Design, Illustration & Animation

Q. Describe the most common types of jobs you do for your clients.

A. Graphic design is often used for fliers, animation for web pages.

Q. What advice do you have for a customer looking to hire a provider like you?

A. A provider like me needs to know what kind of typography or font you prefer. Customers seem to have a tough time articulating this.

Q. If you were a customer, what do you wish you knew about your trade? Any inside secrets to share?

A. I would wish that I knew why I couldn't be a creative professional so that I would not have to explain my vision and possibly have it come out wrong.
The answer is that you can. Practice, and maybe have someone sit with you to learn the necessary software. Develop an instinct while you just goof around and have fun for a while. You won't learn properly if you're just learning selectively.

Q. What important information should buyers have thought through before seeking you out?

A. Web colors are different from print colors, only so much can be done to make a small JPEG, GIF, or PING larger, and professional photographs have to be bought to avoid lawsuits.

Q. Why does your work stand out from others who do what you do?

A. In terms of graphic design, I add variety and interest to a project by using my idiosyncratic sense of color, form, and space. My designs are balanced but also refreshingly asymmetrical. Typography and logos play a part in this.
The same principals apply to web design, including Flash animations; in those cases, interactivity and movement take the energy up a notch.

Q. What do you like most about your job?

A. I love creation of visual art, fine or otherwise. I can only go so long without it. And when I am using my skills to assist in an enterprise of some sort, or bringing someone's dream to life, that is even better.

Q. What questions do customers most commonly ask you? What's your answer?

A. In the present economy, I am most often asked how much a job will cost. The answer is that I will charge a flat rate, but the time a project takes still varies.
The second most asked question is whether or not I can do what you want. If you can tell me exactly what visuals and mood you want, draw a simple diagram for the basic idea, the answer is yes, absolutely.

Q. Do you have a favorite story from your work?

A. I made multiple animated web pages for the Apeiron Institute in Providence, RI. I was happy with how they came out.

Q. What do you wish customers knew about you or your profession?

A. I wish they knew that my imagination could help a project rather than hinder it.

Q. How did you decide to get in your line of work?

A. Graphic Design is only an extension of illustration, which I love; also, web design is, as I see it, an interactive extension of animation.