Being a natural problem solver (even when people don’t want their problems particularly solved!), he found computers compelling enough to explore and, soon after, covet when he was 11. Using money saved from the odd newspaper route, summer camp job and his bar mitzvah, he managed to buy his first one -- an Apple ][+ (rev 7) -- when he was 13. He toyed with programming which led to the more nefarious corners of computing (such as hacking), which in itself opened the doors to telecommunications very early. His first modem, a 110bps Hayes acoustic coupler, allowed, albeit limited, exploration of bulletin board systems and the Internet. That was 1981.

His experience with computers led to an internship with National Instruments in Austin, Texas in 1986. Here he discovered two things: 1] computer programming for a corporation is generally boring and painfully unimaginative (unlike writing code for yourself -- such as his own BBS) and 2] graphics and design, particularly on Macintoshes, weren’t. He took over designing and producing catalogs and moved his career ambitions in that direction.

A progressive succession of jobs in the design industry in both Austin and Israel (e.g., Longhorn Copies, RJL Graphics service bureau, Dimyon Presentations, Fuller Dyal & Stamper) created invaluable experiences in specialist fields. He became something of a pre-press expert -- teaching classes at schools, corporations and for individuals -- and a computer-aided graphic design specialist from the beginning of the desktop revolution. Doing systems management and consulting for ad agencies, design houses and publishing companies with his own business (Hyde Park Studio) let him get up-close with experts in other disciplines and learn from observation. Exchanging classes for classes and being that good problem solver allowed his knowledge base to grow.

Becoming the pre-press consultant / sales manager and art director for MacProducts Asia got him to Singapore. From there he was the Creative Director for the Kedaung Group in Jakarta (the world’s largest manufacturer and distributor of glass and tableware) where he had great opportunities such as designing a cover for Newsweek and meeting his future wife (not necessarily in that order). He came back to Singapore as a partner and Creative Director with a post-production house called Magic Media. Here he rounded out his desktop skills by becoming an online digital video editor and lead scriptwriter.

The coming together of graphic design and the Internet in the form of the World Wide Web made for an inevitable transition. He started in March of ’96 with, then, Bates Interactive doing the Hongkong Bank Malaysia, Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group and Nokia Asia Pacific sites. Then the projects started rolling in and he became responsible for designing and supervising almost all projects to date. Award-winning and otherwise.

And here in, now, XM is where he spends most of his time. The other few minutes are spent teaching English to primary and secondary students and graphic design to anyone who will listen as well as vocalizing his opinions much to the chagrin of, well, almost everybody else. He wishes he had more time to write novels (as every copywriter does) and travel, but there are only so many hours in a day.