About Me

who's behind the curtain?

I'm Eric, and I recently graduated from the University of Pennsylvania having majored in Digital Media Design with minors in Psychology and Fine Arts.

My major is a combination of technology, design and communication. I love making things work, solving problems creatively and designing things. When I say "design" I don't just mean icons or graphic design - I mean design as a whole, on a large scale: the fusion of technology with humanity/psychology and the arts, putting the human experience first from when you create the product to how it gets used. I'm an idea person and I naturally find myself in the leadership positions where I end up putting the best of all worlds together to make something. I feel I have a strong sense of how things should look and feel.

I have most of the notable qualities of the "introverted engineer" and the "extroverted artist" but I'm neither. I'm the middle-man, the communicator. For most of my life, I created printed page layouts, combining text and graphics into intriguing designs and guiding the production process as I revamped my high school's newspaper. I also had a strong passion for architecture, floor plans and interior design. Originally decided to pursue architecture in college, I instead turned to the layouts and spaces in the digital media world, pursuing HCI and interaction design. I love doing anything related to design, technology and communicating that design through the technology.

I really don't like when I don't understand something. I have a hard time using frameworks when I code because I don't like treating a folder of scripts as a "black box" that just works. I need to know how it works and be able to make my own versions. I do this by staying up all night if I have to, running tests and experiments in order to figure something out.

I love when I am able to do something that positively affects others. When I was young, it was to create a cartoon series that everyone would enjoy. When I turned to architecture, it was about creating spaces that people liked being in. In regard to websites, I really care about creating a product that will be useful to many people and I'm always thinking of new ideas.

User Experience Design isn't my life. Or maybe it's just 90% of it. I've also been playing piano since I was 4 and have done acting (concentration in improv) for several years as well. I also practice magic, stand-up comedy, engage in random film-making and am interested in teaching, MS Paint, kayaking, rafting, psychology, journalism, writing, squash, animals (esp. squirrels) and movies.