Computers have long been both my passion and my hobby, so it made sense for me to pursue the field of multimedia when it came time for me to pick a path. Since childhood, I've loved tinkering with computers, something that began with my first C64, and then continued when I bought and built my first computer at age 12. It doesn't seem like much now, but the $400 I saved for it was a lot, considering my only source of income was an allowance and birthday money. With the help of my parents, who matched what I saved (and in particular my stepfather, who also gave me some old parts and pointed me in the right direction), I frankensteined together a computer. I immediately started playing with anything I could get my hands on: 3D Studio (pre Max days); Corel Photopaint; Corel Draw; Wave Edit and all the freeware i could download on a 14.4 modem.

My first foray into what I didn't even realize was multimedia at the time, was a very, very short run magazine distributed through local BBSs (including my own), which was a simple programmed batched file using it's own basic language, called Black Batch Magazine. It had articles, game reviews, designs and little applications that drew things on screen, all written and designed by me. I think that possibly three people downloaded it. There were a total of 2 issues, and sadly, no letter-writing campaign followed it's cancellation.

While others joined sports teams, had social lives and girlfriends, I geeked out and joined programming teams and web design clubs during my formative years. I'm still undecided whether I regret this or not, but in the end it certainly worked in my favour. All this lead to my first job was doing data entry/database management for a small financial company, and eventually I took on a second co-op position as a computer technician. All very unexciting work, and even less exciting to read about, but both jobs filled out my skill set through high school.

My first break into the industry was after I had started the Multimedia Design course at Durham College. One of my teachers must have seen something in me, because towards the end of my first year he offered me a full-time position at his small web shop. I was 18 at the time and moved to Toronto for the summer. It was a lackie position doing miscellaneous production and development with some design scattered into the mix, but I made some great contacts, including the person I still consider a mentor. He introduced me to the likes of David Carson, Neville Brody, Saul Bass, Dave McKean to name just a couple.

I continued on with school and working for imedia, i tutored C++, Director/Lingo, Javascript, Photoshop, Premiere and After Effects throughout college. This eventually lead to a job at the school in their computer department, and then to a position as one of the school's webmasters. This was all welcome work, as the industry was going through what is commonly known as the "crash" at that time.

After college, I gained experience in an array of jobs, mainly in the programming and production side of the industry. The last role I had in this capacity was working for a small company called Fusion Interactive where I was Lead Developer for 4 years. When I left, I decided i was going to focus on design-oriented jobs, which made much more sense since i had always seen myself as a designer anyway. I focused on freelancing for a few months, built up a design portfolio. This was enough to get me in the door at Alliance Atlantis, and shortly after I received a promotion to Senior Designer. In 2007 i left Alliance Atlantis and joined Critical Mass, which was a lateral move to Senior Designer there.