L E V I A T H A E N

So, I've finally created a website. 

Honestly, I had tried this once before when I was in high school, but it wasn't particularly easy. Doing any sort of coding was a task that often flew over my head. I sort of got the hang of it when I was with Sons Of Nero crafting custom Myspace pages, but much of that technical credit would be attributed to my colleagues at the time. Nonetheless, here we are. 

Alright, so if you're interested to know who I am, this would be the place for it. I've pretty much survived off freelance work from my early teen years till now. There was a brief period in time when I was 16 that I worked for a country club stringing rackets for their tennis shop. I wasn't particularly good at tennis, but I knew how to string a racket and my mother enjoyed playing / knew the pros who managed the shop. Fast forward to my junior year in college, and I'd find myself working part time for a large garment printing company (DLAB Screen Printing). This was short lived unfortunately, as their creative department encountered some internal managerial conflicts, and I would decidedly return back to focusing on school and freelance as a result. After I graduated, I found myself back in the creative department of another screen printing business for a short time (Raw Talent), until I moved up to New Jersey. I lived in NJ for about a year, but before we dive into my adulthood, we have a few points of interest to cover.  

I've been drawing with various mediums since before my memory serves me, and all I have to base that off of are stories my mother shares of my scribbling on walls in crayon. I'm sure most kids do this, so it's not particularly novel, but it's a starting point no less. In high school, prior to my using the computer to create art, I'd draw stuff for friends. More specifically, I'd draw stuff for friends who liked to play music, and the result of these drawings would serve as "album covers" for their "mix tapes / demos." Eventually, i'd gain access to a copy of Adobe Photoshop 6.0 and this is probably the dawn of my unyielding attachment to a computer (much to my mother's dissatisfaction). It's worth noting, however, that my childhood best friend's father was a professional photographer, and my familiarity with adobe products / computer creativity started at an early age through the candid use of the smudge tool (whenever he'd allow me to play on his historic monument of a Macintosh). 

While cruising through high school, my free time would be occupied with friends in an investigative effort to discover new bands. This generally started through peer2peer applications that Lars Ulrich would disapprove of, but eventually moved into networking sites - the first of which being mp3.com. It was here that i'd be able to connect with underground bands in an effort to build friendships and business relationships while offering what novice creative services I could as I continued to educated myself and explore the software made available to me. 

This grew quickly, and I was suddenly working on album covers, posters, merchandise designs, logos, and taking live / promotional photos for bands under Sony, Universal, Warner, Wind Up, and a thorough variety of independents. It was never something I assumed would become a "career," but because it was providing a notable income for me, I was afforded the opportunity to avoid applying for your typical teenage-level jobs. By the time I had graduated high school, I had a few job offers to continue my creative work in the music business; however, my parents were adamant about my going to college (which was a smart decision in the grand scheme of things). The Savannah College of Art and Design also caught wind of my career opportunities and offered a $60,000 scholarship for my consideration of attending the school. So, that's where I would spend the next 4 years and graduate from with a degree in Graphic Design. Of course, that wasn't a full ride scholarship - albeit a noteworthy one - so I would continue to do freelance while in school. Prior to my decision to go to college, I had teamed up with two guys who started a design company called Sons Of Nero. This would be home to my growing success and acknowledgment in the world of music design.

I learned a lot by working with them. So much so that it allowed me to excel through college with a degree of ease and appreciation. It also exposed me to a lot of social culture and interaction, both for good and bad. I would subsequently study a good deal of behavioral psychology, business economics, and philosophy out of pure intrigue for my own adaptations. This would ultimately feed my entrepreneurial mind of survival. 

When I completed college, I would travel up to NJ in pursuit of a relationship that also afforded me the opportunity to work more closely with my SONs colleague, Matthew Hay, as well as Ferret Music and Eyeball Records. Ultimately, after a year up north, I'd transitionally find myself in North Carolina building a relationship with Drew Fulk (Think Sound Studios / Wzrd Bld) and Tragic Hero Records; thus bouncing back and forth between there and Georgia. 

Around 2009 I started exploring the world of cinematography. I'd compound this growing knowledge with my work in design, illustration and branding to try and stay ahead of the competitive market curve. In this time period, Matt ultimately called it a day with Sons Of Nero and teamed up with Jonden Jackson to create Forefathers Group, a design company focused on web development and branding. I stuck around the circle for a bit, helping on things where I was needed, but ultimately went down my own path with a drive for learning more about content development. This would keep me productive up to the fall of 2012, where I made an effort to turn video into a primary source of income. I briefly tried getting into the equipment rental game, and while that was a particularly eye-opening and challenging experience (given the intense technological growth in the market), I was fortunately able to shift and help create / contribute in content development for a variety of clients and colleagues appealing to a broad range of demographics; Most notably in communion with the very talented cinematographer, Kevin Johnson (Hometown Crew). I have been very fortunate to work with him on a variety of projects that have allowed my experience and knowledge to grow at several junctions. 

Come 2014, I'd try my hand at starting a business with James Cassells of Asking Alexandria called Himeros. This endeavor involved developing a custom boxer brief / compression short line that presented quite the learning curve. Sourcing custom manufacturing inside the United States proved particularly difficult for our choice product, and the endeavor as a whole was extensively time consuming as it required an understanding of appropriate textile sourcing / fabric selection, stitching / sewing, and garment design. Fortunately, these presented challenges allowed me to learn select operations of the industry and it's various manufacturing methods, as well as how to build relevant, compelling pitch decks and scaleable business models surrounding various needs and marketplace saturations. With this, I applied an extraordinary degree of energy in the aesthetics and operations of the company, was able to produce an exploratory run of product and packaging samples, and was fortunate to partner with a group of truly impressive team players. Despite current hurdles in manufacturing that have put this venture on hold for the time being, this is very much a business I take significant pride in and hope to see through in the near future. 

Additionally, between 2014 and 2017, I was fortunate to meet and work with Addison Shelton and his teams, aiding in occasional creative services, product design, and brand development with his industrial engineering and prototyping endeavors (Task Lab and Kickr Design). In his company, I would get a taste of what it is to facilitate product design with an engineering mindset. It aided my ability to think more practically and tangibly about a product's value and use in it's intended market space.

To top it all off, i've been fortunate to work with companies like Gpen on creating exploratory visual assets that work in harmony with their already dynamic, unique, and artistic product marketing; as well as working in developing various pitch decks and popup shop campaigns for people like Rae Sremmurd, Mike Will, Kylie and Kendall Jenner, and companies like Netflix and Playboy. 

So after this particularly long-winded biographical overview, I suppose I should land on the here and now.

Ultimately, given much of my experience, I find most of my enjoyment comes from working with a team, and not only working towards a goal or collection of goals, but also aspiring towards creative solutions and opportunities that haven't otherwise been considered. To not only think outside the box, but to go so far as to think about the box's ability to expand and improve; to stay relevant. To ask yourself if the box could somehow become a sphere, and in doing so, what could that accomplish amidst an industry full of boxes eager to evolve into some polygonal or geometric counterpart. The economics and social atmosphere surrounding product marketing and advertising is always changing, and I'm actively intrigued by a company's will power to try and keep up with that demanding change. I yearn to contribute towards such endeavors that ultimately keep you on your toes with your brain productivity well into your sleep schedule.

With everything i've learned over the past 19 years (through my successes and failures, through my extensive social interactions, business managerial standpoints, organization, leadership rolls in overseeing project execution, individual / team cooperations, and my purely analytical nature), i'd like to continue to build potential. Not just in myself, but for any business or brand I associate with.    

And on that note, I'll let you get back to more important things.

Thank you for your time.