Triple-threat professional designer
What does it mean to be a “triple threat”?
A triple threat is a person who is adept in three different fields of activity.
- In a football game, a football player adept at running, kicking, and passing is a triple threat.
- A triple threat in the theater is someone who can sing, dance, and act.
I have the ability to draw, write, and code HTML/CSS. I’m an artist, a writer and a web developer, with the ability to think verbally, to think pictorially, and to think in code. I am a triple-threat professional designer.
Mastering any craft requires focus. Mastering multiple skills requires persistence and dedication, practicing each craft and being strategic with an approach.
Self-portrait with A-shirt, sumi ink on cardboard
Artist and Graphic Designer
Making art or graphics is a sport. Practicing visual thinking changes the brain and how one thinks and communicates.
I draw and paint, create art and graphics. I like to work with materials including sumi ink, egg tempera and drawing. I have expert Adobe Photoshop and Adobe Illustrator software skills.
I have an arsenal of techniques and skills. I practice spontaneous and improvisational painting to push boundaries and transcend these techniques. Sometimes great ideas pop out.
I’ve learned to recognize strong ideas. Mastery requires research. I look for visual clues, to build a visual vocabulary, think about chemistry, composition, and inventing a theme.
Healthcare marketing presentation sketch
Content Writer
The Big Idea. In advertising, creatives speak of conceiving ad campaigns that "have legs", meaning to find an idea that can be varied and repeated for many ads in a campaign that brands a product or service for years. Finding big ideas takes work. Big ideas have great value.
I write daily. Writing consistently is an improvisational discipline and a great way to encounter big ideas. Ideas and insights tumble out often.
I learned the skill of inventing interesting headlines with concepts that had the aforementioned "legs" while working in an ad agency.
Clients often start a new business with no marketing assets. So in addition to building websites I research and write content. I use my experience in advertising to write focused, interesting content.
By conducting marketing research I amass what is known as "searchable phrases", meaning searchable on Google or Bing. Many clients have enjoyed page-one placement on Google search due to the content that I wrote.
Other experience includes writing for a client as a copywriter/ghostwriter. I created new-business advertising. I served as Editor for a blog. My job was to write articles, edit, and entice and support other people to write articles.
Fab-four layout / Holy Albatross pattern mashup
Web Designer
Learning current best practices to design websites and web applications is an ever-changing journey of research, testing, failing, and discovery.
I started learning web design in 2005. At the time CSS was a new thing. I studied the CSS Zen Garden and many tutorials.
I like learning new skills and methods. I continued to learn web design during the introduction of HTML5 and CSS3 and JavaScript. I learned mobile-first responsive design. I learned SASS and how to build WordPress websites from scratch.
I strive to make my code be well written. I want to write semantic, assessable code. Just like making art or writing, the big Idea is what I reach for with web design. I want to create websites that attract viewers.
Overall, I’d say that my best quality is being curious, inventive, exploring. I am a triple-threat professional designer.
