Over a decade of crafting high-quality designs for individuals and businesses

From the very beginning I was an artist. I worked as an apprentice and mentored with professionals. I learned to paint murals and created public art for the city of Santa Rosa where I grew up.

It was around 2010 when I started experimenting with code and website design. This is where JRM Design Studio began in infancy, although I hadn't conceptualized such an operation at the time. I was just thrilled to have my first client who supported me. I learned by doing, and wrote the code by hand.

After working a few years at a website design agency I realized how I was drifting into computer science, when what I really longed for was graphic design. And so I went back to school and earned my Bachelor of Science at San Francisco State University. Shortly after graduation I joined San Francisco's tech industry where I combined both of my skills as a web developer and graphic designer. My clients had evolved into enterprise corporations. I worked within teams to craft highly customized experiences on proprietary web-based platforms.

Over the years I frequently observed how demand for good design work can often isolate the very users who consume the products in the end. When I learned about User Experience Design it shifted my perspective on how design can actually be used to solve problems when users are kept at the center of decision making.

My career naturally shifted into UX. I became fascinated with the blend of visual design and data-driven decision making. No longer was design about "look and feel" but rather using evidence and heuristics to validate and aid in the decision making process. UX has helped me transcend meeting business requirements to serving the humans who ultimately have to interface with technology.

Every experience in my career has shaped my perspective and approach. Design is communication, design is process, and design is problem solving. Design has been my instrument for understanding and interacting with the world around me. This is what I bring into JRM Design Studio and what I want to share with others.

Image Credit: Felicia Kieselhorst