I went all the way through Grand Valley State University's ad/PR program thinking I was going to be the guy ~writing~ the ads. When it came time for an internship, my only option was to take on the sole designer role at a small print shop.
2015
For anyone looking to build valuable experience as a young designer, I can't think of a better way to do it. Back-of-house at an old school print shop teaches the value of learning the process, and balancing form with function and outside constraints. Front-of-house at a small business means you're a one-person agency, and you take walk-ins. Your clients have the smallest budgets, highest barriers against trust, and (sometimes) the harshest opinions. It's like working for a Facebook comment section.
2018
I thought I was out.
Through a network of friends in the cycling community, I caught wind about an opening at the local wheel factory. The position was running the shipping department, which meant a lot of repetitive box packing. Packing boxes was paying as much as making business cards, so I welcomed the shake-up.
Turns out I loved it. I deeply enjoyed the opportunity to develop my perspectives on process efficiency. I was a Buddhist monk, completing each task in the allotted time and executing with the precision of a master artisan. But then that one thing.
2020
For some pretty obvious reasons, there was another shake-up. Remember those uncertain times? Being in the cycling industry around then actually meant an extreme boom. After assisting some marketing efforts from the shipping department, I switched lanes completely and became the marketing director.
They pulled me back in.
The marketing director job wasn't exactly strategy and execution. By the time I could kickoff some fresh brand guidelines, we were so far behind on production I spent most of my time working on the line and answering phones. Sometimes, the best marketing is just delivering on the promises you've already made.
2021
I loved the company and what they stood for. I still do. But just when I was getting burned out, I got the exciting offer to become guy #2 in a two-guy freelance company. The ideas were big, the meetings were fun, and things were looking bright for a few months. But the work dried up.
2022
I spent a long time looking for a job that would fit right. My breadth of experiences and talent for mental plate-spinning made me a strong candidate for agency life, and that's where I landed. It's a tightrope walk. It's a fire drill. High quality, under stress, under budget, on time. It's perfect.
Present
I'm still here in agency life. Looking forward, I'm focusing on expanding my skill set. I'd love to grow as an illustrator, get comfortable with animation work and use today's low/no-code tools to cross over into dev world a little more. Outside of work, I'm usually on the couch with my girlfriend, Abby, and our cat, Sausage. I also enjoy writing songs, rebuilding bikes, cooking new recipes, and repairing old electronics.