About

I'm a New Zealand citizen trying to make my way in the world to find ways to do things that are at my core, with a big factor being making different things as that truly is my passion. Currently I would characterize myself as a multidisciplinary professional with expertise in UX design, UX research, Video editing, and 3D art. I combine user-centered methodologies with a strong visual sensibility to create engaging digital experiences and compelling visual content. I strive to deliver thoughtful, effective solutions across a range of media.

For my studies, I'm a graduate of Dev Academy for Web Development and a graduate of Yoobee College of Creative Innovation for 3D Modelling & Animation. As I wanted to get a foundation to work with 3D assets to work in the games industry and was trying for a change of pace with Web Development.

Currently I'm at the stage of my life where I want to move onto what's next, so I'm trying to make that change towards further development. While I have foundations in these areas I’m wanting to improve my skills to new heights and have the opportunity to work towards areas that I have wanted to try for a long time. Which has led me to look into areas of 3D modelling, 3D animation, Video editing, UX design, UX research and Game design, as making things is at my core.

In my current employment I work as a Customer Researcher & Designer for a start up company called Clutterbot, who are in stages of development to make a robot to help with over worked parents. Below I also have listed my previous roles that I have worked at and my previous education.

If you have any questions or items that are of interest, please send me a message via my contact page.

Roles

Current Role:

  • Customer Researcher & Designer at Clutterbot - Full Time - Present

Previous Roles:

  • Data Collector at Clutterbot - Full Time - 1 year

  • Short Course Tutor at Yoobee College of Creative Innovation - Part Time role - 1 session

  • HQ Support at NZ Electoral Commission - Temporary role - 3 weeks

  • ICT Support Technician at Aiscorp - Part Time role - 4 years

  • ICT Support Technician at OnestopIT - Part Time role - 3 years, 1 Work Experience year

Education

Dev Academy:

Level 6 Training Scheme in Web Development, Web Development
Bootcamp - 2022

Yoobee College of Creative Innovation:

Diploma of Animation (Advanced) - 2014 - 2015

Diploma in Animation & Digital Video - 2013

Certifications

Webflow:

Webflow101

Alison.com:

A Complete Guide to User Experience

User Interface Design with Figma

2D and 3D Programing using WebGL

3D Printing with Windows 10

Google Digital Garage:

Fundamentals of Digital Marketing

Prosple:

Capgemini's Consulting Virtual Experience

Career Interests

Currently my career interests revolve around these points:

  • UX Design

  • UX Research

  • 3D Modelling & Animation

  • Video Editing

  • Game Design

UX Design & Research

This has been a change of career for me but I have an interest in elements of the work, as it combines my design background as well as previous web development thinking and my experience with IT support. While I have done some short certifications, a lot of my experience in this area has been on the job at Clutterbot to get some fundamentals and I’m looking to push that further. Out of the two I am more interested in design as that is more at my core than research but have experienced both and would like to try and become more proficient with techniques related to both as they intertwine a lot.

I am hoping with this line of work I can work towards Product design type roles, or something that allows a range of design type work.

3D Modelling & Animation

My main passion would be 3D art and I was wanting to try to earn a living with my 3D art. I have studied originally at Yoobee College of Creative Innovation and also in my own time. I will always have a spot in my mind of wanting to work on games, but I know that the games industry is tough in many different ways from experience. However I'm still interested in this area to this day and while I have mainly had personal experience, I have not had any proper work experience in a studio, asides from self directed asset generation at my role in Clutterbot. So for now I'm open to any internships if they are offered or any entry level positions if mentorship is offered

Should things still not work out in that way, I fully intend on trying to make my own designs for a side project to potentially grow to something successful. Whether they be my own games or my own miniature line for a tabletop style game which is my current side project for my own IP, that way I know myself that I gave it all my effort.

As I have stated previously I just enjoy making different things. I'm looking to improve my skills when I can so I reach a point I'm happy with and I'm up to learning new programs such as ZBrush, Unreal Engine and Substance Painter. Ideally down the road I would like to get involved with character sculpting and 3D printing. For my current 3D portfolio check my portfolio page on Artstation.

Video Editing

A reignited interest for me has been in Video Editing. I have a basic understanding and have made a variety of personal videos for portfolios and for professional work have created several in-house videos for showcasing information. I am looking to further improve this skill set so I can try different techniques and video types like music videos or game related videos. While I don’t have a direction for this yet, whether that be marketing or general video edits, I would be eager at jumping at the chance to explore these skills, as storytelling as a skill is at my core.

Game Design

While I would prefer to be part of the creation of art assets for a game as that is where more of my passions lie, I would like to explore an interest in the design of games, for examples such as level, character and story design, as well as mechanics. As I believe I could bring a variety of background experience to this area, I’m looking into seeing what can be done in this area

I will state that I am always open to new opportunities should they present themselves, even if they don’t fully fit into what I have in mind. I have also had previous web development training but has not been a focus for me for some time now, I was interested in focusing on Three.js but never had the opportunity to pursue this due to the state of opportunities.

Hobbies & Personal Interests

In my personal life, I try to get to a range of different activities that I enjoy, either on my own or with friends. Here are some of the highlights to get an understanding of what’s important to me outside of professional life:

  • Dungeons & Dragons, I have a frequent game between friends over the years of different campaigns and range of different characters played.

  • Drawing, Both digitality and physically as it’s a bit of fun and I’m wanting to find my own art style.

  • Miniature painting, While I don’t play the specific games associated with them besides Dungeons & Dragons, I like the crafting behind miniatures and being able to craft small scenes. Looking to further improve in this area with different techniques however due to the cost they are now it’s a slow progression.

  • Magic the Gathering & other card games, As a group activity with my friends it does take some time but is a good bit of fun.

  • 3D art, while this is still professional I have been working on improving my skills in my downtime in order to work on my own IP in the hopes of making my own game or miniature line as a side business.

  • Video games, I mostly stick to Single player games on PC but I’m a sucker for a good story game like Mass Effect or Baldur’s Gate 3.

  • Board games, As part of a social thing, especially as a flat thing, I have developed a bit of a board game interest, though while I do like some more than others a recent one that I have enjoyed playing is Dungeon Mayhem.

  • Cooking, While I might not be the best cook I’m always looking at trying new things and getting better at different recipes.

All the while trying to maintain a healthy wellbeing, exercise routine and finding other activities to add to my list of interests.

I also have a list like many people do of things I would either like to try or get into at some stage, as I am wanting to try out new things to expand what I can do:

  • 3D Printing, I’m hoping to get my own 3D printer to help with working towards my personal IP ideas.

  • Writing for storytelling & world building, As an addition to the IP work I’m trying to do having a compelling story to go along with it would be ideal so working on these skills would be handy to do.

  • Wood working, as I seem to have a core drive to be making something I want to have a go at trying this angle with something physical that could also benefit my miniature painting/crafting skills.

  • Furniture Flipping, as a sub part of wood working this could be a combination and maybe a small side business idea.

  • Getting back into music, Either picking the guitar back up or starting to learn piano just to learn a few songs or tunes that have meaning to me.

  • Baking, This falls into the similar reasoning behind cooking but just wanting to try some different things as it would be nice to have a range of things if entertaining people.

  • Astronomy, As I have an interest in space I would like to get more into this area whether it’s just spending a night looking through a telescope, or combining this with photography to start astrophotography.

  • Archery, Most likely had some inspiration from different media but would like to give it more of a go as I enjoyed the chances I got on family trips.

  • VR, as another 3D area I would like to see what other things can be done with VR as I’ve only dabbled in it.

I’m always on the lookout for any other new ventures that I might dive into as you never know what’s around the corner and a new interest could inspire me to push forward.

Drawing & Painting Showcase

As an addition, this section is just to showcase more of my hobbies with the work that I feel like sharing. As both drawing and painting are areas I enjoy and want to improve on.