About

This site exists largely as a “parrot blog” (regurgitating interesting things I see on the Web, and thus furthering the 80/20 rule), a design playground (in graphic minimalism), and an expirement in Search Engine Optimization.

Along the way it has become a repository for interesting articles, resources, and other helpful items I find that I don’t want to lose. Every once in a blue moon I actually get around to posting an original thought about the Web. You can also find a partial portfolio of my work here.

Perhaps by some accident, something on here will be useful to you.

About Matt

I fancy myself to be the consummate “Jack-of-all-trades, master of none”. Throughout life I have always had a wide variety of interests. I never fit into any of the cliques in high school. I was a jock, but also a band geek, and artist, a book worm, and, generally, a nerd. In college, I started off in Engineering (computer engineering to be exact) and ended up graduating with a degree in Psychology and Religious Studies. I think I’ve had a class in every single one of Iowa State University’s buildings. Naturally, this translated to my career.

As a Web Designer, I have a love for art, and a knack for code. I found myself able to speak both languages, so, very naturally fit right in to a “front-end architecture” role, being able to bridge the gap from the designers to the programmers. I have as much fun laying a page out in Photoshop (Fireworks, actually, is my weapon of choice), or marking that page up in XHTML/CSS, as I do of massaging in dynamic functionality with JavaScript and PHP.

I am currently principal designer for Weblogs Inc., an AOL company that runs about 40 very high powered blogs including engadget.com, tuaw.com, autoblog.com, joystiq.com, downloadsquad.com, and others. I am in charge of design direction and tending the front-end development of these sites.

I also help to lead our church’s college ministry. I serve as a music coordinator and mentor of young men, helping them to figure out what direction God might have for them in their life.

I am a child of God. I grew up in a very religious setting, but threw that all away when I went to college. What I found instead was a very real, very caring, very active God who wants to interact personally, outside of the mandates and rules of an institution.

I am a husband, father, musician, and computer geek. I wish I were a Rock Star, Dragon Slayer, Visionary, and Spaceman. I am a Dreamer, Crusader, and Insufferable idealist. I buck at stereotypes, though I fit several. I delve into my family, relationships, career, and hobbies with passion and fury. I’m young and naive and hope to remain that way.

If you really need to know more: mattandnancy.org