About Me
In a Nutshell
Graduated with an Art Degree, focus in Multimedia in 2000. Been fully employed since then with little downtime. Produced A LOT of work in that time, only the best of which is shown here. Focused in web and interactive, but can do a bit of everything. Currently working as Manager of Graphic Design and Electronic Media for a medical device company in Carlsbad, CA.
The Real Deal
I've been working in web almost as long as there has been a web. In 2000 I achieved my Bachelor's in Art with a multimedia option from California State University Hayward in Northern California. Unfortunately, with digital media still being a relatively new idea back then, especially in terms of web design, I didn't get as much from my schooling as I felt I should have. I graduated just before the dot-bomb (the end of the dot com era). We were in high demand back then and I was quickly scooped up by an award winning design firm called S4i based in Mountain View, California.
It was there that my real training began. School had not really prepared me for the real world, and I was thrown into a sink or swim environment. My first day they sat me at a computer and didn't really explain what exactly I was supposed to do. Eventually I figured out that I was drawing icons that day. After a year and half with S4i, the economy tanked. I was laid off, but not before learning some solid design and layout principles. Since then I have been cultivating those skills primarily in web and interactive, as well as a little print and 3D along the way.
Currently I am employed as Manager of Graphic Design and Electronic Media for a thriving and rapidly growing medical device company in Carlsbad, CA. I maintain the corporate identity, graphic standards and website, all while creating new 3D images for the huge volume of printed literature we produce. I also maintain a few smaller sites on a freelance basis.
Where it all started
I was born and raised in Southern California. Redlands to be exact. I've always been a creative and odd person, kind of a dork actually. If you've ever seen the movie Toy Story you've already met me. I was that kid, Sid. Yep, I cut apart toys and made them into CYBORGS! I didn't quite take it to the level of Sid, but close. I usually shot up my GIJOE's with a BB gun then repaired their missing limbs with strands of wire formed into cybernetic limbs. It was great fun...and maybe a bit disturbing. Somewhere in that swirl of nostalgia I began building models. I started with simple models from the package, but then I became more ambitious and set out to create from scratch. Eventually someone said, "Why don't you build models for a living?" and I thought, You know what... I could.
After testing the waters with model making on two films, I decided it may not be a smart move to pursue it any further. At the time I understood 3D animation and even though my mentor, Jack Sessums (God rest his soul) insisted that CGI would never replace real, actual models, I knew better. It's a good thing too, because everything I envisioned has turned out to be true. CGI is cheaper than ever, easier and more realistic. Modelmakers are a dying breed and I would have invested in a career with no future. Bleak outlook/attitude? No, just realistic with some decent foresight.
Anyway, pursuing modelmaking is what led me to Northern California (which I like to call NoCal because it's nowhere near as cool as SoCal). I moved up there originally to attend CSUH and I wanted to be close to LucasARTS as I wanted to apply for an internship with them for modelmaking. I didn't get it.... And over the course of my college experience I came to the frightening realization that they weren't teaching us anything. My real education began when I joined the team at S4i. They gave me the foundation which I still stand on today. When the dot com bubble burst in 2001 I was 'let go'. I took my skills and headed, well sideways.
In May 2008 I moved back to Southern California. I lived in Orange County for a while before making the move to San Diego. Learning to surf was always a dream of mine and last August I finally bought a board and wetsuit. I was a bit nervous because I'd heard so much about stingrays, but I bit the bullet and took the plunge. I've been out almost every weekend since and I can't get enough. I'm still pretty rough around the edges, but I am getting it ever so slowly.