About me as a person
I'm a loudmouth and I talk a lot, but that's usually to avoid speaking too honestly.
I'm French Canadian, Québécois en fait, fier de l'être, proud of it. I love languages, I feel lucky that I know French and English so well, les deux solitudes du Canada... I can manage Spanish a bit more than a tourist, I took some beginner's Japanese classes.
I love to party with my friends.
I live for music, I love going to concerts. I play guitar, bass and a bit of keyboards. I sing, but not so well, so I avoid it and tell people I can't sing.
I have dreams. I'm gonna write this great scenario for a novel/comic/movie one day. I'll be part of the creation of one of the most interesting video game ever. I'll write some of the best music (or noise) ever heard (or seen!).
I read comics. I sometimes draw. I cook to eat (and to impress the girls). I looove chocolate chips cookies, but can't stand chocolate itself. I love poutine (the food, not the russian politician).
I bike to wherever I can to avoid public transportation. If I could I'd skateboard again. I snowboard. I river surf when geographically possible.
I completed a Minor in Computational Art at Concordia University. I had the dream of continuing my Major in Intermedia/CyberArts, but life catches on and I chose to invest my time on work.
I've had a lot of jobs: janitor, telemarketer, insurance rep, music store clerk, bank customer service rep, developer, interactive designer. I just returned from living in the Amsterdam where I was for technical lead at Sid Lee, a creative advertising agency based in Montréal.
I am now freelancing in the hopes that I can work abroad some time soon.
About me as a professional
Over the last couple of years I have produced interactive works for many clients–on the behalf of the agency for which I worked at the moment of production–, here are a couple:
Please note that the URLs do not lead to projects I have done, but rather to the respective homepages of each client. If you wish to see some of my works, head to my portfolio.
Throughout all the different jobs I have had, I learned and taught a lot. I am as good a team player as I am able to play be myself. I am thorough and organized, sometimes to a fault. I can easily convey and vulgarize information, either to share information or to train others. I'm flexible and tolerant, yet strict and firm when necessary. I am also a good problem solver, even under pressure.
As a creative technologist, I am at ease with many languages (ActionScript 3.0, JavaScript, Ant, PHP, Processing, Max/MSP/Jitter), frameworks (JQuery, Robot Legs) and concepts (OOP, MVC), and I want to keep learning.
Also, I am quite the documenter, as I wrote best practices documents and wikis to facilitate the work relations and needs between producers, designers, information architects and developers.
However I currently aim to work more upstream in the creation process: analyze the client's brief and then work with the strategy, UX and creative teams.
About me as an artisan
Notice that I do not use the term "artist." In my mind, there is somewhat of a pejorative meaning to call myself an artist. It either brings to mind the self obsessed person who goes around telling others they are an artist, but with no actual talent, or a more idealized character that attained enlightenment and reached some sort nirvana with art. Neither feel like what I am.
I would like to think of myself as an artisan because I use my skills and techniques in order to create concrete works, whether they are commercial or with personal creative goals. I am not afraid to say I will use my skills to make a living. On the side, when money and time permits, I will create personal and emotional works that please me.
I am a musician, so sound and noise has to be a part of what I aim to do. I am also a gamer, so there may be a fun or competitive part in my interactive works. I love beautifully designed things, so I may have a slick and minimal design to my works. My family and my friends are important to me, so they may be and influence to or even a part of my works. I love many disciplines, and although I may not master all the disciplines I touch, I reserve myself the right to use all possible technical and artistical means to achieve what I envision.