1972-1985
I was born in Houston, Texas and was raised in Dallas. From an early age, it was clear that I was "artistically inclined" and when I has 10 years old, thanks to very supportive parents, I received private art training. Overtime, my interests developed and broadened into music and communications.

1986-1995
I began shooting Corporate Video in the late 1980s, and joined (as an intern) Spotlight Communications, a video production house in Dallas. One of the first big productions I was involved with was while I was still in highschool, I helped edit and lay audio for a training video for the United States Border Patrol.

In 1991, I studied Radio Television Film at the University of North Texas and later visited NYU Film School, then broke into the Film Industry in Los Angeles in 1993, where I worked for about 4 years. I landed a Development role for Director Richard Donner (most know for the original Superman, Goonies, and the Lethal Weapon series). I was able to work on Free Willy II, Maverick, and Assassins. I switched gears and went into Television Distribution where I worked with Baywatch team and a few Mark Goodson productions just after they were purchased by All American Communications and Freemantle. Then, in about 1996, it happened - I felt a tug to switch gears yet again.

1996-2000
When Interactive Media hit the scene, many of us in arts and communications took notice. Wanting to jump into it early, I returned home to Dallas and was brought onboard at D-Animation (the first Multimedia company in Dallas) in 1997. My first experience with designing and building websites and working in interactive media was with the D-Animation team - very talented folks working with some large clients, such as Nortel, Nokia.

In 1999, at the height of the dot com era, I branched out a little into more traditional Corporate Marketing and picked up valuable experience in Public Relations and Print Media. Thankfully, I was able to avoid getting caught in the bursting of the dot com bubble, because in 2000-2001 I was with a firm that was working on cutting edge portal technologies and aligned with very large clients such as McAfee Antivirus.

2001-2004
In 2001 I was brought into the Neiman Marcus online catalog department (Neiman's Direct) on a short-term contract to help them meet the critical demands of their customers. In 2002, I joined Fusion Labs a technology consulting firm and for the next 3 years I was able to strike a balance between providing my Graphic Art and Web Design Skills while developing skills in Marketing Communications. At which point, I found myself working with many different types and sizes of organizations, in both employee and freelance capacities.

2005-Present
Realizing I had developed some very marketable skills, I started my own business Oak Mott Design in 2005- helping most "break through the clutter" and improve visibility through print and interactive media. Many of my projects are involved with redesigning existing web sites for small business and independent business owners wanting that "big agency" look without the "big agency" cost.

 



Initially, I adopt the vision of others and embrace their talents and skills rather than apply mine. With each client, I search for something particularly engaging to me whether it be within their business, their history/legacy, people, products, and/or services and drive my stake in to that. I research the competition and discover any potential to capitalize on weaknesses. I've found, that no matter how skillful you are in communications, you can't invent an advantage that doesn't already exist. It's about articulating what is inherent and true but unique. Capturing the identity or the "corporate aura" (as I call it) of an organization requires exploring, uncovering, and leveraging those ideas that can either turn to dust or magic depending on how you rub them. Sometimes I have to use a light touch, sometimes force. Above all else, the secret to communications is to have a firm grasp of what the competition is saying and doing - right and wrong. Unlike fundamental business operations, communications isn't about about working harder, smarter or even better, in many cases it's just about being different - because it's true what they say "familiarity breeds apathy".


There is much more to being a graphic artist than being creative. When I began my professional art career, it was enough to be skilled in concept generation - today, it's necessary to know what it takes to execute those concepts. In today's environment, if you want to be truly successful, you have to bring a lot to the table. Yes, graphic design is about communicating visually using typography and images to present information. However, I've found that graphic design embraces a range of cognitive skills, aesthetics and crafts, that it's important to recognize the psychology behind the visual arts and that when it comes to page layout, the unused white of a page is as important as the black of text that gives it meaning. I have a refined graphic art background and a lot of practical traditional experience which allows me to create engaging interactive and print media. I do this for a range of business models and requirements/objectives. From time-to-time I'm still required to design and develop independently, in virtual vacuums - in fact, some of it is my best work artistically. However, more often than not, the quantifiable value is provided through using my "people" skills to addresses challenges and close gaps versus applying my artistic and computer skills.


Although writing is an aspect of what I've been providing for over a decade and something I thoroughly enjoy, "writer" is a narrow description of my role. I write, yes, but if I made it my business to write and only write, I'd likely be less than satisfied. I enjoy being in the room when the strategy is being baked. My clients depend on me to help them figure out what to say, as well as how to say it. And in the pursuit of insight, I often ask questions that they've never been asked before and the determine the best way to put everything into the words and phrases that makeup headings, subheadings, body, taglines, and boiler plates. Are others better at this than I am? Absolutely. However, as I said, "writing" is only one of my abilities.


I provide expertise in all four areas of web design: content, usability, appearance, and visibility. I don't really focus in one area over another. The content of a site, its substance and information - I ensure is relevant to the site and designed according to the target audience. Usability is a word that gets overused but essentially, it's about ensuring the site is user-friendly (another overused term). However, typically, the focus of most designer/developers is that the interface/navigation be simple and reliable, I add a third component that most overlook - that it be predicable and intuitive. Arguably one of my strongest areas is around the appearance of a web site, although this is largely a function of getting to know my clients and their business. Yes, the appearance is of course is the graphics and text of site. My designs are 100% custom and include a single style that flows throughout, to show consistency. I usually create a style that is professional, appealing and relevant, and clearly ties back to other marketing components. The forth component is viability. It's surprising to see in this day and age but there are many corporate sites out there that do not pay enough attention to visibility. Its relatively easy to get out there in the public domain these days, however, if the site isn't easy to find via most, if not all, major search engines and advertisement media - it won't do a good job of extending a company's reach.




For more about my services,
visit the "What We Do" page of
my corporate site www.oakmott.com.