I grew up in rural western Kentucky in a small town. My family owned a restaurant/gas station/grocery store, where my first job was straightening pop bottles. I couldn’t read yet, but I sorted the bottles by shape, logo, and color. I was surrounded by cola logos, candy wrappers, and oil company signage. I’d copy the images on ticket books and napkins - whatever I could find to draw on. It became second nature.

While in college, I landed an internship at an advertising agency. I was a decent copywriter and designer, but I’m certain I got the job because I could crank out line drawings of cheeseburgers and corvettes. The first real-life graphic design lesson I got was that you’ve got about 2 seconds to get someone’s attention and 5 seconds to tell them something—so keep it simple. KISS. Several years later, I still try to follow this rule.

I came to Nashville to design album covers (the big ones, with liner notes and the whole nine yards). After that, I got a job working at the United Methodist Publishing House and spent most of my career bouncing from magazine design to supervising advertising production to designing worship bulletins to managing editors and designers in producing books, magazines, and Sunday school curriculum.

I’ve been lucky enough to have a long, rewarding career as a creative. I enjoy the process of working collaboratively with other dedicated and creative people. I like solving design problems within time, budget, and market parameters. And I enjoy working on projects and products that matter, that educate, and inspire.