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About Me

Call me Angel (like in English, it's OK). I'm a designer in the windy city which I have called home for over three decades, give or take a few years.


Design is a journey

As a kid, I was always drawing; I still have some drawings on notebook paper from back then. I started my design journey in college before smartphones were a thing. Then, my journey as a design professional really got going during the twilight years of newspaper.

Digital Graphics

I tried ClarisDraw on a Power Macintosh in elementary school, and I loved it. Then came Illustrator 10 and Photoshop 7.

Video Games

Video games have been a major influence on me. I strive to make experiences as rich and engaging as video games are.

Chicago

Chicago has been home for over 30 years and while the winters really sting, I can't imagine living anywhere else.


Education

Bachelor of Fine Arts in Graphic Design.

School of Art and Design (Class of 2007), University of Illinois at Chicago

  • Animation
  • Art History I, II
  • Color Theory
  • Computer Graphics
  • Digital Media
  • Drawing I, II, III
  • Graphic Design I, II, III, IV, V
  • History of Design I, II
  • Industrial Design I
  • Photography I
  • Sculpture I
  • Time-Based Visual Art
  • Typography I, II
  • Video I, II
  • English Composition I, II
  • Human Communication
  • Japanese I, II
  • Mexican Studies
  • World Cultures
  • Professional Practice
  • Independent Study
  • Design Colloquium

My Workbench

I'm comfortable working in either Windows or macOS. I build my own desktop PCs and I'm always planning my next build even though I've had my current build for nearly 10 years. Alas, I have retired my Mid 2012 13" Macbook Pro.

Windows Desktop Build

Ancient but still kicking.

  • AMD FX-8350 8-Core 4.00 GHz
  • 16 GB RAM
  • 2 TB SSD
  • NVIDIA GTX 1660 Super
  • Raijintek Styx Classic Red Case

2x LG 27" Monitor

Honestly, you can't have too many monitors.

  • 27 Inches
  • 1080p Resolution
  • G-Sync
  • High Dynamic Range
  • 144 Hz Refresh Rate

Dell Latitude 7310

Dude you're getting a Dell!

  • 13 Inch 1080p
  • Intel Core i5
  • 16 GB RAM
  • 512 GB SSD

Pentax K-S1

I learned film photography and photo development in college with a Pentax 35mm film camera.

  • DSLR
  • 18-55mm Lens
  • 24 Megapixels

Macbook Pro 13-inch

The only mac I ever purchased; alas, obsolete now thanks to Apple ditching Intel. We had some good times.

  • macOS Mojave
  • Intel Core i5 2.5GHz
  • 16GB RAM
  • 256GB SSD
  • Intel HD Graphics 4000 1536MB

Moto G Stylus

I'm an Android guy and simply can't let got of external microSD card storage and 3.5mm headphone jacks.

  • Android 11
  • 4GB RAM
  • 128 GB Internal Storage
  • 512GB microSD
  • 3.5mm Audio Jack
  • Stylus

iPhone Xs Max

I've warmed up to iPhone over the years. This iPhone is primariy for development testing and as a spare camera.

  • iOS17
  • 64 GB

Galaxy Tab 6S Light

I've been becoming acustomed to drawing on glass. I always wanted a Wacom screen but this will do for now.

  • Android 13
  • S Pen

Toolkit

Some of my favorite apps to work with.

Figma

For app and web design, Figma is my current go-to. I've used Sketch and Adobe XD before, they're pretty much the same.

Axure RP

For rapid prototyping that feels like the real thing, nothing beats Axure RP which I've used in place of live products.

Photoshop

Trusty old Photoshop! I love using it to color drawings, blend images, or animate GIFs. “It's pronounced JIF, not GIF.”

Illustrator

I feel most comfortable creating vector art in Illustrator. Maybe I'm old school but other apps just don't do it for me.

After Effects

I love bringing designs to life with motion. I've created YouTube title cards with After Effects that were pretty slick.

InDesign

I do miss working in print design. InDesign is my preferred app for page layout though I have used QuarkXpress before.

Premiere

I enjoy non-linear video editing as much as the next guy. Premiere is my favorite, but I've used Final Cut and Davinci Resolve too.

Sketchbook

For digital drawing and painting. My phone has a stylus, my tablet has one too. Sketchook has been the best on both.

Pen / Pencil and Paper

Digital can't convincingly imitate the feel of drawing on paper, and I just can't let go of my sketchbooks, mechanical pencils, and markers.

Blender

I really want to break into 3D graphics and video games, so I've been tinkering with Blender.

Visual Studio Code

I used to do this on Notepad! I've tried many other editors but have since settled on Visual Studio Code.

Keynote

I prefer to make presentations in Keynote over PowerPoint, it's just better but it's only on Macs.


The End. Where to now?