Give me a beat.

I’m a fan of the beauty borne of sweat equity and unlimited imagination. My approach to good design hits on the highest points of Deiter Rams, DIY, idea fomenting, juggling risk and reward, and revolves around anything with a beat you can dance to. I’m equal parts admirer and creator, paying homage to the traditional and hard-won, but ready to roll up sleeves and dirty my hands. My past arms me with respect for concrete goals, real business needs, timeframes, deadlines and audiences. My present and future dictate that I dig deeper, learn, adapt, and demand more of myself than anyone else could.

I seek to be part of the next group that views greatness as the starting point for improvement, not merely the endgame. I track technological tidbits and trends across multiple platforms and draw deep inspiration from artists working with pixels as well as the ones who paved the way with gesso and horse-hair; marble and chisel. An attention to detail, dogged persistence and fixation on the “hows and whys” have allowed me to develop a wide and varied skillset. My strengths lie in planning and executing the interactive user experience, from wireframes to graphic stunners. I thrive on the challenge of taming the wild, one Safari (or Mozilla) at a time.

Let's talk. I am happy to discuss my fit for your next project or available position.

history »

Take it from the top.

Born in Manchester, England, I displayed an early independent zest for discovery and invention. When the time came to move to the States, I eventually landed in West Texas, where a close-knit community and superlative educational system helped lift me to my greatest academic and extracurricular potential, earning multiple awards in Theater, Athletics and Interscholastics along the way. Upon completing high school, I moved to Austin to attend the University of Texas for four years before discovering a penchant for graphic and industrial design and was soon devoted to exploring the processes of bringing my own visions to life.

With the roots of the web more firmly anchoring my personal and professional life, I began to teach myself multimedia solutions and steadily became the go-to guy for a growing population of digital needs. Eager to rise and respond to each and every new challenge, I never told anyone I couldn't do what they asked. After years of worshipping at the almighty altar of skill-building, I became the in-house designer for the marketing branch of a national luxury tile company. Wearing many hats, I rarely did the same thing twice.

I have recently adopted Philadelphia as my new home. It promises to serve as an ideal hotbed for discovery, pushing my creativity in new and unexpected directions.

« present inspiration »

Desert island discs.

I feel it's only fitting to give credit where credit is due, and to briefly wax poetic on the path I've followed and the breadcrumbs pocketed along the way. My digital journey began nearly a decade ago, with Joe Burns' html tutorials, but it wasn't until seeing jQuery - first in the form of Lightbox - running amuck in all its glory that my interest in the medium was reignited. While my appreciation of Web 2.0 has grown faster than my ability to code it, I value few things more than elegantly ordered styles, accessibility, standards-compliance and new tricks of the trade. Here are some notable sources of inspiration, information and guidance:

About this page’s aesthetic origins: When I came upon the work of late Bay Area artist, Paul Wonner, I immediately felt his style would be right at home on the web. The marriage of formal simplicity and unique visual identity fit perfectly with my blueprint for this portfolio project, while the stylized shadows - with marked lack of penumbra - lend a welcome reprieve from the existing trend in web design.

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