I grew up in Oakland before moving to the east coast to attend Wesleyan University, where I studied Film and Critical Theory. I’m now based in NYC.
I’ve always felt torn between the “left brain” and the “right brain,” or the sciences and the humanities—I’m an analytical person by nature and love the logic and concreteness of STEM fields, but the topics I care about most have to do with arts, culture, and the hands-on human experience. For me, product design is the happy medium between these seemingly disparate ways of thinking, where my methodical nature and my instinct for beauty and subjective experience can coexist.
I’ve always had an affinity for writing and pride myself on being a clear communicator. Most recently, I’ve worked editing and proofreading manuscripts, helping to hone the storytelling and poring over all the minute details with a fine-tooth comb. (Before that, I worked at a vintage clothing store in Berkeley and a very hectic coffee shop in Chelsea Market.)
My background in fine arts and visual design goes back to a RISD program in high school and continued through college, where I took studio classes including typography, drawing, and digital art. I also have a background in code (HTML, CSS, and Java, and I’ve built an iPhone app using Objective-C)—I intuitively understand its underlying structure and create designs that can be easily and elegantly transformed into code.
As a designer, I strive to be clear, honest, simple, and timeless, approaching trends with an open mind and a healthy degree of skepticism. (I’m a Dieter Rams evangelist, in other words.) I’m driven by my love/hate relationship with technology—painfully aware of its negative effects and fiercely protective of its potential. More than anything, I’m fascinated by how digital design can be used as a tool to improve users’ lives beyond their screens and by the ways design shapes attention and engagement.
