Tell us about your background.
I have always loved to draw and did a lot of lettering on classmates’ trapper keepers in grade school (bubble letters and graffiti-ish versions of their names). I applied to the tyler school of art while in high school not knowing I would end up a designer or letterer but simply because I loved to draw, and I especially loved drawings that were detailed and technical (rather than loose and expressive).
When I took my first graphic design course, it all started to come together. I loved that design was about problem solving rather than being self-expressive, and that every project had a solid starting point. I started doing lettering for projects toward the end of my junior year in college, not knowing that lettering was in and of itself a separate industry (one that was not at that time at the level of popularity it is now). I graduated with a BFA in graphic and interactive design in 2006 and began working for louise fili, where I discovered that there was a way to make a career out of manipulated and custom type.
Overtime I have also built up a second career as a freelance illustrator this lead me to becoming a full-time freelance illustrator and letterer. Most of my recent work has focused on lettering but I still love to work on illustrations when I get the chance.