The joy that is me.

Rule #1: Don’t spend life preparing to live. Rule #2: Don’t be a schmuck.

My life is a series of colossal mistakes and remarkable luck.

One of my earliest memories is riding in my mom’s shopping cart, thinking up new logos down the cleaning aisle. However, I grew up working at Rotches Pork Packing, the family slaughter house. Eschewing the multi-generational tradition of cleaver-wielding Rotches men, I chose to pursue design instead. There’s far less blood involved.

My first job was at a design studio in NYC, creating marketing materials for American Express and Reader’s Digest. I moved on too soon and co-founded 2:30 Tuesday Design & Display, where I made every possible mistake. I was a failure, but an inability to pay rent’ll make you admit shortcomings and sharpen your skills pretty fast. With nothing to lose except more weight from a diet consisting of pancakes eaten straight from my tiny stove, I started freelancing as Al Designs, Inc., taking ANY job I could get. My big break was a gig creating banner ads for Columbia House Music, sparking my love of digital advertising. It’s become a skill leading to projects ranging across every facet of graphic design.

I’ve learned to enjoy the journey and would hardly do anything at all if I only acted on my good ideas. I’m married with 2 daughters, 1 fish, 1 smart dog named Jolene and 1 very dumb dog named Lollipop. All of them make me laugh except the fish. That fish is a jerk.

I like cooking and getting really good at dumb things. Here are some of those things…