In my elementary school, everyone played soccer or basketball. I was embarrassingly bad at both, which did not bode well for my popularity. The beauty you see above is not a self-portrait, but a painting I made for a grade-wide art competition—that won first place! They called me up in front of the whole assembly, handed me a plaque and some art supplies, and suddenly I had a thing. It was kind of a big deal, at least for me.
That moment kicked off a lifelong love of creating. I wanted to grow up to be an artist (“graphic designers” didn’t really exist in the ‘90s). As my interests evolved, so did the industry, and eventually I landed here.
Why does this matter? Because that early interest in creating art influenced my trajectory. It’s probably why I minored in Illustration, why I still like starting projects with a pencil and paper, and why my work tends to lean a little more conceptual, a little more hands-on. It all adds up to the way I approach design today, and to my own, slightly offbeat brand of creativity.
Turns out being bad at sports was just a long-term career move.
Ok, that one actually is me. On a good hair day.
In a world increasingly shaped by AI, I like to think I bring a very human element to the table. I use the tools, but there are things they can’t replicate. It took me a while to find my style, and even longer to trust that it belonged in my professional work. You’ll see pieces of it throughout my projects, adapted to whatever design problem is in front of me.