For me, design isn't a hobby or a job. Instead, it's been a core element of my human experience. Traveling cross-country, working across many sectors, and meeting some of the most fabulous people on Earth, have all greatly influenced how I look at the world around me, and continues to do so to this day. From my childhood home in the beautiful  Shawnee National Forest with its rolling green hills, learning to catch a wave in the Sydney Harbor, to the spectacular grape skins of Napa Valley vines, or even the twisted metal, cement, and moody lights of Berliner Diskotheken, finding cohesion in the chaos of color, shape, light, sound and human culture has always been a consistent fascination for me.

 

My journey into design was not always obvious to me, but choosing to make the move to San Fransisco opened my eyes to possibilities I had only dreamed of. I quickly gained a close circle of friends who were all makers and doers just as myself, yet as time began to pass, I was still the one working that 9 to 5 job. I was constantly being inspired and amazed by my peers as I watched them work.  They were doing and making, creating wonderful things and sharing input, and always being a part of an amazing team. I lamented the fact that I lacked the ability to create for myself. I was tired of thinking, "I wish I could do something like that!", I knew I wanted in.

 

Thinking back to school and the steady flow of both art and music in my life. From learning to play piano by ear to conquering any art contest I could, I decided to pick up Photoshop just to test my hand at Modern Technology - and it worked. I was right back in my element, almost where I left off, and knew I had to push further. I enrolled in a design course and off I went.

 

Currently, I focus primarily on web design and user interaction. Those 9 to 5's weren't in vain - learning what people wanted, what made them happy or frustrated, what they focused on, and what I could do to make their experience better - were all part of the job of working in a user-centric field. As technology evolves, so does how we interact with it. Marrying these two aspects of my career -  human behavior, something I'm very familiar with, and user experience by way of interface design - has given me a unique opportunity to create something amazing.