What is your role at ILLUME?
I’m the Senior Graphic Designer, my role is working directly with the rest of the team on all of the visuals we produce for our clients and our in-house marketing and social media platforms.
Where are you from and where do you live now?
I lived on the east coast for most of my life (Massachusetts, then Philly). I moved to Tucson in 2001 and absolutely love it here.
Who or what inspires you in your work?
I think a big part of effective creative is remaining open and absorbing potential solutions. It’s harder at times than it seems, because it’s tempting to get attached to the quickest solution. I’ve found strong visual work takes a lot of refining, stepping away, and looking again with a fresh perspective. I work on a lot of different projects with a diverse group of people—that’s been my favorite part of working here. The level of visual problem solving it takes to guide a reader through a complicated idea or process is especially high in research. (P.S. my co-workers are SMART).
Do you have any pets?
4 dogs and 2 cats. (I used to volunteer at a local animal shelter. Don’t judge.)
What are your favorite hobbies?
Working on old cars, riding old Harley Davidsons (my ‘new’ one is 21 years old), screen printing, and working on projects in our home. It’s a really cool converted industrial building on the southwest side of town.
What’s your favorite quote or motto?
I don’t know if I have one right now, but I try to start each day with an attitude of appreciation. It usually carries through the day.
What’s the worst job you’ve ever had?
McDonald’s, 1983.
What is the best concert you ever attended?
Probably the first “big” one was the Rolling Stones in 1981 at the LA Coliseum. This was an infamous show because the opener got food thrown at them and booed off the stage. It was Prince, and three years later he was pretty much ruling the galaxy and selling millions of records with “Purple Rain.” I was 30 feet from the stage that day. He was an amazing guitarist, a lot of people might not know that.
What is your superpower?
That’s a hard question for me to answer…the people I work with can attest I’ve got a pretty absurd sense of humor sometimes.
If you could have chosen another career path, what would you be doing?
Weather guy or a professional sports team mascot—a high energy one, high-fives, somersaults, back flips, all that.
