Creative Profession:
Graphic & Web Designer
Job:
Interactive Director, Foundry Collective
Co-founder, Commonwealth
Short bio:
I’m a proud Oklahoman, born and raised in the small town of Harrah in Mid-Eastern Oklahoma, and attended college at Oklahoma Christian University. I am engaged to be married in 4 weeks to the beautiful Annie Waters. I have a derpy black lab named Lulu. I create experiences on the web.
1. How did you come to Oklahoma City? And more importantly, why do you stay?
I’m a native Okie. When the time came to find a place to settle and live, it was a no brainer. Why would I want to leave the place I’ve loved since I can remember? Why would I want to leave one of the most up and coming cities in the U.S.? Sure, OKC has a lot of work left to do, but if every passionate person leaves, then nothing will get accomplished.
2. Who was your greatest mentor?
I don’t know if I can narrow it down to one. I’ve had many mentors in my life, teaching me about business, design, people, God, and life itself. I would be nowhere without those whom have poured into my life in every aspect, not just design. That being said, I am very thankful for all that I’ve learned at Foundry from Papa Scott (Hill). I’d still be using Museo Slab on every project if it weren’t for him.
3. Which project are you most proud of? Please explain why?
Such a hard one to say. I always try and find something out of all of my projects to be proud of, otherwise you go crazy. If I had to pick though, I guess it’d be the Emporium Pies site.
For Emporium Pies, we really wanted to put the focus on the pies themselves, while reinforcing the brand. Thus, we came up with a very simple site that focused on the beautiful pie photos shot by the illustrious Paul Wilkes. They were a great client, and I was able to dive into the experience from A-Z and was even able to build out a custom pie-ordering system that tied into the brand and wasn’t a pain to use.
4. What is one thing other creatives can learn your biggest success and/or failure?
Oh man oh man. I’ve made a ton of failures. I seem to learn best from falling flat on my face for some reason. One of the biggest things I’ve learned is to value yourself and value your work, even if others don’t. I hate when people sell themselves short of what they’re worth, either by what they charge clients or by what they think they’re capable of. The slight juxtaposition of that, is don’t value your work too much—don’t let your work be your identity. I’ve seen or heard of people going mad trying to obtain fame or be the “best” designer. There will always be a designer better than you, but it doesn’t mean you’re the worst.
5. If you could play a game with any creative in the community, what would it be and whom would you play against?
Goldeneye 007 for N64 with Tim Krause. Duh. Though I’ve been meaning to test out Joel Schierloh’s claimed tennis “skills.”
6. What is one thing you would change about your job or profession?
I think most creatives would say “clients,” but then of course we’d be out of a job. I’ve had a lot of good experiences in my current job, but there are a few things I would change in the industry itself. It seems that so many in our industry have given up on good design to pursue money, power, fame, etc.; in return their work suffers and their employees suffer. No designer should hate their job—it’s one of the greatest jobs in the world if done correctly.
7. What is your best source of inspiration?
Life experiences, mostly. I try to keep a catalogue of things I like or dislike when I use other websites, products, or other objects. As weird as it sounds, I draw inspiration from logic. Most of the work I’m most proud of is when I think “it’d be nice if…” and then do that. Most of the time users or clients don’t notice those things, they think “it just works.” That’s the point.
