my name is T R U E. i have been in the graphics industry since 1995 as an illustrator, 2d animator, designer (character; graphic; icon; logo; ui), art director, and production person. in that time, i’ve worked both on- and off-site freelance, and as full-time staff, and have come to be regarded by the international design community as “genius,” “a rising star,” and among the “A-list” of the world’s “most innovative emerging graphic designers” who offer “a glimpse into the future of design.”

i see myself more as a 1-man art studio, rather than just an artist, because although i have developed a favorite style (graceful, elongated, curvilinear women, and sharp, bulky, angular men – see the top row of “illustration” for examples), i’ve also honed my ability to work in a number of styles so that i may be better equipped to meet the needs of my clients – covering markets from “youth” to “adult,” “general” to “ethnic.”

i have taught and / or spoken on art, design, and new media at institutions such as the cooper union for the advancement of science and art, open-i media, parsons school of design, the pratt institute, rhode island school of design, and sarah lawrence college (among others), and my work has been featured in design conferences, exhibitions, books and magazines around the world.

i’ve been a member of the graphic artists guild, the international game developers association, minority internet and technology professionals, and the world wide web artists’ consortium, and i’m in the process of certification as a “minority supplier” by the new york & new jersey minority supplier development council.

· experience

· skills

· apps

· interviews / articles

· speaking engagements

· exhibitions

· awards

· references

· cooper union art school, nyc (bfa 5. 96) (rated # 1 baccalaureate college [north] and # 1 most selective, by u. s. news & world report)
i studied traditional and computer animation, graphic design, typography, color theory, drawing and photography.

· sarah lawrence college, bronxville, ny (named “liberal arts college of the year” by time magazine and the princeton review)
i studied art and psychology.

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· self-employed, brooklyn, ny
(3. 97 - present)
illustrator; 2d animator; designer; art director; production
responsibilities: complete production of client projects from concept to completion (please see list of clients).

· sonic boom, nyc
(2. 08 - 4. 10)
lead artist; illustrator; 2d animator; designer (character; graphic; icon; logo; ui); art director; production
responsibilities: in the 2+ years that i spent at sonic, i worked on a number of casual games and personalization apps for mobile devices (such as the ipod / iphone and devices from at&t, alltel, boost, nextel, sprint, t-mobile, and verizon) as well as facebook. the most significant of those titles were the iphone game “tetragon,” in which i was given a few short weeks to take the game from concept to final assets, and a title now in development for which i acted as art director / lead artist, ui designer, character designer, and animator. in addition to the main game, there were also 11 minigames that needed to be designed and animated, including bicycling, dance dance, driving, golf, match-3, and volleyball.

other titles include: “animal planet pix” (ui; illustration; splash); “digame tones” (ui); “dream shots” (graphic design); “graffiti artist” (custom grafitti fonts; illustration); “iknow hip hop” (art direction; original character design / animation; logo; backgrounds; ui; splash); “iknow music” (original character design; animation); “screensaver maker” (illustration, graphic design); “tattoo shop” (illustration, graphic design); “wallpaper maker” (illustration, graphic design) and others.

· adobe, nyc
(2. 99 - 3. 02)
alpha team member; representative
responsibilities: i was one of a handful of designers that adobe sought out for feedback on their software-in-development; i’ve also represented adobe at industry events to demonstrate their products.

· open-i media, nyc
(10. 98 - 10. 01)
instructor
responsibilities: curriculum development; instruction (adobe illustrator).

· the new school / parsons school of design, nyc
(1. 00 - 5. 01)
instructor
responsibilities: undergraduate curriculum development; instruction (design and typography; traditional & digital techniques, including adobe illustrator, photoshop, and quark).

· wanderlust interactive, nyc
(9. 95 - 5. 97)
ui team leader; illustrator; animator; designer
responsibilities: i was the lead ui artist for the cd-rom video game “the pink panther: passport to peril,” i also did original character design, and licensed character animation (the game was published in 15 languages in over 20 countries, and won numerous international awards, including the milia d’or and the european emma award for “best family cd-rom”); also, i did character and effects animation, character design, illustration and / or background coloring for “hokus pokus pink” and “alyce in wonderland”; and graphic design and illustration of print collateral and promotional items.

· music pen, nyc
(5. 95 - 9. 95)
illustrator; animator; designer
responsibilities: licensed and original character illustration and animation for cd-rom video games such as scholastic / microsoft’s award-winning “magic school bus” series, the acclaimed “beethoven lives upstairs” and “coolsville.”

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if you need someone who can create interesting visual solutions in a variety of styles, and who has an almost fanatical attention to detail – i’m your man. i can work independently or as part of a team to take a project from concept to completion.

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i’ve been using primarily illustrator and photoshop on both mac and pc for 15+ years; also dreamweaver / html, some flash, excel. i haven’t had much of an opportunity to do much in 3d, but i have worked with programs like maya, and i’m eager to learn more.

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· arc design magazine (2. 06) – brasil’s leading critical design publication discusses the work that i had on exhibit in the “experimentadesign – bienal de lisboa.”

· map magazine (australia) (12. 03 / 1. 04) – interview.

· area (11. 03) – i was included in this “global up-to-the-minute overview of contemporary printed graphic design...presenting the work of 100 of the world’s most innovative emerging graphic designers” (published by phaidon).

· how magazine (12. 01) – discusses the collaborative project oodles of doodles for your noodle (an activity book for seriously ill kids in which “the design world’s A-list [gave] their time and talent to one big book”). tens of thousands of copies of the book have been printed in english and spanish and have been distributed in over 500 hospitals across north america who routinely utilize the book in the treatment of children in their care.

· pix magazine (11. 01) – featured designer.

· eye magazine – the international review of graphic design (autumn. 01) – featured designer.

· sagmeister: made you look (4. 01) – in his book, design guru Stefan Sagmeister – who has referred to my work as “genius” and has shown examples of it in countless design symposiums around the world – discusses how my work has influenced him.

· surface magazine – the american avant garde (6. 00) – featured designer.

· i.d. (international design) magazine (1. 00) – i was named as 1 of the “i.d. forty,” “…a prestigious list of forty leading designers pushing the boundaries of their respective disciplines [to offer] a glimpse into the future of design.”

· metropolis magazine (1. 99) – i was included in the article, “54 experts on the future of design” in which i was referred to as a “rising star of the new millennium.”

· bbc-tv (uk) (5. 96) – interview.

· crain’s new york business (5. 96) – profiled as a “cyber whiz kid.”

· manhattan files magazine (11. 94) – interview.

· men’s club magazine (japan) (11. 94) – interview.

· gallerybeat (tv) (10. 94) – interview.

· los angeles times (9. 94) – write-up.

· new york times (8. 94) – write-up.

· all things considered, national public radio (12. 93) – interview.

· new york magazine (12. 93) – profiled as an “emerging artist.”

· village voice (5. 93) – write-up.

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· cooper union, nyc (10. 07).

· rhode island school of design, providence, ri (4. 01).

· pratt institute, brooklyn, ny (4. 00).

· sarah lawrence college, bronxville, ny (2. 00).

· essence magazine / at&t new media forum, nyc (4. 99). 

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awards

· fulton first cultural coalition (11. 08) – this was the second commission i was awarded by this organization, this one to do a series of street banners for their “brooklyn icons” project.

· fulton first cultural coalition (11. 04) – this was the first commission i was awarded by this organization, this one to do a large-scale public art piece for their “brooklyn icons” project.

· milia interactive conference, cannes, france (2. 97) – the top award, the “milia d’or,” received for the cd-rom video game “the pink panther: passport to peril,” for which i did illustration, animation, graphic and ui design. the game won numerous international awards, including the european emma award for “best family cd-rom.”

· cooper union art school, nyc (9. 92) – 4-year full-tuition scholarship

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here is what my clients / past employers have to say about me:

“T R U E and i worked together on a very close-knit full-time team between the years 1995-1997 at wanderlust interactive, a small nasdaq company creating children’s educational software starring the pink panther.

“T R U E is an extraordinary person on many different levels – an exceedingly talented artist, extremely creative and inventive, a natural leader amongst his peers, well-liked by all, reliable, professional, highly competent, and overall a tremendous pleasure to work with on a daily basis. i can’t say enough good things about T R U E, and would be happy to speak personally to any potential clients of his.

– Catherine Evans Winchester Heald
co-founder / ceo, remote lands

“T R U E is a superior artist with a top notch skill set. he is also a smart, dedicated team player that understands deadlines. his work is modern and fun and he brings a fresh approach to all projects.”

– Jeanne De Sanctis
vp sales & marketing, sonic boom

“T R U E always does amazing work for the studio, i recommend him, he’s a force for good.

– Matthew RIchmond
principal, the chopping block

“T R U E is a very creative artist with a broad design sense. always pleasant and professional. a great team player. a plus to any management or design team.”

– Jean Pierre Dillard
animation director, funkmation studios

more references upon request.

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