Design
Although mostly musical, I've always had an artistic side. The problem was I could never seem to draw well. I would write stories instead and always did well in creative writing classes. I also enjoyed commercial arts, or lettering. Even though I did take a commercial arts class, most my experience came with writing (drawing) band names on my book covers during school. But I'm not sure if I was truly interested in this or just bored out of my mind by whatever the teacher was saying.
I was always interested in how things worked. I would take everything apart just to see, and then attempt to put it all back together. Many times I would put it together differently or modified to my liking. It wasn't always a smart thing to do since I ended up eventually breaking things during my attempts, but nevertheless I was still interested. In my twenties I worked with my sister putting together complex furniture for customers. They would buy these monsterous desks and armours, and my sister and I would get the assignment to go to their house or office and assemble everything. It was hard work, and sometimes very frustrating, but it was fun. I enjoyed the whole building process. I also worked for a short time doing home improvement, also to my liking.
In 1997, while living in State College, PA, I discovered the internet. I was definitely a late bloomer, but I quickly took a huge interest in how web sites were designed and built. I was not a student but lived only about a hundred yards from Penn State's main campus. I would sneak into the computer labs just about every day and surf the internet. I eventually started designing and building sites using whatever means I could. I would sign up for any free web site hosting service I found, and I would build a site for it. I built probably a hundred site in the next couple years.
A few years later I got my first graphic design job, which was really just scanning and digitizing blue prints and mechanical drawings for the machine department at the Crayola Crayon Factory. But I worked with Photoshop on a daily basis and became very familiar with the tool. I teamed up with a graphic artist I met on that job to do some freelance web site work. We did a couple of projects before I moved to New York, where I landed a web design job. Over the next few of years I learned more than I ever thought I could have. I became extremely familiar with all the industry standard tools and practices, and I had the opportunity to build sites for many prominent businesses and organizations.
In 2004 I landed a contract design position with a travel consortium in Manhattan. This was a huge company that was in business for over 30 years, and I hoped for the best experience I would ever get. It didn't take long to realize that this company had alot of problems. The IT department was run by a very incapable individual, and his right hand man knew even less. The CEO, when he did show up to the office, was blind to what was going on. Eventually the IT Director quit (after being asked why he spent thousands of dollars with nothing in return), and for some reason the company left his partner in charge of the IT department. It took only another year, or less, for me to finally pack my stuff and get out of there. But during my time at this company, I did have the opportunity to design some nice pieces for some very big travel and cruise companies.
In 2005 I opened a small design firm, G Funk Design, which I am still solely operating. I mainly design, build and host web sites, but I also design logos and any other marketing materials needed. I focus on clean, modern designs and solid site construction. All my sites are easy to navigate through and effectively "sell" their purpose. Please be sure to visit the web site for more information and samples of my work. My work can also be viewed at my portfolio web site.
