Vagrant Design

I started drawing because I thought I could do a better job than my brother. My dad taught me how to use a PC when I was in the 7th grade and I began to layout the school newspaper and literary magazines at home into the wee hours of the night. Then I started taking photographs with my dad's old Nikon F2. I went to college and became a liberal arts major. Went to UCLA, where I declared myself as a history major, and crashed painting and art classes. Decided I could do a better job taking photographs. Transferred too and graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago with a Bachelors in Fine Arts. Started taking photos of lamps for a job in Chicago and got to travel to China and Thailand for product development. Went back to L.A. where I got my M.F.A. at the University of Southern California and then continued working at a local nonprofit as a graphic designer. So here I am...photographer/designer/historian. The name "Vagrant Design," because much of my photography is about what I consider vagrant sites. Spaces that are abandonded, left like a temporary gap in civilization. I also consider myself a vagrant in the design world, since I am self-taught, and the most formal training I've had is when my dad, who is a techincal writer, began teaching me how to use Ventura Publisher in 1988.