About me

I’m a visual news designer with 30+ years of experience in both magazines and newspapers.

I grew up in the small, western Kansas town of Palco and attended Fort Hays State University. I've worked at newspapers in Omaha, Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Ardmore, Okla. (along with a now-defunct Big 12 sports magazine in Kansas City, Mo.).

During my 12 years in Omaha, I worked with an incredible staff of designers, photographers and editors to create print pages that were lively, engaging and informative. I spent a lot of time staring at the ceiling or surfing design books and the Internet, looking for that spark of inspiration. My co-workers discovered that sometimes my crazy ideas (like theming an entire 30+ page college football special section around food) weren't so crazy. I gained valuable experience in managing and supervising a team of designers, graphic artists and illustrators while promoting collaboration throughout the newsroom.

In 2018, my wife’s job brought us to Washington, D.C. A few months after that, I got the opportunity of a lifetime to work as a designer at National Geographic – the magazine I grew up reading on the living room floor. In my six years at Nat Geo, I worked on stories ranging from caves to carbon removal. Working with some of the world’s best cartographers and graphics editors allowed me to hone my art direction skills, and collaborating with the world’s best photographers and photo editors allowed me to focus on how to tell the most powerful visual story possible in print and digital formats.

In 2024, we decided to move closer to family and now live in Fort Collins, Colo., and now I’m working as a contract designer. My first big task has been designing Portland Magazine, the University of Portland’s alumni magazine.

In my spare time, you can usually find me binge watching the latest true-crime documentaries with my wife, Katie, watching sports or playing with our three cats.