I started off in college at 17 in fine art and graphic design. I never finished that degree (probably because I was 17), and instead bounced around inside the college and university system until my mid-twenties. I never stopped my dalliances with art – I love everything about it; I love the drying paint and clay on my skin, the long hours in the darkroom, the twenty layers in my Photoshop project. But I never found the one thing that made me excited enough to stick with.

Along the way, I found myself living off of computer technician positions – a trend that continues, even ten years later. I’ve watched people deal with problems and helped solve them on a daily basis. I started to discern where people simply had a bug, and where they had a problem because of a poor design decision (nothing more infuriating to me). So, as a sort of ad hoc web master, I tried to alleviate some of the problems by making usable interactions. I began to read more about the subject, and more, and broadened the scope until I came across one subject that simply had never come across my mind.

I knew it existed. I just never really thought about it: product design.

People were out there designing everything I use, marvel at, interact with. I gripe at their mistakes and think of how to fix it, and I fawn over the tiny details that just elevate their design to a whole new level. I suddenly felt like there was a place for me and a thing that I’d be good at.

I want to become a product designer.