For the first 10 years of my professional life, I was a blue-collar multimedia designer, a production artist. Impossible deadlines, mountains of work were the norm - but - very few late nights were spent getting the job done because work was also highly organized. The roles of team members were well constructed. We were responsible and well informed, and each person was highly professional. In my later years as a graduate student and as a teacher, these old production skills still frame my thinking. (Technically, only two of my three older production art employers were this outstanding. The third was a mess, and it serves to remind me of the value of the other two.)

One of my greatest abilitieis to take a huge project, review it thoroughly, break it into reasonable/ordered tasks, and get it done. As a teacher, I'm thankful nearly everyday to have a production skillset and real world experience.

"GRA Interactive" I was a senior designer, and led teams of artists in creating huge, multimillion dollar training packages for Fortune 500 companies like Georgia Pacific, CSX Rail, and Weyerhaeuser. (By huge I mean the largest single title on a single subject was 21 CD's in length)

I was involved in the initial client meetings, worked with the writers and subject matter experts on individual titles, and advised technological practices. The company valued the art department because we acted as the translation step from the world of ideas to the domain of the practical and functional. We had to know the job of the writers and the programmers as we acted as the conduit between the two.

Beyond managing the art process on a given title, I designed interfaces, animations, and instructional graphics. Typically this was done in Photoshop and Illustrator. We had a complete video studio and a full time 3D modeler, but on occasion I worked with Lightwave, Director, and on an Avid workstation.

Larger images close to actual size. Most projects were CDi (Compact Disc Interactive), and designed for small portable players. A few Director, HTML, and video projects also cross our doors.

"Global Graphics, American EZ Type, & Freelancing" This was largely fast paced graphic production work. At Global Graphics I rose to be the Night Manager, then left for more money at American EZ Type. (After that came GRA Interactive)

I also did a bit of freelance design work for friends and local musicians.