ONLINE PORTFOLIO

Creative Experience Galore

My art and graphics career spans nearly 40 years, and encompasses two paradigms: analog and digital. My freelance career started in 1968. A year later I joined forces with my brother to form a service and manufacturing business called CapriTaurus (our tag line was "handcrafts, fine and applied arts"). We built musical instruments and operated a retail folk music store. From 1969 - 1984 my commercial art was done the old fashioned way, with pen, paper, scissors, paint, brush, airbrush and so forth. Until 1984 my main graphics client was my own business, but I also continued to work on the side as a freelance. Between 1985 - 1993 I phased out of the music business and trained myself in the use of computers, through freelance "on the job training." In 1994, I abandoned retail and analog techniques and went fully into the field of computer graphics.

WRITING

Most of my marketing experience took place back in the analog days. As a partner in a cottage industry, it was my job to take care of all the MarCom. I was Creative Director and my brother was Director of Manufacturing. I wrote press releases, ad copy, a mailorder retail catalog as well as collateral. The instruments we produced consisted of two brands, as we had both retail and wholesale tradelines.

As a folk music professional, I wrote a column in a national magazine called FRETS, and co-wrote, edited, illustrated and produced a song and instruction book, the Pacific Rim Dulcimer Songbook. (I also wrote and edited a weekly bulletin for the SLV Rotary Club for nearly ten years.)

PRODUCTION and prepress

Here again, my experience crosses the analog-digital spectrum from rubber cement, light table and slide projector to Adobe Creative Suite and Powerpoint. My freelance work has been mostly in these two areas:

ILLUSTRATION- cartoons, fantasy illustration, storyboads, scientific & technical illustration, diagrams. Clients include Atari, Time-Warner, Mindscape, Jetstream and others.

DESIGN & PRODUCTION- LP record albums, CD covers & tray cards, patches, stickers, labels, packaging& mockups. Clients include Hewlett Packard, Adobe, Cintara, Cidco and a number of other designers for whom I did prepress production.

USER INTERFACES & New Media

 

I did my first computer animation in 1987 for AdWare - basic character sprites & GUI simulations for P.O.P. demos. Then I designed kiosk interfaces for MusicWriter and N.A.M.M. . Starting in 1995, with Tollner Design Group (later known as Cintara), I developed new media using Director and Flash.

Other examples of animation include rotoscope-style sprite animation as used for interface simulations for Apple & Logitech, and online demos for FastParts.com. My experience includes the design and production of navigation and system icons, interface screen elements (working in association with software engineers) and promotional or demonstration media.

The last major client for whom I did extensive GUI and icon work was Logitech (allow time to load). These interfaces usually incorporate some sort of animation (as seen above with the Apple Demo) or like this GIF:

One of the biggest team projects I worked on at Cintara was a technical presentation for Amtrak. For this project I met directly with the client along with the CEO, as I developed both the introductory splash piece and the PDF interface that was to be used to deliver the product.

TRADESHOWS & other exhibits

 

I have over 15 years experience in booth retailing, such as is done at craft shows. This includes the design of booths, fixtures, signage, graphics and kiosk interfaces, as well as dealing with customers and hauling the stock out of the truck.

I've also worked Tradeshows (while in the manufacturing business, selling to music retailers and professional performers). The National Association of Music Merchandisers show is heald yearly in L.A. I've been to Macworld Expo many times, but not yet as an exhibitor.