Thank you so much for taking the time to understand a bit more about me. To start, I’m a nerdy guy from the sweaty suburbs of the American south. I’m a full time dog lover, part-time wanna-be rockstar and the type of person that enjoys vinyl more for the packaging than for the audio fidelity.
I enjoy strong coffee and strategic thinking. I enjoy them most when they’re together. I believe that advertising and marketing can and should be used for good but comparatively speaking, rarely are. I believe that data privacy is a human right and that informed consent is one of the most pressing but least discussed issues in the field. And I want to change that.
Now here’s everything else you need to know about who I am in 200 words or less. I believe that cleverness is good, but authenticity is better. I believe that design cannot be good design if it doesn’t solve a problem. I can’t not create. I think double negatives are meh. I think double standards are worse. I think rescue dogs often have more interesting stories than most politicians. I think punk rock is an approach to life, not a genre of music. My favorite band of all time changes periodically. I fancy myself a song writer rather than a musician, instruments are just tools to bring the idea to life. I like to screenprint. But only for fun. I don’t eat a lot of meat. I do drink a lot of coffee. I’m wildly opinionated but hope you are too (even though you’re probably wrong). The “why” is both what keeps me up at night and what helps me sleep. I’m up by 4AM every day and use that time to care for mind, body and spirit. I believe that caring for mind, body and spirit is a key component in being creative. I believe that understanding the difference between objectivity and subjectivity (and when it matters) is exceptionally important. I also love cherries.
Now that you know the “who”, on to the reason you’re actually here – the “what” and the “why." I’m an art director, designer, photographer, and creative strategist and as I alluded to above, I am these things because I have to be. I have to create. I have to take in what others have created. I have to collaborate. It’s in my make-up. Whether it was with a local start up or a global brand, the most rewarding moments of my career have never been about the quality of the work, but the quality of the people I’ve worked with. Fortunately, working with talented people that are also motivated by making great work means that quality rarely comes into question.
To quote author Chuck Palahnuik from his book Diary, “the goal isn’t to live forever, the goal is to create something that will.”
