I went to college for biology and even began graduate school for an advanced degree in the biological sciences. During my time in college, I took design classes as a hobby and worked within the industry to make ends meet. Although science and biology are my passion, it was not nearly as fulfilling as designing was for me, and quickly worked my way up in the industry – then I opened my own business in 2001.

I am a Mac fanatic, a movie enthusiast and a political history buff. Obsessed with technology, I’m up on all the latest trends and incorporate that into my business strategy – my clients are pleased to know they will not be left in the dust as soon as their site goes live!

Wake up. Drink coffee. Check Email. Drink coffee. Spend the next few hours dealing with issues that evolved overnight, catching up with clients and reviewing the status of each project. Drink coffee. Once I’m awake, and warmed up, I start designing (process is a secret!) Drink coffee & grab a bite to eat. Spend some time playing with my twins. Go to bed.

First, I was born and raised in Pittsburgh – so coming here was a homecoming for me. Pittsburgh is bittersweet. On the plus side it is a wonderful place to raise a family: diversity, rich in history and culture, small but with a “big city” feel, and with a strong sense of community. On the negative side, though, Pittsburgh is shrinking (both in population and economically.) This makes working here a struggle, but I’m here to stay and am determined to make a great living while at it.

As a result of the economic struggles, a significant amount of our business is out of state: New York, Georgia, Florida, Ohio, Illinois, New Mexico, and Washington. We are spending a lot of time targeting these, and other marketplaces. We have found that our rates, although extremely attractive and competitive in Pittsburgh, are very enticing to those in more expensive markets!

Though we have become a national company, we’re always more at home at home!

Before freelance networks were popular, Digispire was one of the first companies to take a bunch of hungry folks (following the dot-com bust) and promote their skills to companies looking for a break, since their online budgets had been cut drastically. Digispire kept its overhead very low by having no central office and no payroll – making us very popular in the business community.

I had risen to the ranks of operational and project manager in the web design industry (as well as print and other various graphic design businesses) and, together with two other highly experienced managers, we combined our pool of professionals we had worked with personally, as well as our ability to lead and direct those individuals, and formed a network that was second-to-none!

Since that time, Digispire has incorporated and developed into a solid company with groups of workers who dedicate their time to Digispire, rather than “outsourcing” the labor to these professionals. Digispire, none-the-less, has not given up the concept of “virtual offices” in that we still have no central office – everyone at Digispire telecommutes. We have people that work in Florida, Massachussetts, Ohio, Illinois and California – that is the beauty of the Internet – our communication is all online, and instantaneous. In many respects, we are more in contact with each other than if we all occupied the same physical space! To our clients, we are still passing those cost savings along to them, creating the only such niche in our region.

While the prefix Digi- has its obvious connotations, “spire” has several meanings, all of which I feel are appropriate to who we are, though there are two that stand out:

1. (This was the original impetus for the name) Derived from the Latin “spiro”, meaning breath of life, breath, breathing; mind; spirit, “soul”. In other words, the digital realm, brought to life. Another derivative of “spiro” is inspiration or inspired, so we often refer to ourselves as “Digitally Inspired”.
2. (From Wikipedia) A spire, with its reminiscence of the spear point, gives the impression of strength… to reach up toward the skies.

While Web design is possibly the most fulfilling, since you can do just about anything using connections to databases and server-side scripting, branding and corporate identity (specifically logo creation) are by far my favorites!

The very idea of creating a single symbol that is representative of a company’s (or brand’s) entire message, philosophy and personality is a great and exciting challenge, for any artist. There is so much to convey, and yet such a small amount of space and time to convey that message in, while also creating something memorable, meaningful and simple enough for different applications.

The other reason I love branding is there is nothing more that will have a greater impact on marketing a company (or brand) and it really stimulates my narcissistic side, as well, to know that I have had something to do with the success of that company. I personally have been involved in actually naming products and businesses, along with logo creation, tagline development and more – whenever I see correspondence come from one of those companies, it gives me an amazing feeling.

Very funny – I don’t think I’ve ever been able to prevent getting into a rut. If there is someone out there that does (and is telling the truth) I’d sure like to know their secret! Prevention, to me, is near impossible, except to not get overtired, spend too much time on any particular project or eliminate leisure time. Now, back to reality, as a principal I have to contend with all of that, so ruts are common.

If I have a block, time away from what I’m working on, rest and switching gears can help a lot. As far as inspiration, I have an arsenal of books, websites and other resources that I regularly turn to, though something new and fresh is always critical to me. I spend most of my time looking at literally everything around me! I can draw inspiration for a website, based on industrial design of a lamp; brochure design on the packaging of a product in a grocery store; logo design based on something organic found in the backyard; most importantly, I let my imagination go absolutely nuts, and I don’t believe in prototyping over and over again – I immediately start designing. Just as when I create a pencil drawing, I do not plan and plan and plan, I simply just put pencil to paper and draw.

Thank you for the opportunity, as well as the great resource for the Pittsburgh design community. I’m looking forward to hearing from more of my fellow designers!