Hello!

My name is Matt Young.

Most of the work represented here is from my night job as a freelance graphic artist. By day I'm the lead designer and art department manager for a Cleveland based corporation, a job I've had for fourteen years. In this position I handle the grinding art duties for seven different companies, but rarely ever get to do anything there that merits a spot in the portfolio. You can bet that almost everything you see on this site was constructed in the middle of the night sometime for one of my fantastic freelance clients. Not that I'm bagging on my day job- it's okay. Mostly.

Personal: I'm 36, married, father of feisty three year old twin boys. I rarely sleep. I'm deeply dedicated to deadlines and love projects. I'm an excellent communicator and have good people skills, but strangely am afraid of the telephone. I am a lousy typist. I wish I had more time to ride my bike. My favorite color is goldenrod.

All works performed in a cage in my basement. I'm not kidding.

UPDATE: I have recently made the leap from part time to full time freelancer. Now I can work on your projects while the sun is up!

Note: This was a letter recently sent to all my customers, colleagues and pals.

Friends,

It is with great enthusiasm that I tell you about my intention to become a full time freelance graphic designer.

As most of you are aware, I've been essentially working two jobs for ten years now; and in the last three added the extra burden of two kids. This has taken a huge toll on me. The time has come (probably a long time gone, actually) for a few changes. I've been investigating some potential opportunities, originally with the goal of eliminating the freelance work and putting my full creative energies into a regular 9 to 5 schedule. The job interviews I've had have been terrific and worthwhile, and I thank all those folks who gave me their time. In these interviews I would stress the experience I've gained and work I've done as a freelance designer. Inevitably, the question would come up, "Obviously you like the freelance work- why don't you just do that full time?" I never had a very good answer to that question.

After thinking about it for a while, it seems like a pretty easy decision. I never really wanted to give up the freelance work, I just thought I needed to for my own sanity and physical well being. Of course, all this time it was the excellent clients and fun work I do for them in the middle of the night that has kept me going, and realizing that I could actually do this stuff during the day has been liberating.

Long story short- got projects? I'm your guy. Thanks for everything, you're all great. I look forward to hearing from you!

Computers by Apple.

Cameras by Olympus and Nikon.

Print production software by Adobe.

Web production software by Realmac.

Rapidweaver theme (BlocksBox) by JonasThemes.

Rapidweaver plug-ins by YourHead.

Bike by Specialized.

City by Lake Erie.

Rock-n-Roll by the 1990's. (iTunes link)

Babysitting by Nana and Mima.

I like sandwiches.