Good design is good business

Hello all.

My name is Scott, but people call me Monk (Design Monk to be specific). I have been in the design industry for over 20 years doing everything from architectural design to drafting, brand design, product and packaging design, t-shirt and logo design, and web site design. I have even been known to do Flash-based animation and video production. Oh, and just in case you’re wondering, Design Monk comes from the blending of my fascination with Asian cultures and history, my belief than Feng Shui can be applied to the virtual space of the web just like it can to our physical space, and my mastery (used loosely) of many design styles.

Brief History… Grew up in sunny California, played classical guitar since I was 3.5, been drawing since I was 4 (and I don’t mean stick figures), graduated with degrees in graphic design and marketing, moved to Seattle and lived here for 11 years. Spent 5 years in Knoxville (yuck…), moved back to Seattle in 2006.

Present… My business and passion for design right now is the web (but don’t pass me up if you need other design work done). I have been doing web design since 1995 and know enough code to be dangerous; but I also know that there are better coders out there than I - so I leave the back-end to someone else and focus on what I do best… designing and developing the front-end and the customer experience.

Wants/Needs… I know this could go somewhere else on biznik and I will probably add it there also, but I am looking to expand my client base. I can do everything from blending a web site with your current marketing materials to developing great design from your vision and expectations and create a complete branding package. While money is always good, I am looking to barter with a good business attorney (Seattle area preferred), business accountant (Seattle area preferred), quality programmers and people that are just down right wicked at sales. My site is new and is missing a tremendous amount of my portfolio (which I will be updating shortly); but feel free to take a peek.

Oh, I am also rather good at teaching and lecturing; so if anyone is interested in a web design basics 101, SEO basics course or others, let me know and I will set-up an event.

See you all online and thanks for reading my ramblings.