When I started developing websites as a hobby in 1997, I knew that I had found my passion. After my early beginnings as the 13-year-old Webmaster of a rock band fan site, I have since shifted my focus to open-source technology and intuitive design principals. I currently work as a web designer at Emmis Interactive, a web consulting and development company in located Chicago, IL. Although strictly geek by day, I also enjoy running, fast cars, baseball, traveling and cooking.
In 1997, at the age of 13, I founded Grunger's Corner, a fan site dedicated to 90’s rock legends, Nirvana. During the five years the site was online; it received acclaim by both former band members and by popular music magazines such as NME and Hit Parader, alike. In 2001, I decided to offer freelance web development services to local companies in and around my hometown and Dark Crimson Productions was born.
While attending Western Michigan University, I worked for several area companies, including WMU, developing web applications in PHP. After graduating with a BBA in E-Business Design in 2006, I moved to Chicago where I currently live and work as a web designer at Emmis Interactive. In recent projects, I have been focused on open-source frameworks, Semantic XHTML with jQuery and a few large and small scale Content Management Systems.
After college, counselors and advisors told me I had to pick a discipline: Design, Development or Business. I couldn't decide.
Since the late 1990s I have worked on projects in industries including Automotive, Healthcare, Higher Education, Hospitality and Law, to name a few. Over this time, I have had the opportunity to work with many different technologies across the spectrum. After originally learning ASP.NET in college, I have, in recent years, shifted focus towards PHP and have been working with software packages and frameworks such as: Code Igniter, Drupal and Wordpress. Although technically a PHP developer by day, I have deep roots in XHTML and CSS as well as Photoshop, Illustrator and Flash. To see some of my work, visit the Portfolio, or if you have any questions on what I do, have done or can do, feel free to contact me.
I have never watched a full episode of Star Trek, I have a general dislike for lasers, far-fetched space ships and video games not involving big guns or fast cars. It's safe to say that I am not the stereotypical computer geek.
Spending an average of 10-15 hours a day on a computer, I certainly do my fair share of reading up on the latest gadgets, design trends and social news stories but I also try to make the best of the remaining hours away from the warming glow of the monitors.
I enjoy watching baseball (go White Sox!) and participate in rec. softball, run 5k and 10k events and occasionally, a Marathon. Growing up in a family of restaurateurs, I am naturally a "foodie" and love to try (and sometimes cook) new and interesting foods. I also enjoy traveling to new places to learn about different cultures which often serves as a source of inspiration for my design work.
