Info about patrick
Website: http://www.design4thepeople.com
As long as I can remember I have been one of those nerdy kids that liked to draw. Back in elementary school I would draw in class when I should have been paying attention to the teacher, and in fifth grade it finally paid off when I drew a picture of a dynamite stick. I thought "Boy, do I hope I win this contest! I will be the coolest kid in school!" Well I won, and I didn't becaome the super popular kid i was hoping for... but little did I know this was the beginning of the rest of my life. (And my t-shirt got printed)
In middle school I joined the yearbook staff and started using early design software (PageMaker and TypeStyler) to create titles and page layouts, and then in eighth grade I had the honor of designing the cover of the yearbook! (how freakin' cool!)
The next stop was the high school yearbook staff. For four years I devoted myself to my love of design, page layout, and photography. During my senior year I was the editor and tried some experimental things... or at least experimental for the yearbook crowd back in 1996. I had a hole cut in the front of the book, silhouetted images of people, and designed layouts that looked more like magazine articles. Did I mention it gave me a legitimate reason to skip my other classes and leave school for lunch?! That flame broiled DQ double cheeseburger was calling me name.
Somewhere along the way I also picked up HTML and started creating my own websites. I can't really remember the original orgin, but there is a tiny voice in my head that says it started in German class in highschool. (Funny now because I'm married to a German chick!) I think we had to build simple pages in German. Everything was cebter aligned and there were lots of animated gifs!
When I started going to GSU (Georgia State University) I don't think I even knew what graphic design was. There weren't all these technical schools running TV commercials advertising about joining the "coolest new field"! I thought I wanted to be a journalist... boy was I wrong! After 7 long years I finally graduated with my BFA in graphic design. The art scchol at GSU is really rockin' and I highly recommend the design program to anybody interested in... well, design.
I can't forget, during my 3rd year of university (back in 2001) I was given the opportunity to work for a web firm called Project8. It was really great and taught me a lot of stuff about the business side of the creative field. Thanks Robin for such a life changing opportunity!