My career in art and design began at an early age. I was actually an award-winning cartoonist for our high school newspaper (back when we actually had newspapers.)
After high school in southern California, I earned my Associates of Art degree at Saddleback College. I then transferred to California State University at Long Beach. I graduated with a Bachelor’s Degree in Art with a minor in marketing.
My first paid design position was as a Graphic Designer at a company that sold cosmetics. Actually, they sold opportunity. They were a multi-level marketing organization, very similar to an Avon, or Mary Kay. It was a very fast paced environment with new product introductions and events every quarter. These had several marketing efforts behind them and that lead to lots of design opportunities.
From there I went to work for a photographer as his Art Director. He was looking to grow his offerings to his current and new clients, moving more into print and digital offerings.
My wife was then accepted into her Master’s program, and we relocated to the Chicago area.
I went to work as a Senior Art Director at an integrated marketing communications agency that focused primarily on B2B clients. My vertical market was technology companies such as Panasonic, Motorola and Philips.
We returned to California and began our family. I took a position as a Packaging Designer for Canon and worked with their in-store marketing team as part of the Consumer Imaging Group.
I then went to work for Experian as a Design Manager, leading a small team of designers and writers as we worked on brand integrations for the credit products we offered.
From there I went to work for an agency as Creative Director and built up a team that served the downtown San Diego real estate developments as well as celebrity clients and others.
With the birth of our second child, I transitioned to my own agency where I first started working with HP as a contract worker. We were still living in San Diego and it was a great opportunity.
I then went to work for an orthotics company as Senior Art Director. It was here that I began work in user testing and user-centered design. I launched retail products for mass markets in Costco and other warehouse stores.
To provide for our family, we then relocated to Northern Colorado and currently enjoy the fresh air and space.
I then was able to start another contract position at HP, which happened to be across the street from our new home.
When HP split into HP Enterprise an HP Inc., the contract positions were eliminated and I decided to work on other things.
I was lucky enough to start teaching design at Digital Workshop Center. I became an Adobe Certified Instructor and achieved several Adobe Expert certifications. This was a great experience, and is something I still do to this day. I love teaching user-centered design and design thinking to students who are picking up new skills or new careers.
In early 2019 I was contacted by some previous colleagues at HP and they asked me to rejoin as a User Experience Lead for a team they were building in Fort Collins. This is where I work today. The team I work for focuses mostly on consumer facing applications, partnering with hardware enablement and third party offers.