I'm Jonathan. I'm a designer - of many sorts. Though my formal experience has brought me the way of a user experience designer, I have walked through many other facets of design and creativity including, print and flyer design, graphic design, and photography, all of which you can find showcased here. Though modern techies and even myself would admit that UX and visual design are two very different skillsets, my art school teachers pushed the principle of doing all of your own original work. And that struggle is what pushed me to become a better creative.

Becoming a UX Designer

From being the kid drawing class-posters, being featured in the local newspaper ad contests, to being known as the class-shirt guy and college website guy. I'm a creative. Always have been. But it wasn't until after forcing my way through a degree in mechanical engineering that I would realize it. As a typical college grad weighing the balance of a promising respectful career of a well paid engineer to the dismal life of a broke designer nourishing himself on frozen pizzas and ramen, I wrestled and writhed and finally concluded that I'd rather be broke and happy than rich, respected, and miserable. And if I couldn't jump in head first, then it wouldn't amount to a real change. So I tossed aside the engineering career and headed full time into art school. Little did I know, years later the blend of technical and creative would actually amount to a brand new field of design, more promising than engineering.

Career Experience

My design career started of as a production designer for a couple Flash studios while also doing freelance for small businesses and marketing and click-marketing firms. I then broke into a much wider product scope and audience range in search engines, handling verticals such as maps and directions, business listings, and music. My focus then turned to applications as I worked on video sharing applications from mobile to TV interfaces in both B2B and B2C. With my video experience, I then turned back to web with managing huge databases of content includling user-contributed articles and videos and the world of support and learning for 100 different software titles with a 50 million user/month user base. And forums and community with another 50 million/month. Now even after more than 15 years as a UX designer, I realize how much more there is still much left to experience and learn.

Photography

As one of the earlier adopters of the first Canon Digital Elph to the revolutionary DLSR Canon Digital Rebel, I was an early adopter of digital photography. My gigs typically cover event and venue photography including weddings, holiday parties, and nightlife. As a hobbiest, I seek ancient architecture or picturesque landscapes. I currently consider photography work, at special request only. I do not do model photography.
A sampling of my photography work can be seen in the showcase.

Social

If you are here looking for information about social events, please connect with me on Facebook.