For nine years, visual design has been my passion and focus. Tell me your high-level goals and I’ll self-organize and make them happen. I have a tremendously wide skill set, making me a valuable player and a team gap-filler at critical times. I keep my finger on the pulse of the design world: I have borderline compulsive lists of design and photography references on sites like Dribbble and Creattica. I've managed teams of highly motivated creative people who are smarter than I am, and I keep them focused and motivated. My goal is always the same: deliver you soul-stirring designs while unifying and improving your brand.
I have a strong foundation in UX design. When you're faced with a long feature list and tons of content, I'll help you scope out the project: we'll define your user, prioritize the most common use cases, and then map out the site structure. Then I'll convert our site map into wireframes, drawing from common UX design patterns and best practices. When we launch the site, I'll use analytics and surveys to measure success and target areas for improvement. This includes tools like Google Analytics, Usertesting.com, and PollDaddy.
Although I’m not a developer, I have a head for programming and working with developers. My passion stems from a desire to bring my interfaces to life -- it's about the experience, not the code. I'm comfortable building UIs in HTML/jQuery, Wordpress, Flash, and video games. I'm cool with dynamic data, AJAX, and traversing JSON.
I also test my interfaces rigorously to make sure they’re compatible with all browsers. I develop on a Mac with a XAMPP server for testing locally, and I use VMware with a Windows 7 virtual machine for testing Windows browsers.
My passion for photography continues to be a huge asset: my clients always need headshots, product photos, and event coverage—and my ability to create this footage sets me apart from most designers. I own Canon DSLRs, flashes, light stands, umbrellas, and a whole lot of accessories. Check out my photography section to see what I can do.
I’ve edited product highlight reels and created special effects for short films. I have expert After Effects skills, including leveraging expressions to link assets in powerful ways. In addition, I’m a capable videographer, and I’m comfortable planning and executing video shoots using DSLR-based rigs with shotgun and lavalier mics.
While I'm not a 3D specialist, I can produce beautiful 3D graphics in 3ds Max. For example, I can quickly create a 3D logo treatment that would be difficult or impossible to do in Photoshop. From there, it's a snap to render footage for a poster or a video. If you have a bigger project up your sleeve, no problem -- I have phone numbers of a handful of specialized 3D artists who can jump in and help out.
I've created several Wordpress sites. I understand Wordpress's PHP underpinnings, so I know how to tweak things or go totally custom in order to get what I want. But more importantly I've learned to respect existing code libraries and leverage them to maximum effect. This provides maximum development speed while still keeping your site safe to upgrade and edit.
I’m American-born, but grew up overseas—I didn’t live in the US until age 16. I’m fluent in Spanish. I’m pretty good at piano, guitar, and trombone, too. I have a passion for nature photography, hiking, and national parks. And I have a weakness for Great Dane puppies and $5 games on Steam.
Bachelor of Arts, Graphic Design
University of Notre Dame
South Bend, Indiana