Designer Statement
What I make, and
why.
I design and edit to give people the feeling I chased as a kid — the moment a game world pulls you in, or a movie makes you believe in a toy. Great work should move you before you can explain why.
Motivation
My creative drive is rooted in wonder. Playing Metroid as a boy, I did not just want to finish the game — I wanted to understand how a place I had never been could feel so real, lonely, and alive. When Toy Story arrived, that wonder found a name. I carried it through a military career, public service, and years away from the craft. Coming back to design is not a career move; it is returning to the thing that made me feel most awake.
I want the work I hand a client to carry the same care I felt on the other side of the screen as a kid.
Themes I explore
I am drawn to atmosphere and progression — the sense that a piece is taking you somewhere. In my 2D Metroidvania level, that meant guiding a player through discovery and tension. In a horror escape-room level, it meant dread built one detail at a time. In an edit, it is pacing that lets a moment breathe, then hits. The through-line is transformation: a viewer who feels different at the end than they did at the start.
Problems I like to solve
I gravitate toward the gap between technically fine and genuinely felt. A logo that is correct but forgettable. A video that has the footage but no rhythm. An ad that says everything and lands nothing. My job is to find where the story is leaking out and seal it — through contrast, pacing, color, and restraint. Often the fix is subtraction, not addition.
Process & philosophy
I start with feeling and end with discipline. First I ask what the audience should feel, then I reverse-engineer every choice — type, color grade, cut, motion — back to that answer. The military and safety work gave me a process mindset: plan the mission, respect the deadline, sweat the details, and finish clean. Polish is a form of respect for the person on the other side of the screen. And the best design gets out of the story way.
Influences & inspiration
The Metroid franchise
My favorite series, and the reason I love 2D side-scrolling Metroidvania worlds — mood, isolation, and discovery.
Toy Story & Pixar
The film that named my dream. Proof that craft and heart can live in the same frame.
Cinematic color
The teal-and-amber grade of modern film — the palette this whole site is built on.
A life of service
Discipline, leadership, and attention to detail carried over from the Marines, corrections, and safety work.