DIGIHAL.DESIGN.WERX -- ABOUT

Hi, I am Hal and I am a Visual/Interaction Designer.

I started my career at CompUSA 1998. Yes my career. When my boss asked me what I wanted to get out of my career at CompUSA, needless to say, I freaked out. I got out of there as fast as I could punch my time card.

Being desperate to get out, I took any gig I could to get to be on the road to becoming a professional designer. I landed a 2 month contracting job at Cortex Interactive. That 2 month contract turned into over 2.5 years and a lead design position before I left.

Towards the end of my time at Cortex, web sites were popping up like crazy. I had to make a move. A BIG move. I knew frog was the best of the best, but was I ready? Could I go toe to toe with these guys? No I couldn't. But they hired me anyways.

At Cortex, I learned the ropes of a design house. At frog, I learned what it took to do world class design.

After frog felt I had learned enough, they laid me off. No big deal. A lot of my friends were getting laid off too. I suppose it was the thing to do. Get laid off. I took it in stride. I think I shed 1 tear with my wife (of 3 weeks) before survival mode kicked in.

I was doing everything I could to avoid the inevitable "Last Resort". . . Move in with my MOM! This was unacceptable, but as the time marched on with me not getting a solid gig, this was looking like a possibility.

Just the thought of this, to this day, sends shivers up my spine.

Like the hand of God coming down from the heavens, I get the most random email at the most random time from the most random company.

MOTOROLA. Who would have thought?!? I don't think I submitted a resume. . .

They wanted me to fill a position as a User Interface/Interaction designer. One problem, in my experience at good ol' frog, interactions were designed by very smart people in lab coats with high salaries. . . Not visual designers. Motorola hired me anyways.

There I learned about the interaction side of design. I was taught by very smart people in lab coats about how they do interaction design, and I was shocked as to what it took to do good interaction design. GOOD/SMART DESIGN!

Example -- Don't spread across 3 pages if you can accomplish it in 1. DUH! Well, some would lead you to believe that this was a no brainer. But this is not true.

Common Sense isn't so common!

I had a blast working at Moto. The people were smart and I learned so much about people/users, devices, and designing for both. But I had to walk away after 2.5 years as one of the biggest perks of living in South Florida was becoming too much... HURRICANES! So I headed back to the motherland - Austin, Texas (referred to as ATX from the locals).

Now I am sitting at a desk somewhere downtown at a small company named projekt202. It was founded by 2 very good friends of mine, and they let me come and play in their sandbox.

So here I am, doing the work that I do, learning every step of the way. It is a good time to be a designer.

H!