Professional and personal background
Resume:
Background
I cut my teeth in Minneapolis working as a designer, art director, and
web developer at big time (and small time) agencies, as a
freelancer, and in-house at big companies you know.
Once we had our fill of Midwest winters, we packed our bags for Portland, Oregon where I hung up my shingle as DROPKICK. No shortage of variety — websites big and small, logos, print stuff, illustration, you name it.
Since 2008, I’ve also been with Sandstrom Partners, first as a senior developer and designer, now digital director. Some real magic happens here. If it’s headed for the web, I’ll have my hands in it. Usually up to my elbows.
In addition to the regular work, I’ve been a featured speaker on typography in web design at Adobe MAX in LA, led popular digital design workshops for AIGA in Portland and Los Angeles, and did a stint teaching Interactive Design at Brainco School of Advertising + Design in Minneapolis.
Outside the Office
I spend my time making art (mostly paintings and collage), drinking far too much coffee, running, reading, cooking, gardening, beating on drums, strangling guitars, blowing horns, banging around on bicycles, motorcycles, and skateboards, and hiking around the Pacific NW with my amazing wife and Otto T. Dog.
Confessions, interesting and/or disturbing facts
I grew up in a funeral home, owned a car wash, was a clown in a traveling 2-ring circus, and have played in bands from Bluegrass to Hardcore.
I’ve worked as a Music Director, Newscaster and DJ in radio markets mostly in the Midwest. I still do occasional voiceover work, but my radio endeavors have been strictly non-commercial for a long time.
I had parachute pants in the 80s, a pretty solid mullet (once), and my first car was a mighty El Camino Conquista.
About this site
This site is a place to present some of my work and resume to potential employers, collaborators, and partners.
It’s built with HTML, CSS, a dash of javascript, a handful of fonts from the Freight Collection, and a little TLC.
Tools & Skills
Things I’m asked about most frequently. Get in touch to see if I’m a good fit for your needs.
| level of mastery | graphic |
|---|---|
| familiar | |
| functional | |
| competent | |
| proficient | |
| expert |
| Tool | Mastery (1-5) |
|---|---|
| CSS | |
| Git, SVN | |
| Gulp, Grunt, Rake, Yarn | |
| HTML | |
| JavaScript/Typescript | |
| Node.js | |
| PHP | |
| Perl | |
| Python | |
| Ruby, Rails | |
| SASS, SCSS, LESS | |
| SEO, SEM | |
| SQL | |
| SVG | |
| WCAG, a11y, Sec. 508 | |
| XML, JSON, YML |
| Tool | Mastery (1-5) |
|---|---|
| Adobe Photoshop | |
| Adobe Illustrator | |
| Adobe InDesign | |
| Adobe Xd | |
| Figma | |
| Procreate | |
| QuarkXPress | |
| Adobe Premiere Pro | |
| Final Cut Pro | |
| Adobe After Effects | |
| Adobe Premiere | |
| Adobe Animate | |
| Apache, NGINX | |
| Docker, VirtualBox | |
| Kubernetes | |
| AWS, Azure, DO, GCP | |
| Adobe Audition | |
| Pro Tools |
A longer version of some of the things I do.
Design
- Web Design, UX Design, Interface Design — From concept to code, I strive for clear design with usability in mind. UX isn’t relegated to the web browser. With each new online community or media platform comes opportunity for message to move, with people connected in new ways all the time.
- Identity and Brand — Brand is a solid foundation upon which great design stands. Define the brand and you're almost there. Stay true to the core values, personality, and promises that shape the brand through something tangible and memorable and you're home free. I'm comfortable defining and designing complete identity systems as well as working within existing brand specifications.
- Collateral Design — Advertising, business cards, stationery, sales sheets, media kits, brochures, posters, flyers, newsletters...they all support marketing and promotion efforts. Thoughtful design and execution can be the difference between successful marketing and throwing actual money into a figurative hole.
- Package Design — From an eye-catching label on this year’s Pinot Noir to the cardboard box it ships in, packaging is the front line of retail sales. Its execution can be as simple as a restaurant’s takeout containers and bags, but it’s strength lies in reinforcing the brand experience in charming and unexpected ways.
Web Development
I try to select tools and implementations suited to the task at hand rather than being dogmatic about frameworks or platforms. The range of scales and scope I deal with regularly demands flexibility and adaptability.
With loads of experience in both design and development, I can integrate smoothly into teams, bridging communication between disciplines across every phase of a project.
- CMS, Content Management — I’m very familiar with WordPress and use it often as a CMS for wide range of applications. I usually use TWIG on top of Timber with heavy use of custom fields and post types. That said, I’m using others more frequently. Craft CMS, Prismic, and even Drupal have been finding their way into projects lately.
- Static Site Generators (SSGs) & Frameworks — I find SSGs bring a nice amount of structure and efficiency to development and deployment. I use a fair amount of Jekyll and a lot of Astro, especially when there’s no specific need for a traditional CMS.
- eCommerce — Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento, and niche platforms like Snipcart each have their strengths. Shopify’s third-party integrations and included features frequently make it my go-to, with its performance and reliability often justifying its higher account and hosting costs.
- HTML — I advocate for standards-based, progressively enhanced HTML to ensure accessibility, usability, and compatibility across devices. I keep the presentation layer distinct from HTML and favor simple components over frameworks whenever possible.
- CSS — CSS is a powerful, often overlooked area for building efficiency, functionality, and speed. My approach varies by project but always aims to maintain clear separation from the presentation layer. Generally, I prefer modular SASS for building styles to pre-built frameworks like Tailwind.
- JavaScript — I prefer vanilla JS for simplicity, though I still turn to jQuery for quick, effective solutions where it fits or already exists. Dependencies can introduce risk, so I add them with appropriate caution.
- PHP — I’ve worked with PHP since its earliest versions, sometimes building from scratch but often finding the structure and features of frameworks like Laravel or Symfony worth the overhead.
- Perl — My first “real” server-side language, now used less frequently as PHP and Python have become my mainstays. Perl remains helpful in select situations.
- Ruby & Ruby on Rails — My experience here is mostly exploratory. While Ruby isn’t my primary language, I’m comfortable troubleshooting or making adjustments when needed.
- SQL — I don't consider myself a SQL expert, but I can readily get to and update the data I need and work kinks out of problem queries. Let’s call it proficient.
- SEO — I incorporate SEO best practices naturally through well-written HTML and architecture. Black-hat techniques rarely justify the effort, so I stick to clean code, solid structure, and proven best practices.