I'll start,

Name: Armin Vit

Place: Chicago, IL (via Mexico, via Atlanta, GA)

Fact: I'm actually a very quiet person, I can go on hours without speaking a word, even if people are in the room carrying on a conversation. But give me a keyboard and watch out!

Hello, I'm Ben. I'm in Minneapolis/St. Paul. I'm an ex-patriot of Larsen Design + Interactive, marchFIRST, and divine, now working at Minnesota Public Radio (which is purposely not an agency). During the day I make web sites for public radio news and programs and such, and at home I make things like the RIAA Radar and Mixmatcher, and work on my house alot. I have an affinity for designers who can create things from start to finish by themselves, and in conjunction loathe one-trick ponies (people who are famous for, and only do, one style or thing) and one-sided "designers" (people who can only do one task of a project... like web site "designers" who can't program.) I have lots of inventions and ideas and no time to work on any of them.

I am: Brent Seehafer

I live: Chicago, IL

currently in exile on the island of trade publishing— lincolnshire, il. looking for a raft to take me back to the mainland. (as long as it pays well) i've worked at small (now defunct) studios to big ad agnencies (O&M, JWT) during my three year run as an unrepentant freelancer.

Hey...Ben's here!

Ben and I share the Larsen Connection. I'm presently in St. Paul working for the gov' doing web stuff. Boring. But the benefits are nice. Which helps with the raising of the young'un.

I've also worked at a letterpress/design shop and a small start up design/web firm. That was fun. While it lasted.

Hey all..

I'm a fresh-out college grad who's on the prowl for work. Looking for a cool job in a small and amazing full-service studio, or best offer..

Currently I'm interning at HOW Magazine, and am freelancing for Juicy Temples Creative and Cartoon Network, as well as odd freelance, and full-time job-hunting.

So for all that is good and holy please check out my work, and either tell me what you think, consider me to be considered for further consideration, or tell all your friends..

--=Adam

I : Kyle Johnston

@ : Kansas City (specifically Overland Park, KS)

! : I have been called the quietest person some people have ever met, which some people mistake as being unapproachable, but I'm actually very nice.

Hi, I'm Lea, and I graduated from college in May. I lucked out and got hired as a Print & New Media Specialist (i got to pick my own title) at VOXCOM, a Canadian security company (4th largest in the country) and so far so good. My title explains exactly what I do -- in fact, I just finished designing a conference invitation for them and the supplementary conference landing page on the web, too. I'll be responsible for doing major re-designs, and I'm lucky enough to catch them during a transition and an identity/brand overhaul! YES!

My favorite project so far has been for an international animation film festival where I worked my ass off for peanuts doing their posters, festival pass, and film guide (when their printer didn't have impositioning software, i had to manually re-order the pages the night before the festival... all ~42 pages of it).

Fact: I'm an extrovert and introvert in one who likes to dabble in all parts of the arts: singing, acting, drawing, photography and writing. I'm good in some, and mediocre in others. But I like to think I'm good in all. ;) I have a healthy ego to hide some of my insecurities. ;)

I want to start my own firm in a few years time.

Oh, did I mention I'm rather verbose?

Name: Jesse Ewing

Location: Wooster, Ohio (an hour south of Cleveland)

Occupation: I'm a graphic designer, illustrator and photographer for a research branch of The Ohio State University.

Fact: My wife and I are thinking about moving to British Columbia.

Name: Patrick Durgin-Bruce

Place: West Village, NYC (southern bred: Dallas & Atlanta)

What I've done: Spent 7 years at various agencies, from small boutiques to international agencies. But last December, went out on my own to start my company/freelance business.

Fact: I have the world's cutest dog. Confirmed by independent testing agencies. No, she is not a fox, she is a Shiba Inu puppy. For those more interested, my wife has donated a little corner of the web to her.

Name: Steve Carsella / vibranium+co.

Place: Orlando, FL via NYC

Facts: I am EXTREMELY quiet person...I LOVE designing and would do it in pretty much the same capacity I am now even if I had a billion dollars...I designed the logo for the Blair Witch Project (my wife walked by and told me to write that)...I'm proud I've been in the CA design annual 3 times...I have a 4 year old son who is AWESOME...my dad was a NYC garbage man for 35 years...I tend to enjoy spot color printing more than process...R.E.M rules...as do the Beach Boys (Pet sounds / SMiLE era)...I have a huge French Paper 'Collection'...I am an ex-comic book geek. Excelcior!

Name: David Weinberger

Place: NYC

Occupation: Sr. Design Manager, FutureBrand

Fact: The only other online forum I post on is about Ultimate Fighting. I also have friends from the office over to my apartment whenever there is a UFC pay-per-view. Go Randy Couture!

Name: Brent Hardinge

Place: Spokane, WA

Job: Designer (Web, print), Developer (only a very little programing) for Bibleinfo.com. We are currently in the middle of a redesign of our website and promotional material. This is my first full time job out of college and I also do some freelance work on the side.

Hobbies: Work on house, climbing, snow skiing, my new PowerBook G4, mountain biking...

I'm Rick, late of Seattle.

I work with a team of in-house designers for a huge Healthcare company. With any luck, this won't last forever.

I fondly remember the late 90s and early 00's, when there was free soda and ping-pong. Oh, and I used to work in the Empire State Building.

I just bought a house, which seems a little too grown up to me. It's yellow.

-R

Name: Andrew Pollak

Place: San Francisco

Job: Art Director at Wham-O toys. I design all of the print work for FRISBEE, MOREY BODYBOARDS and BZ SURFBOARDS.

Armin, excellent idea.

Name: Eric Tage Larsen

Live: Brooklyn, New York (previously of CA/UT/MN/NV)

Work: Assistant Director for a large galleryin Manhattan. I specialize in American Modernism, however we cover works from Renaissance forward. I also do freelance design for a few agencies in Los Angeles primarily doing branding and print collateral for entertainment and music industry clients. I just landed a job designing a large report for a capital group -- and I'm so happy that i just can't shut up about it!

In a previous life I had some success with illustration (Society of Illustrators XXX, American Illustration XIII.)

Hi, I'm Mike...LBAjazz@aol.com. How ya' doin' ?

Katie Hanburger

Durham, North Carolina

I am currently a multi-tasking graphic designer for the UNC Highway Safety Research Center during the day and I freelance a bit and design sites for friends like Jack and Lulu at night.

I have an unhealthy fixation on the Marc by Marc Jacobs clothing line.

I'm about to move to L.A. to start graduate work at CalArts in Design. I haven't yet reconciled the concurrent and wildly disparate feelings (pure excitement and sheer anxiety) that I've been having about returning to school.

I'm Sam and right now I am waving to you from Brooklyn NY:

I just got back from delivering some disks and now I'm working on some signs. Later I may go get a haircut. Currently listening to a lot of Magnetic Fields and old De La Soul. And I think you look really great in those shoes.

Name: Max Riffner

Place: Omaha, Nebraska

Job: In-house web/graphic designer for Oriental Trading Company.

Love: Comic books (I am finishing my first mini-series at night).

Wish: I would like to combine all the things I love (web, design, and comics) into one business and strike out on my own. One of these days...

Nice to meet all of you!

: Joe Franks

: Denton, Texas

: I'm 21, selftaught. Trying to get a small firm off the ground and about to go to school for the first time. You can find some of my work floating around

Here and Here.

hi there all.

: Tan Le

: seattle

: 34, dad of two. master of none.

I love getting into good verbal arguments with people. I'm the same in real life as I am online, maybe just a little more vivid. I try to avoid insecure people -- too much work, and I'm the kind of person that they have nightmares about. Today, I'm designing a website for a large symphony in the midwest. Seem to be doing lots more web work lately -- not a trend I'd like to continue.

Name: Jason Zimdars

Place: Oklahoma City, OK (via Tucson, AZ; via Milwaukee, WI)

Fact: I'm just a guy trying to do creative work for a living. I've mainly been a corporate in-house designer for smallish companies (one man show kind of thing) but I often with I worked in an agency. The grass is always greener, right? Then again I think as a society we spend too much time working on not enough time living. Maybe freelance is the solution. Maybe not. I come here when I need to get away from the Meaningless and Shallow.

Name: Bryony Gomez-Palacio (Mrs. Vit)

Place of birth: Mexico City

Living in: Chicago, IL

Job: Bagby and Company Inc. - do it all in no time kind of place.

Obsession: lists, lists and lists, a list about anything that can be organized, analyzed or torn into pieces to be put back together again.

Love: pets (currently 2 cats, but have had horses and dogs, and even a possum among other strange animals), photography, getting my hands dirty especially in paint of paper, reading and of course my great love, armin.

Name: Tracy Floyd

Place: Myrtle Beach, SC

Lowdown: My business partner and I are working to get our new two-man design shop off the ground. We're actually painting our office space this week. Fun stuff -- nothing like finally having a place to call your own.

Fact: Speak Up is one of my favorite places, and I spend far too much time on it!

my name is graham and i'm a virgo.

i'm very sad that the love monster, barry white, died at the weekend.

i'd like to invite averyone in the n.y. area to a tequila wake at tortilla flats if i get over there this week (date and time when i know).

i'm never ever gonna stop.

Name: Arturo Elenes

Place:Tijuana, Mexico. (via... Mmmm too many places to quote)

Obsession: Notebooks and writing instruments Work: At a newspaper here in TJ also I do a lot of freelancing and probono work as a way of keeping a very scarce sanity

Love: My wife, this surreal city, bees and ahh yes more notebooks

Saludos

Name: Tarsh Fletcher.

Place: Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

I do: My girlfriend.

Fact: I'm 6'4"

My name is Liz Fulghum

Currently living in Centre[ofnowhere]ville, MD.

Doing Primarily freelance design, programming and writing for the past 7ish years; a working designer.

I'm an exceptionally quiet sort of person; less so online (though not by much); self taught and so read obsessively; itching to move to a job with actual benefits.

Who: Bram Meehan

What: Creative Director at a small advertising/design firm

Where: live in Arlington, Virginia; work in Washington, DC

Why: it's a more interesting and challenging profession than most

When: coming up on eight years here; eleven in the area, after four in Rochester, New York and eighteen in Connecticut

Have recently found a print shop nearby that actually sets metal type and prints letterpress — I'm just trying to come up with something for them to do. A card with my name in Brush Script?

Name: Dana Ditomaso

Place: Hamilton ON Canada

Waking Hours: My company, Liquidesign.

Obscurity: I'm the executive director for a non-profit environmental org in my "spare time".

Matt Wright

Rochester, New York

I just received my BFA from Rochester Institute of Technology this past May. I am currently a freelance web and print designer. I am also attempting to put together a publication relating to art, design, and experience. Check out my work, tell me what you think, I love criticism.

Interesting Fact: I once broke both my wrists at the same time by running into a wall.

name: patric king

place: chicago, il

urls: house of pretty and my personal site.

factoids: currently freelancing with a few different agencies, doing a couple of local fashion designers' identity and webwork, looking for a fulltime gig. formerly of thirst and leapnet. i specialize in conceptual direction and retail typeface design. relentless clubtrash (if anyone wants to meet up i generally do red dog on mondays, smart bar on tuesdays, berlin on thursdays, neo on saturdays, and spy bar on sundays - usually not all of those every week, but that's my dayrunner in a nutshell).

Name: Amanda Woodward

Place: Hickville, aka Edmonton, Alberta, Canada

Facts: Run my little freelance business, Woodward design, during the daytime. Dana is husband, designer, and part time helper in exchange for yummy suppers and *ahem* hugs. Paint, draw, make quirky things, grow plants, blow bubbles and nap by night. Enjoy cooking a mean pot of lentil soup, enjoy polishing off a mean pint(s) of beer, and often dream of illustrating 100% of my day away. Or wearing a glittery red dress and singing jazz music in a smoky lounge. Whichever comes first.

name: Michael Mesker

place: Chicago

work and play: Day | Night

Ah, that felt good.

Take care everyone.

Name: Pedro Vit

Place: Mexico City

Facts: Wannabe designer (I studied graphic design as a second career late in life - first I was a mathematician and probabilistic geek). I do a lot (less than I would like but perhaps more than I can) of freelancing on my free time. I run a business for the last 28 years that has nothing to do with design. Ah and I forgot I'm Armin's father (and proud to be).

Hey.

Bradley Gutting

Designer, VSA Partners in Chicago

bgutting@vsapartners.com

Originally from St. Louis, then went to Indiana University where I studied history and made a few 16mm movies, among other things, and then onto Portfolio Center in Atlanta.

Fun facts? I lived out of a fraternity house at Northwestern University for the first two weeks on the job here. Yikes.

Name: Lisa Aurigemma

Place: Brooklyn, NY

Occupation: Beginning freelance designer, part-time student.

Obsessions: Books, especially old ones with that wonderful musty old-book smell, food (both making and eating), crossword puzzles and obscure trivia.

name: herman maldonado

place: san juan, puerto rico

(originally outta NYC)

career started: 1985

1st studio job: wickham &assoc/washington dc

presently: creative director / hdm design + partners

does anyone remember ruling pens, t-squares and triangles!? before computers & software...that's how we did it!

Wow, so many more people that I imagined. That's very cool.

Me: Jonathan Selikoff

Where: Hoboken, NJ for 3 more weeks, then West Orange, NJ (with stints in Atlanta, GA and Hamburg, Deutschland)

Workin': Freelance, baby! Worked first year for a small mainstream packaging company, then five years in the land of big corporations. Loved the first 3 years of it, not so much the last 2.

Fun facts about Jon: Unrepentant Springsteen fanatic. Wish I'd learned to play guitar in high school, which is why my wife gave me a Fender Strat when I turned 30 and am learning to rock. Favorite pizza topping: meatball and onion. Am currently renovating an old house with no clue as to what I'm doing. And I will, somehow, find, purchase and move a letterpress into my garage.

Name: Michael Hamm

Place: Houston, TX

What: Former small agency designer, then laid off former interactive designer for jpmorgan, gainfully unemployed but living off the fat of the land and contract work. I also teach an online course for Illustrator and run, when it's up, ergodraw.com.

Fact: I used to drive tanks.

Name: Kiran Max Weber

Place: Sea Cliff, New York (40 minutes East of New York City on Long Island)

Fact: Armin will finally receive my author's bio/profile this week!

Corey Holms

I live in Brea, but work 30 miles northwest in Los Angeles, Southern California. My god, it's blindingly hot here.

I am a designer - during the day I work for an entertainment design agency designing movie posters. The thing that keeps me passing open windows is the freelance work I do in the evening and weekends. My typical freelance work is identity and collateral for fashion and architectural clients.

I was fired from my internship at a well known design agency. It was my very first design job and prepared me well for a life of learning hard lessons in the workplace.

Hi everyone! My name is Andrew Shurtz, I live in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, and for some reason the Louisiana State University Press pays me to design books and their covers. I'm 23 years old, graduated from school a mere 7 months ago, and my girlfriend says I read too much.

Somewhat Fun Fact: There's no men's bathroom on the second floor (where I work) -- the press is 90% female, and the decision was made long ago to use the room for storage. As a result, I have to go downstairs.

Felix

NYC

designer /illustrator (once) famous for arguing with Tan, AIGA, and Debbie Millman.

hates red monsters on NYC

horizon.

Hadj Ullelah

Hamburg, Germany

I design for a living, print and web, day and night.

Right now I'm thrilled that the Italic in Centaur is in fact Arrighi.

Name: Priya Patel

Location: Buffalo, NY at the moment.

I'll be finishing my double degree in December... one B.S in Marketing and one B.F.A. in Communication Design at the University at Buffalo. Currently in the process of beginning my own little firm with a friend...we're in the wicked beginning stages, not really an llc yet or anything. just getting work here and there, mostly pro-bono to build relationships and a folio. for now, my work can be seen on my personal site, here.

after december, i have no idea what to do. apply to firms as a marketable employee or forge on ahead on my own? i'll find out in due time.

fact(s): i am five feet tall and have an unhealthy obsession with Martha Stewart and most home furnishings.

lovely meeting you all.

Hi, I'm an old, burnt-out designer, trying to get out. I still love design, just tired of doing it.

Remember U&lc Magazine, anyone? The print version?

I will always keep a toe in the water.

One middle-aged, black woman graphic designer, signing off.

Hi.

Me? I'm Seth Neilson.

I live in North Bend - a small town about half-an-hour east of Seattle with the wife and the 2 leetle boys. We go camping a lot, and tend to get soaking wet whenever we go outside. I do a lot of climbing, and take a lot of pictures.

I want to be a better designer. I dream in half-tones. I am weaning myself from the web, albeit very slowly. I like to make things in my garage like desks and bowls and frames and flaming wheelbarrows.

Currently contracting for a large software company in Redmond, and looking for something a little more. . . anything. Anyone up for starting up a creative co-op?

Name: Anthony Ianniciello

Place: Seattle, WA - Central District

Do: Ala-cart design for a web agency, and work on my house.

Fact: Very jaded as of late.

--debbie, scorpio, jewish, female, leftie

--born and bred in new york, never lived anywhere else

--brought on to Speak Up by Felix and Armin, both whose authenticity and humor I much regard

--nicknamed "she-devil" by Tan, whose ability to see through my soul continues to amaze me

--gaga-crazy about my family and my two wonderous dogs

--love brand design with all my heart and always will

--more excited about what is happening on Speak Up than almost any adventure I have been part of...

Name: Michael Newton

Place: Melbourne, Australia

Do: It says designer on my business card

Fact: I am the caretaker a frog called Elvis

Name: Nat

Location: Chicago (by way of New Jersey and Atlanta)

I just left 3 years of freelancing behind to become an art director at an ad agency (more for the steady paycheck and health insurance than any great desire to be in advertising), but I really just want to be a printmaker.

Lee.

I was born and raised somewhere in the Pacific Ocean. Think "Brooke Shields and Blue Lagoons". Spent considerable time in Sydney Australia before heading to my current location in Asia. Currently co-own and run a small set-up that dabbles in identity, print, interactive and ad campaign work. There's 6 of us full-time and we're into our 3rd year. We've had our fair share of ups and downs like everyone else.

I rarely speak up and am quite media-shy but just this once and just for Amin -this is me: FEED

Who's the birthday boy again?

Name: Jose Illenberger

Place: Manila, Philippines

Fact: I was supposed to major in architecture until i fooled my parents into allowing me to enroll as a BFA major. now im into info architecture (whats up with these fancy names?)

Name: Andy Arikawa

Place: New York, NY

Fact: Once, I stayed at the oldest hotel in Japan. It's a quiet little place, with a great view of mt Fuji. The Emperor used to holiday there. I wonder if he enjoyed the hot springs nearby. I wonder if he saw a monkey?

They smell like sulphur in those parts. The hot springs, not the monkeys —although I can't say for certain about the monkeys. The monkeys are said to frequent the springs in the winter, trying to keep warm like the rest of us. My visit in the spring = no monkey sightings.

I am new to Speak Up, so it is nice to meet you all. Hope I may be able to contribute beneficially to the discussion from now on.

Name: Ben Kiel

Place: Saint Louis for now.

Work: Freelance print and web design. emdash doing letterpress printing and book design. Currently also leaving a job as a part time web designer.

Fact: I lived in Nigeria when I was four.

Name: Kirsten Blair

Place: Portland, OR

Fact: I am a designer at Hot Pepper Studios as well as do several things outside the day job. Great to meet everyone!

Name: Karen Huang

Location: Singapore

When I'm not working, I like to pretend to be a vintage bag and wonder about things like "Which font am I?"

Hi there. My name is Eric Sena. It is almost 11 p.m. here in Los Angeles, and I'm about to give this logo I've been working on a well-deserved rest. Sometimes you just gotta walk away and let it go...

Some quick notes: I'm an art director at a small but ambitious ad agency. I brew my own beer. I used to have a student pilot's license for a hot-air balloon. And about 10 years ago I tried out for "Jeopardy!", but I didn't make it past the first round. Ah well.

Who: Abigail Larsen

Where: Portland, Oregon

What: I've been primarily a web designer and developer for the past 6 years, but I've been a graphic design and typography geek and a lover of paper and ink for a very long time. Since my 4 years of full-time employment in the interactive biz were cut short by the dot.bust in 2001, I've been freelancing and attending design school full-time (when life hands you unemploym... er... lemons... make lemonade :) ). I'll have my BFA in 2005 (yay!).

Cocktail Party Tidbit: I already have a BA in Classical and Near Eastern Archaeology

Geek Cred: I had my first email address in 1989

Kiss-Up Bit: This was a great idea - I love this site and am enjoying finding out about everybody!

Who: Simon Schmidt

Where: Hamburg, Germany

What: Graphic and type design. Currently paying the bills by working freelance as art director in advertising. Would rather do more corporate design.

Fact: I prefer working with people that have a music background.

Name: Jeff Gill

�

Location: Conwy (no broadband), N. Wales, UK

�

Job: Freelance Graphic Design

�

Other Stuff: 1. Lurking on Speak Up take up way too much of my time 2. I'm an American ex-pat. My wife is Welsh. My 5 year-old son was born in the State. My daughter was born 2 days ago here. HOORAY! 3. I haven't updated my website in about a year. 4. I've got a yellow belt in karate which means I know 37 ways to give you a mild bruise using only my bare hands and feet.

Name: Beatriz, but for some strange reason it�s being gradually reduced to just "B".

Place: Burgos (my hometown), Spain

Work: inhouse designer at a publishing & media group, get to do all kind of things (which is both good and bad)

Fact: In a former life I was an economist. Lived in London for 5 years, still my favourite city. Would like to live abroad again but my heart will always be here.

my name is ian crowther, i'm a senior at vassar college in poughkeepsie, ny. majoring in english and art history. i've been working sort of casually as a graphic and web designer for the past few years, and i would like ever so much to work much harder at it for money someday soon.

fact? i will soon be writing one thesis on john gardner's novel the wreckage of agathon and another thesis on something else. i'm working at upgrading the college radio station website (it looks like this now, and will look like this soon). my goal eventually is to become a book designer.

very nice to meet you all. charmed, i'm sure!

I'm Aaron in Tempe, Arizona. I quit my plush but tedious design studio (ha!) job to try and make ends meet with my own thang. I have a mortgage to pay every month which worries me to no end. Right now Flash is paying the bills, and I love that I can combine my programming & design skills in one medium.

Client QOTD: "I don't need identity development, this is all about vector optimization. I just need an hour with you in front of your computer."

Fact I found useful during my early morning scroll through this thread: When clicking links that require a new browser window at full size when you have tabs enabled in Safari, use Shift-Command-Option-Click. Neato.

I'm Erik from Montreal, Quebec. I'm lead designer and work almost exclusively on web and cd-rom, for pharma. :)

I visit Speak Up for the clean design and the interesting, sometimes non-design, conversation.

My name is Mindy

I live in Syracuse, NY (upstate)

Currently Working at Syracuse University as a web designer (this is NOT my site design or arch), after quitting a job as a Graphic, Interface & Web Designer for a small software company that forced me to use PowerPoint and Kinkos.

I'm a pretty big geek and actually enjoy coding web sites, though I enjoy the design phase much more. I loved my college major - Electronic Media Arts and Communication. I lurk around Speak Up because I'm fascinated with print design (which I never get to do) and I think the web desperately needs a design community like this one.

My name is Todd Walker and I live in New York City. I'm not a graphic designer, I'm more of a graphic dabbler or a design aficionado. A design groupie, if you want to look down your nose. I am learning to photograph, slowly. I am a producer at R/GA, an interactive agency here in NYC. And I'm going to school part-time at NYU Stern School of Business to be a brand manager.

My wife is an excellent cook. Lucky me!

I am: Adrian Repasch

I live in: Bluffton, SC

I work for: Hargray - Hilton Head Island, SC

I: Do both Print and Web Design. Graduated from Drexel University in 1998 with a Bachelor of Science in Graphic Design, yep that's a BS in graphic design. Received my MFA from the Savannah College of Art and Design. I freelanced for BFG Communications and myself for 1.5 years until I needed a steady income and started at Hargray this past Feb.

Hi I'm Chris and I'm a workaholic.

When I was in school my instructors thought I would do well as a lawyer or a politician... I never figured out whether that was meant as a compliment or insult. Nevertheless I somewhat took their advise and studied advertising. Fell into the web as a means to pay for school - in the end decide to stick around in the digital realm.

I’m an avid eclectic collector — “packrat” as my friend would say. Enjoy collecting ancient Egyptian artifacts and old newspaper printing plates.

Name: Michael Surtees

Place: Edmonton, AB (via Medicine Hat AB, via Saskatoon, SK)

Fact: My wife Tamara is a way better designer than me and much more positive... go figure

Name: Bob Sherron

Location: St. Louis, MO

Employ: Web designer / developer / programmer for a small networking consultancy firm.

Majored in computer science, minored in painting, would like to pursue more formal design education.

Personal portal here.

Name:Justin Ahrens

Location: The Design Mecca of Elgin, IL, by way of sunny Phoenix, AZ.

Partner at Rule29 Creative. Business seems like it is picking up which makes me all warm and fuzzy. My son is about to crawl, but is a tad frustrated. I feel that way at times.

Wow, I miss a Monday and look what happens...hi everybody!

My name is Paul Kimball (aka pnk), and I'm currently one of two in-house (mostly print) designers at a health care company, although I've done work designing UI's for mobile phones, designing in various interactive media at Scient (back when that meant something), as well as doing a healthy share of freelancing.

I live in San Jose, California with my wife and two kids. I play guitar and sing in a Hank Williams-meets-the-Everly-Brothers type duo that we just this weekend decided to name The Railbirds. I have a glass eye.

Name: Kevin Yuen-Kit Lo

I'm currently living in Montréal working as a freelance graphic designer for a variety of non-profit organisations but will soon be moving to the Netherlands to attend the Masters Programme in Graphic Design at St. Joost Academie.

I know I'm breaking the rules of this thread a little, but if anyone has any info on Rotterdam (especially on finding a place) please contact me. Thanks!

Name: Dan D Shafer

Location: Alameda, CA (an island off the coast of Oakland)

Just the Facts: Running a little design studio out of my basement, teaching design to community college students, going back to school in the fall for a Master's in Design.

hi all. i'm rob, from san diego and i'm a musician in a band named Gleek. I've got no real design skills of my own, but a great appreciation for the art, espeically when it comes to album art. oh, and i work in the advertising industry..

Name: Dave Kaplan

Work: Tanagram, now Tanagram Partners, for the past 3.75 years. I'm in about my 8th as a working professional.

I have lived in Chicago since birth. Did grafitti, ran subway tunnels, snuck into train and bus yards in the 80s. After not finishing college I was a partner in a men's sportswear company that never took off. I know hard work and I know failure.

I love silkscreening, built my own exposure box, and I am hard at working turning the basement of my house into a silkscreen studio. The only thing I like to do more than make art and work at design, is home renovation and there is plenty of that at my house.

Speak up is one of the places I check out daily and look forward to it's evolution.

Name: Tom Cox

Place: Northern suburbs of Atlanta, GA for 36 years - except for the college years in Athens.

I am a Choc-O-holic! I knew Armin before the fame and spot lights. Devoted to my wife, son and daughter. I feel constantly called to the history and future of design and creative communication. I remember agonizing over a project for hours - how to create a perfect visual representation of what I had for breakfast that morning - so much so that I never even started it. I was in first grade.

Currently illustrating/designing 2nd in a series of children’s books. Consulting Creative Director for a large catalog/retail company - just finishing a total brand identity that has taken almost 2 years. Freelance design for Christian music labels and promoters. Working on a business plan for a very different creative studio that my 8 year old son wants to call "Tom's Famous Art Studio". We'll see.

Previously - 8 years Brand Graphics Identity/Packaging designer for The Coca-Cola Company. I designed the original logo and packaging for Surge. For most of the 90's I was a part of or saw firsthand the development of all brand identities for Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, Sprite, Fanta, etc., etc., etc. In-house designers were really considered small potatoes in the corporate structure, HOWEVER there was a huge row of file cabinets around the corner from my office where ALL the design firm portfolios from all over the world sent to Coke were stored! I would spend hours absorbing them. It was an incredible learning experience!!!

I love SpeakUp!

Home (for now): Los Angeles, CA

An 8 year veteran of 3 small ad agencies and 2 small design firms, Mr. E. is currently riding out the bad economy at a nice, secure in-house design position where he never works more than 40 hours a week, and has loads of time to look at websites like this.

Actually it's very frustrating from a creative standpoint, but I have a few freelance clients to help keep my sanity.

name: magnus rakeng

location: oslo, norway

work: allround graphic designer.

likes best: small projects that i can finnish fast. (i'm easily bored).

worst: design manuals for corporate identities.

-- remember to spend more time with the ones you love than on graphic design--

name: Jason Hintze

place: Seattle, WA

fact: Shamefully, I don't officially work in design of any sort, though I seem to be doing it constantly anyhow. Obsessed with it, actually. Moving away from print/web and more into furnishings and interiors. Latest obsession: Carlo Scarpa's museum interiors. Specifically, the mounting fixtures and interiors at the Castelvecchio Museum in Verona. Definitely some of the most stunning things I've ever seen.

I'm Joerg Metzner

Germany > Ireland > USA > LA > Evanston, IL

I am restless, I believe in community and our collective ability to shape the way we live.

who: albert reinhardt

what: freelance designer via designing educational games and marketing @ a technology company

where: san francisco

fact: I get to make sourdough bread every week since I work at home. Working and living at home can get tedious though so I ride my fixed gear bike through golden gate park's hidden trails to unwind.

Yes, I missed a day too, but I add this to the list:

Name: Michael Wiemeyer

Location: New York, Brooklyn

Relocated from Germany to NY in 1993. After several years (7) at a small design firm - Carla Hall Design Group - in New York with the focus on integrated communications (I remember the buzz word discussion a while ago in this forum and "integrated" is definitely one of those), I have decided to set up shop a year ago. Company name: Designlounge. As principal and as part-time freelancer, I am also helping other design firms with a few projects, including a just finished Annual Report, and an - yes - integrated communications package for a start-up company in the healthcare sector. I love print, but embrace the web as well. There are always images and ideas behind any code.

I have also been a print maker for many years. I am a member of the Art Students League in NY, an art institution that offers everybody of any level who is interested in fine arts a place and studio to work. I found that to be unique. I create prints using etching, mezzotints, mono prints and photo etching techniques. Nothing better than to get a real work-out when printing an edition of 60 prints.

Design and communication strategies for clients and the communities I care for are my passion. That will stay that way.

Name: Jayna Wallace

Location: Columbus, OH

I'm another one of those quiet people.

I attended one year at the Columbus College of Art and Design, then transferred to one of the best football school's in the country (if that's any indication of what kind of art department they have). Spent a few years learning on my own (in college) and then got a fulltime job doing interactive design for a local video and film company. Quit two years later (the President of the company kept referring to me as an intern). Spent a year freelancing on my own until I got another fulltime job doing print design. It was then I realized print design is not my calling. So I went back to freelancing for a few weeks until I somehow manged to land a great job doing interactive design. And I couldn't be happier.

Fact: Many of my friends are in rock bands.

I'm Bryan Stroud. I'm live in Columbus, Ohio and I work at a radio station as Sales + Marketing Co�rdinator.

I read Speak Up, Typographi.ca and a few other sites as a means of self-education and inspiration for the Information Architecture aspect of my job. I design and assemble the one-sheets and sales presentations that represent us. I also get to do fun stuff like design backstage passes or other VIP laminates for concerts around town. I think I do pretty well for having Microsoft Publisher and an HP Colorjet as my primary means of production and no formal training in any artistic discipline.

I dig William Golden, Thirst (their Gary Fisher stuff rules), and the ugly beauty of Cooper Black & design from the late 1970's - early 1980's.

This is for Sam. (We need eight more, peeps!)

Name: Joy Miller

Place: NW Indiana (work in Chicago, though)

Fact: I spent five years editing and running an ezine called "BEEF: the meat." Before I went to college to study computer graphics (go Boilermakers!?), I was certain I would become a writer. Albeit one who doesn't have the best grammar and who loves to use catch-phrases from the 80s still.

Name: Rebecca Gimenez

Regional Affiliation: displaced Midwesterner

Grew up in: Northwest Indiana (Joy, where you at girl?)

Likes: Looting

Dislikes: Being looted

Damien

Currently: San Francisco, previously in the UK, prior to that San Francisco, prior to that the UK and prior to that the Bay Area, prior to which I was born in the UK. It's a mystery why I don't just stay in between the two in NY.

FACT: (in lieu of anything interesting about myself)

A member of my family died climbing Everest in 1924, unable to shed any light on whether he and Mallory had been able to summit 28 years before Hillary and Tenzing did.

Hi, I am Briar Waterman

Just moved back to Seattle after spending a few years in Vallejo, CA.

I started off working as a sound designer recording and compressing voices for toys. I have meet Barney and all the Teletubbies. I know how they made Tubby Custard.

name: Bernadette Milan

at: San Jose, CA

work: lucky enough to get a graphic design job right out of school. (did i mention that I had done 18 years of schooling before figuring out I wanted to get into graphic design and starting that program?)

fact: I'm a FoodTV fanatic and am a big fan of Alton Brown's show Good Eats.

Name: Davin Risk

Location: Toronto, Canada

"Job": I co-run a design studio called Fluffco with my partner Gayla. We do a mishmash of interactive and print projects.

Fact: I have a degree in interdisciplinary fine art and no formal design or technical training. Make of that what you will...

Since I'm way late posting this introduction, I obviously don't check into Speak Up enough.

Hello! My name is Kate and I am a graduate student in design at the University of Nebraska in lincoln.

I like long walks on the beach, fluffy kittens and fuzzy sweaters.

I also like to buy things.

introducing part of my thesis:

http://www.obsessiveconsumption.com

hello graphic design human beings,

my name: d.u.menon

an indian(not red!) making a living riyadh(saudi Arabia, i am ok here).

corporate graphic designer in a leading bank's marketing communications department.

an avid "HOW" reader. craving for "STEP in design".

hello Steve Jobs, can you give me a "G5" in return i will give my beige "G3"!

would love to get into the world of motion graphics and FinalCut Pro.

hate ibm, excel and power point.

love quark, illustrator and photoshop.

tried director- lingo and script is not a designer's language.

paint, when wife and children away.

Kevin McGuire lives in a very boring town named Mount Pleasant, Michigan. There is no mountain there, and yes, he's sick of that joke.

Kevin also is still in college. Only one class away from being a graduate. Kevin is very scared about finding a job in the "real world."

Kevin likes to argue with people. Sometimes Kevin will pretend to be very angry about something when he is really not just for fun. He also likes various types of cheese.

Kevin believes that he is also the 100th person to post on this topic. Yay for number 100.

Kevin wishes you a good day.

********

From Speak Up Crowd Control Center:

Hi. This is Armin. Sorry for using your comment for this Kevin, but if we want to get to a 100 show of hands we have to do it right. I had to go in and delete 4 of the comments that had already been posted, because they were not introductions. So, Kevin, you are actually number 96... and that ain't that bad man.

I know there are more lurkers out there to get us to at least 200 so don't be shy, nobody here is biting. Yet.

Thanks, we can now go back to our regular posting.

Hi I'm Swami.

I work at a design/animation place in Studio City, and when I'm out hiking I make ad hoc sculpture out of found objects.

It's my first visit to this very nicely done site.

Name: Chris Ford

Place: Brighton, UK. Right by the sea, in fact.

Fact: I knew DamienN (erstwhile contributor at su) when he was serving coffee in an internet cafe in Cambridge.

name: neha mehta

place: i was raised in bombay, india and started my design education there...i have been in chicago for the past five years, working as a graphic designer.

fact: i did my senior thesis on chocolates!

Name: Lisa White

Location: New York City

I was told I would win a prize for being the 100th entry. I've been patiently waiting since July 7th to speak up...

Occupation: Relationship development and management

Fact: I've been thinking a lot about my future lately.

Obsessions and Guilty Pleasures: true crime forensic shows on Court TV and Coke Slurpees

Confession: I pretend to be shy and so had to be bribed to say hello

Danny. Experimental Jetset. Amsterdam. Vegetarian.

hullo. I'm Jenny. I work at a very large software company in the Pacific Northwest designing UI for a very prominent OS. I went to design school with Bryony and took a typeface design class from Armin. They are both WONDERFUL. Future plans include getting my letterpress up & running and surfing in Costa Rica.

Name: Grant Hutchinson

Place: Calgary, Alberta

Facts: I generally try to make web sites look good, despite the marketing and business requirements. More specifically, I work at Veer. I'm in Minneapolis for TypeCon this week. Maybe I'll see some of you there. Eat. Drink. Sleep. Kern.

hi, I�m Vanessa.

It seems that I�m one of the rare people from europe, germany, bavaria, munich.

What else: graphic design student, mainly print design, freelancing (business cards, posters, some websites (i�m not proud of them)).

What else else: the weather is fine in munich. wondering if anybody of you has seen munich or even heard munich before. It�s 11 am and I have to finish I poster for a ABBA Cover Band (that sucks, everything what they want is copyright infringement).

That�s all.

Vanessa

Live in beautiful Iowa, the middle of the USA.

What a treat! to stumbled on this site while looking for freelance work, I've been looking at this screen for the past 4 1/2 hours, *$&^@#!^()%$!. But I made a major stop here, I've read each & every entry! It's nice to find some communication from others in the industry.

55 years old, yes I know what a t-square and triangle are.

I just finished almost 17 years as a print production manager-no-I'm not a graphic designer!

I was the one who came to you to start another job when you were already overworked, the one to schedule your workload, handle all those vendors for you, keep the riff-raff away from your space so you could work and taught the Account Execs how to set up their projects so we could do our jobs. Didn't choose to leave my profession, but a product of the downsizing in Corporate America, it sucks.

Anyway, I have enjoyed this and would like to come back. In the meantime, regards to all & let's do this again.

SA

better late than never...

just found out about this site...

name: peter scherrer

i'm running a small design studio in l.a., ca

studio mousetrap. dealing mostly with corporate id.

issues. at least that is what i tell myself.

cheers,