Hello!
Although I currently live in Kansas City, MO, my roots run deep in a tiny, rural town in southwestern Kansas, where my family homesteaded at the dawn of the state’s existence. Growing up in a place with very little in the way of commercially-organized entertainment mandated some serious creativity, and at least a couple of hobbies to keep you out of trouble (idle hands and whatnot). From a very early age I developed a fondness for drawing. As I grew, so did my skills.
Art had always played a role in my life and I wanted it to continue to do so for the rest of it. My first interest in graphic design started when I designed a graphic for a friend’s band in high school. I loved the purpose-driven utility of graphic design, and how my creative talents could help people I care about achieve their own goals. So when it came time to strike out on my own, I decided to pursue a career in graphic design.
While attending college I got my feet wet in marketing and graphic design in a professional setting as a marketing assistant for the Texas Tech University Press, an academic book publisher. In my senior year I gained my first freelance client when I won a logo design competition for the Badass Mountain Music Festival located in Cloudcroft, NM. It was the beginning of a relationship that I still enjoy to this day. Now, post-graduation I have gained an intimate knowledge of print technology from working in a commercial print shop, as well as in-house branding and packaging experience while working at St. Clair Winery.
In a way, my goal when designing today is the same as when I first learned what graphic design was back in high school: to use my creative talents to help people I care about achieve their goals. Except now, the people I care about have been expanded to include my clients and employers.