DESIGN
PHILOSPHY
NYC04 - LA07 - DC12 - STL15
I have been working in the Graphic Design industry since 2003. I currently work as the Design Director at St. Louis magazine as well as an Adjunct Professor at the Missouri School of Journalism. I also have experience working with SAVEUR Magazine, AFAR Magazine, The Book Designers, The Missouri Historical Society, Washingtonian magazine, San Diego magazine, The Hollywood Reporter, Los Angeles magazine, and Honolulu magazine.
A great professor once said, “graphic designers are problem solvers,” and I find more and more each day how accurate his lesson was. No matter what the problem may be, a graphic designer should be able to produce a relevant, logical, interesting, and intellectual solution. Anything less would make said professor “barf, and go blind.”
Graphic Design is not a thing, rather it’s a process, an idea, a message that hones the fundamentals of graphic design such as: The Gestalt Theory (The sum of the whole is greater than its parts), Verbal + Visual = Message, and the 3 factors that define a relevant and logical solution (1. the nature of the problem 2. the audience 3. the functional parameters). Good design comes from extensive research and great attention to detail, and it always contains a solid intellectual concept. Bad design, on the other hand, as our professor so eloquently put it, “should be nuked with the whales.”
Our professor’s last words of encouragement were blunt: “now go out there, create world-class graphic design, and knock the world on it’s ass.” And so, as a world-class graphic designer, this is my challenge and goal. With each new problem I solve, I must find a way to catch the world off guard, I must find a way to disrupt it’s balance, and then with one mighty blow, send it plummeting onto its rear end.
AWARDS & RECOGNITIONA great professor once said, “graphic designers are problem solvers,” and I find more and more each day how accurate his lesson was. No matter what the problem may be, a graphic designer should be able to produce a relevant, logical, interesting, and intellectual solution. Anything less would make said professor “barf, and go blind.”
Graphic Design is not a thing, rather it’s a process, an idea, a message that hones the fundamentals of graphic design such as: The Gestalt Theory (The sum of the whole is greater than its parts), Verbal + Visual = Message, and the 3 factors that define a relevant and logical solution (1. the nature of the problem 2. the audience 3. the functional parameters). Good design comes from extensive research and great attention to detail, and it always contains a solid intellectual concept. Bad design, on the other hand, as our professor so eloquently put it, “should be nuked with the whales.”
Our professor’s last words of encouragement were blunt: “now go out there, create world-class graphic design, and knock the world on it’s ass.” And so, as a world-class graphic designer, this is my challenge and goal. With each new problem I solve, I must find a way to catch the world off guard, I must find a way to disrupt it’s balance, and then with one mighty blow, send it plummeting onto its rear end.
City & Regional Magazine Association
Designer of the Year 2021, 2019
City & Regional Magazine Association
Designer of the Year (Finalist) 2020, 2018, 2016
City & Regional Magazine Association
Cover Excellence (Finalist) 2021, 2020
City & Regional Magazine Association
Excellence in Design (Finalist) 2021
City & Regional Magazine Association
Feature Design 2023, 2021, 2019, 2016
City & Regional Magazine Association
Feature Design (Finalist) 2018, 2016
City & Regional Magazine Association
Spread Design 2022
City & Regional Magazine Association
Spread Design (Finalist) 2022, 2020, 2019, 2016
Great Plains Journalism Award
Magazine Page Design Portfolio 2021
Great Plains Journalism Award
Magazine Cover 2021
Great Plains Journalism Award
Magazine Cover (Finalist) 2019, 2016
Great Plains Journalism Award
Magazine Page Design 2021, 2019
Great Plains Journalism Award
Magazine Page Design (Finalist) 2019, 2016
Society of Publication Designers
SPD59 Chair
Society of Publication Designers
Medal Finalist
Design: Feature, Service, Story
SPD58
Society of Publication Designers
Medal Finalist
Design: Feature, Profile, Non-Celebrity, Spread
SPD57
Society of Publication Designers
Medal Finalist
Design: Feature, Lifestyle, Travel, Food, Shelter, Story
SPD57
Society of Publication Designers
Medal Finalist
Design: Feature, Service, Story
SPD56
Society of Publication Designers
Medal Finalist
Typography: Cover
SPD56
Society of Publication Designers
Design Merit
SPD58, SPD57, SPD56, SPD55, SPD54, SPD51, SPD48
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