Hello, my name is Joel VanLuven. It was twenty years ago today when I first entered the advertising fray. My apologies to all you Beatles fans but I hope I have your attention now. My first exposure to the graphic design field was as a paste-up artist. I refer to this as my Jurassic stage of development as a graphic designer.

In 1988, I became a typesetter working on large Sun terminals. This was shortly after the discovery of fire. In 1992 , the Industrial Revolution occurred with the introduction of Apple computers to the advertising production workflow. The Land of Pre-press would never be the same from that time forward.

From 1992-2000, I worked as a Pre-press operator in various areas in the Land of Pre-press becoming thoroughly familiar with newspaper advertising as well as magazines, business cards, letter heads, catalogs, flyers, and numerous other products associated with commercial advertising. Having established a high degree of skill in Page Layout programs with an emphasis on Quark Xpress, I began taking classes in Photoshop and Illustrator in the year 2000.

The millennium was a signal for me to make changes in my life. In 2001, I became a graphic designer for our company's used car sales magazine. It was a ground floor entry into the creative side of the industry. I remained in this position for five years.

In 2002, I entered myself in the Commercial Art program at Florida Metropolitan University, graduating Summa Cum Laude in 2005 with an Associates Degree. I regard this as one of the best experiences of my life.

After spending twenty years with the same company (The Orlando Sentinel), I decided it was time to see how I might fare in an alternative environment, which has brought me to this stage of my life.

Creativity has always played a major role in my life. I taught myself how to play guitar and I take pride in my ability to compose both the lyrics and music to my own songs. I also write short stories as a hobby and I have been told by both instructors and peers that I have a talent in this area.

I believe that I can provide not only visually creative products, but I can also assist, if you so desire, with any text you might want to include in your product. I can help make your concept a reality or I can provide you with a concept if you are uncertain which direction you want to take.