TRENT DONELSON . COM / ABOUT

Welcome to my website. This is not the first website I've ever had or made, but it is the first one to bear my name as the domain.

If you'd like to contact me, you can e-mail me. You won't find my address anywhere on this site, since I'm attempting to avoid the spiders (programs that scan websites for e-mail addresses to send spam to), but it's pretty easy to guess (I've set up several of the most obvious guesses just in case).

I've found it very difficult to get a sense of humor to come across properly on the Internet, but know that I have one, and as you read this page or anything else on this site, know that I often have my tongue planted firmly in my cheek.

I've broken down this page into categories for easier digestion. Nothing too personal here, but you might get a slight sense to who I am.

- DESIGN -

I love design. One could say I'm obsessed with it. And it's not just graphic design, but any good design. I like industrial design, game design, organizational structures, architecture, tax structures, management systems, basically anything that requires creative and efficient solutions to complex problems. This core drive in me is what got me through years of doing QA work (where I basically got to critique other people's designs). While I'm good at coming up with simple and elegant designs, I'm even better at improving upon other people's designs. I get really excited when I see a new design for an environmentally friendly electrical generator, or a sleek new portable computer, or an efficient work break-down structure.

When I can let my mind wander, I tend to start designing. I come up with a new idea for a project I want to work on almost every day. The hard part is that I never have time to work on those projects, and at the rate they pile up, the vast majority won't ever see existence beyond a glimmer of thought in my mind.

I find it very difficult to be an artist because of my design-driven thought process. All the works I want to create I don't want to actually do unless I can work out all the details beforehand. If I've got an outside force driving me, like if the project I'm working on is for a job or for someone else, then I have no problem getting it done. But when it's for me, I spend far too much time trying to work out all the angles before even setting anything to paper. This process is why I self-identify as a Designer and not as an Artist, even though it's easier to just tell people I'm an Artist.

Whenever I've taken those tests to determine if one is right or left-brained, creative or intellectual, I always wind up right smack in the middle. And the fusion of the creative and the technical is where Design lies.

- GAMES -

I love games. Board games. Video Games. Anything that allows friendly competition between two or more people (or computer). I host a Game Day, where a bunch of friends come over to play games all day. People who play a lot of games wouldn't call me "hard core", but people who don't really play games would. I just really enjoy strategic thinking.

When I was little I wanted to be a scientist. Then I wanted to be a cartoonist. Then I wanted to make special effects for movies. Finally I wanted to combine everything and make video games. Now I'm not as gung ho about specifically the "video" variety, but I still want to continue making games.

- THE INTERNET -

I didn't discover the Internet until I got to college. Sure, some friends had access to BBSs, and I learned how a modem worked in high school, but it wasn't until college that I finally had the freedom to hook up. It was around my freshman year that graphical browsers start showing up, and it was then that I learned how to make my first website. I was hooked. Where else can you publish something you made and have it visible by almost everyone around the world?

I was either too young or too old to really reap the benefits of the Internet. The slightly older folks were the ones who drove the early expansion of the Internet and made all their fortunes (before the bubble popped). The slightly younger folks are the ones that are creating whole new social systems that go far beyond the cliques of high school. I feel like I'm old enough to remember the time before the Internet, but too old to have really taken advantage of it.

I've made a lot of friends on the Internet. I've learned a lot, too. Most of all I've been entertained. Not just because of all the fun stuff there is to do, but because of all the new ideas and designs people showcase. The Internet has become a big part of my life and continues to change the world in exciting and dramatic ways.

I guess you could say that I am a fan of the Internet.

- OREGON -

I was born and raised in Oregon. After travelling around, I've decided that the Northwest is the place for me. Oregon's got it all: beaches, forests, deserts, mountains, plains, rivers, cities, and farmland. And everything is just a short drive away.

Currently I live in Eugene. While I'm not particularly married to this location, it is awfully convenient to everything. Where I to move anywhere else, it would probably be to a suburb of Portland or Seattle.

- EDUCATION -

It was in high school that I started branching out into the creative fields. By my senior year, I was a regular Renaissance man, involved in band, choir, theater, and art, not to mention taking science classes just for fun. I also got involved in cross country and though I haven't competed since high school, I still run for fun to this day.

In college I didn't have the time to be involved in so many activities, so band was the only extra curricular that carried over. I spent 4 years in the OMB ('95-'98), which were where most of my favorite college moments happened. I majored in Art with an emphasis in Graphic Design (and a minor in Business Administration). I would have gone for a BFA instead of a BS, but by my senior year I wanted to be done with school and get on with my life, and the prospect of spending another year for a different combination of letters on my diploma didn't seem worth it. In some ways I regret not going for the extra art education, not because I would have learned much more, but because I might have had more opportunities to make contacts and to start a career in design. Not that I regret my experiences in the computer industry, but I do still want to put my degree to official use.

- JOBS -

My first real job was at Taco Bell when I was finishing up my senior year of high school. After only 2 months of working there, they were asking if I would be a manager. I had to turn them down, since my plan was to go to college so that I wouldn't have to be a manager at Taco Bell.

The following summer I worked at an AARP pharmacy, doing a bit of everything: receiving, sorting, stocking, packing, and shipping. I got real good at tossing wrapped pill bottles in to shipping sacks.

The summer after that I had several office jobs via a temp agency. These were the only jobs I've had where I was required to dress well. Thankfully, I've never had a job that has required a tie.

While in school, I worked as a Network Tech in the residence halls. I was one of the first people to do the job as the school had just installed high-speed internet access to all the dorms (and it was one of the first schools to do so). This was a great job, since the hours were flexible, I got to meet and help a lot of interesting people, and I received quite a few Mauna Loa boxes.

My first job out of school was working in the Quality Assurance department at Dynamix. I really wanted to get in to the Art department, but I had to start somewhere. After only a year, they shuttered the entire QA department (and I had already survived an earlier mass lay-off), thinking they could save money by concentrating all of Sierra's QA at Sierra's headquarters.

After failing to get enough clients to get a freelance web design company going, I started working at the UO Printing Services as the computer support person. I learned a lot about the printing process there. I was technically working as a temp through Xerox, and just as they were about to hire me on as an official employee, I got a call from my old boss at Dynamix offering my a job. Not wanting to be jerked around, I made demands on what I would need in order to come back (insurance, higher pay, etc), not thinking he could make that happen.

Well, he did, and I wound up setting the pay scale for my department. So I went back to helping make video games (which I loved). But a year later, Sierra shuttered the whole company.

I did some more freelance work, including working with BraveTree on some of their content packs, but eventually I had to find another real job.

I was hired on at Lunar Logic when there were just 12 people. After just 3 years, that number had grown to 200. I was a QA Manager and I was loving the position. Unfortunately, I was getting tired of QA, and I saw the writing on the wall (the company was shrinking rapidly), and after 4 years I volunteered to be laid off.

Now I'm looking for a design job, which is tough to do when all your "real" jobs have been tech and QA jobs. I'm also finishing up a board game that, if it sells well, may turn into a full-time gig. Finally, I'm exploring other ways to put my talents to money-making endeavors (websites, comics, books, games, etc), though it's a lot harder to do that than to do work where you know you'll get paid.

- POLITICS AND RELIGION -

Didn't I just say I was looking for a job? Sheesh!