In both my professional and personal life, I feel a strong compulsion to bring my visions to life through hands-on work with diverse materials and methods of make. This process allows me to transform ideas into tangible creations, fostering a deeper connection to the art of making. Working directly with my hands not only brings authenticity and fulfillment but also enhances my digital and conceptual work by grounding it in physical reality.

Each project becomes a unique journey, where the choice of materials and techniques shapes the final outcome. This iterative process enriches both the experience and the result, combining creativity, craftsmanship, and a commitment to bringing ideas to life.

One of my lifelong ambitions has been to design and build a forever home, studio, and workshop that reflects my wife’s and my values and lifestyle—a sanctuary for living, creating, and making. In 2019, I began transforming this vision into reality. The journey has been both challenging and rewarding, pushing me to refine my design sensibilities, overcome unforeseen obstacles (including a global pandemic material shortage), and adapt to ever-evolving circumstances.

After six years of dedicated effort, our home is nearly complete, and I am proud of what we’ve achieved. Each space serves a purpose: The home is harmony with every aspect of our daily lives, the studio enables creativity, and the workshop is an inspiring place for making cool shit. Most every detail has been thoughtfully designed to meet our daily needs and aspirations.

Reflecting on this journey, I’ve come to appreciate that the process of creation is never truly finished. No solution is ever perfect, and ideas continue to flow. I will keep iterating and enhancing, driven by a passion for exploring new ideas and solutions. Building this space has taught me even more about the importance of harmony in design and life, fueling my ambition to create environments where every moment and project becomes a testament to a shared vision.

Metal is perhaps my favorite medium to work with. It’s fascinating how strong and durable it can be, yet also so malleable and fluid. Whether I’m forging with brute force or gently shaping it with my hands, metal allows for the creation of both beautiful and functional objects. The process demands a high level of skill, which I find incredibly rewarding. Plus I get to play with fire!

I am a self-confirmed petrol head. I’ve always been fascinated by car and motorcycle design and building—it’s what initially led me to a career in design. I entered Art Center as a Transportation Design major, already building custom cars and bikes as a teenager. I thought, ‘How cool would it be to get paid to do what I already do for fun?’ This passion evolved into both my education and my career, and it’s become a lifelong hobby.

For me, these vehicles aren’t just precious things to be polished and never used. Sure, they’re objects of desire and beauty, but they’re also enablers of speed and experience, meant to be enjoyed. If it has wheels and an engine, I want to take it apart, redesign it, build it up, race it, break it, and do it all over again.

When building a race vehicle, everything must serve a purpose. If it doesn’t make the bike faster, there’s no point in doing it. That said, purposeful design doesn’t have to be ugly. In fact, I’ve often been told that the vehicles I build for racing have a functional yet beautiful design language.

I built this vintage CB160 as a true multipurpose machine. It’s road-registered and has clocked plenty of street miles. It’s also been road raced, endurance raced, and even off-road raced at the Red Bull Catalina Grand Prix. After all that hard use, it went on to win the “One Bike” title award at The One Moto Show. I was honored and stoked that a bike I built purely for fun and function was also recognized as something desirable.

I’ve built motorcycles and cars that I’ve raced across the U.S., Australia, Europe, and even at the Isle of Man. Every one of them has won races, and several have earned national championships.

One of my most ambitious projects was building this Suzuki XR69 Superbike replica to compete in the International Island Classic at Phillip Island, Australia. The frame kit arrived in a crate, and from there, I built the entire bike—chassis, engine, suspension, brakes, exhaust, bodywork, and paint—all meticulously crafted and seamlessly integrated for performance.

The result was a 180-horsepower beast that needed careful tuning to be tamed. The process wasn’t without its challenges—mechanical setbacks and a few off-track adventures—but seeing it come to life and racing it over a couple of seasons was deeply rewarding. It remains one of my most satisfying builds to date.

This continuous cycle of designing, building, racing, breaking, and refining is a major creative outlet for me. It feeds my creativity and continuously pushes me to improve, both personally and professionally. It’s a full-circle experience that fuels my passion, both as a designer and as someone who lives for the thrill of the ride.

I discovered while at Art Center that one of my creative strengths was designing in 3D through hand-crafted models and prototypes. This stage of the process is not just a confirmation of the 2D design; it’s a critical step in turning ideas into action, resolving function, and refining the visual aesthetics. It became a fundamental part of my design process then and has been amplified and refined over the years.

I believe that turning ideas into action should be amplified by the process itself. An agile process that focuses on expressing the idea first, is powered by honest material use and innovative methods of making. It’s about foregrounding creativity, investing resources at the right level, failing fast, and learning forward. By keeping it real, embracing raw results, and staying in motion, you can keep the momentum alive and the ideas flowing.

Advancements in digital creation tools are powerful complements to the traditional hands-on design process. Whether through my own work or my cross-functional team’s approach, seamlessly blending method-of-make innovation with cutting-edge digital tools has consistently accelerated creativity and pushed the boundaries of what’s possible.

Innovation doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It comes to life through collaboration—diverse team members bringing different perspectives, a bit of positive friction, and shared ideas. And it’s fun. Fun is infectious, and it’s what fuels a creative culture and builds momentum within the team.

My process is all about embracing and trusting the journey. It’s about being open to where the design road takes you, allowing for exploration and discovery along the way. This approach leads to lots of fresh ideas and genuinely new, innovative solutions.