City of Destiny - Tacoma, WA
Code Name(s): The Webmaster®, NineInchNachos™
File Name: Anderson, R.R.
Primary Specialty: XHTML/CSS Web Design Standards
Secondary Specialty: Underground Political Cartoons, 3D
Grade: Expert
Birthplace: Classified
Contact: Instant Email Contact or dial (253) 778-6786
Brief Artist Biography
Raised in Juneau, Alaska, RR Anderson's imagination was captured early by Alaska's rich history and intense natural beauty. His first professional cartoon strip, The Adventures of Joe Galaxy, a monthly cult comic strip for Odyssey Magazine created by Anderson at the age of 14, briefly captured the imagination of prepubescent space geeks across the USA. Later working as comic page editor for his high-school newspaper, Anderson penned political cartoons and another sci-fi epic series The Holistic Crusades of Captain Cosmos.
Weekends were booked with father/brother boat outings that kindled a keen fascination with Alaska's abundant marine wildlife & majestic vistas. Or maybe you could find the young cartoonist tromping through the forest with his old pal Brian Crapo in search of some abandoned gold mine... specifically relics of some forgotten blacksmith's forge.
Graduating spring 2001 with a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Video Imaging from Cogswell Polytechnical College in Sunnyvale, Calif., Anderson arrived in Tacoma, Wash. with only a shabby carpet bag full of dreams sardined next to a hard-disk containing the early embryonic stages of his Holistic Forge Works [dot] Com Web site. The contents of this bag proved useful in attracting two things: full-time work as a Web designer at ARTIFEX in downtown Tacoma; and his lovely wife, Ms. Darcy™.
When prodded to explain his artwork, Anderson usually paraphrases the following: I'm not trying to save the world. I'm doing what I can to stay connected to how the world really is. Ultimately my work is about friendship, need, and other timeless values
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Anderson's artwork has appeared in the Juneau City Museum, The Alaska State Museum, FeedTacoma.com, Exit133.com, Juneau Empire, Tacoma News Tribune and the Tacoma Daily Index.
| File Format | Resume Name | File Size |
|---|---|---|
 |
RR's XHTML/CSS Web Design Resume | 12k |
|
RR's Artist in Residence Resume | 109k |
 |
RR's XHTML/CSS Web Design Resume | 39k |
Ultimate Career Objectives
It is the mission of I, The Webmaster to draw comics, create standards compliant, accessible, (X)HTML web sites, reap experience and profit whilst continuing to develop my expanding array of turbo-studly computer art skills--becoming for my client an indispensable faculty of multi-creative roles and thus bring honor to my family, trade, and or government.
Proven Facts
- I respect, challenge and inspire individuals
- I push the envelope without compromising sound fundamentals (unless of course I do)
- I demand the highest possible quality in the pursuit of excellence
- I act with uncompromising integrity
- I am passionate about this business
- I make fun of _______
Experience / Employment History
A) Holistic Forge Works, January 1998 - Present
Web Designer, Cartoonist & Creative Mercenary
Responsibilities: My responsibilities at Holistic Forge Works include: identity/brand creative consulting; offsite project scheduling, designing and developing of web sites; graphics creation/optimization, cartoonist/cartoon illustration; server-side and client-side coding; search engine optimization consulting; invoice/billing; deliverable media and free project price quotes.
Work Examples:
- Traditional Art Mediums
- Digital Art Mediums
- Sketch Book Drawings
- Backyard Foundry (DIY Propane Forge)
- Digital Photography
- Tacoma-centric Political Cartoons
Search Engine Magic:
- Tacoma Cartoonist - Google
- XHTML Resume - Google
- Graphic Artist Resume - Google
- Cartoonist for Hire - Yahoo
- Cartoonist for Hire - MSN
B) Artifex Tacoma Web Design & Print, August 2002 - Present
Web Developer + 3D Media Designer
Responsibilities: As the senior front-end Web Developer for Artifex, my responsibilities range from user interface design, XHTML implementation, page template production and linkage to back-end server side/database functionality. I am the resident SEO (search engine optimization) authority, and a web site optimization expert. My specific web development tools consist of, but are not limited to: Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver and Notepad++. As the resident Artifex 3D Studio Max expert my responsibilities range from full motion 3D animated video optimized for television and internet to rendering photo-realistic or wire-frame products for web or print.
My specific skill set presently in use at Artifex includes but is not limited to: 3D Animation, Flash® Animation, Creative Design/Research, W3C standards & section 508 compliant XHTML production (I am awesome and instrumental with creating a compliant web site from a solitary photoshop mockup).
At Artifex I am known to many as the resident XHTML, CSS and SEO expert
I am a fierce advocate of CSS for entire site layout or total separation of content & style. My favorite tasks are hand coding in XHTML using the web designer guidelines developed by Google to achieve a high Natural Page Ranking, AND implementing cutting edge, shorthand CSS techniques with modern browsers such as Mozilla FireFox, and Internet Explorer 7.
Also, the SEO guidelines outlined by Google and the coolly calculated machinery of SEO knowledge I am constantly fine-tuning for optimal performance, consistently produces good if not great natural results with no money paid to the search engines for placement. As such, I consider myself a SEO Ninja for hire.
C) The Juneau Empire Newspaper, May 2000 - August 2000
Webmaster (Paid Summer Internship)
Responsibilities: As a webmaster at The Juneau Empire, I was responsible for Uploading daily news stories and photographs to two different newspaper owned web sites The Empire is a southeast Alaskan newspaper; I kept abreast of the latest news and was often asked to come in on the weekends to upload breaking stories.
While at The Empire my main focus was on content, and photograph optimization. I had a close working relationship with various departments involved in the newspaper. Below are just a few:
- Photography Department--Technical Assistance
- Special Media Services--Specialized Content Provider
- News Room / Sectional Reporters--Technical Assistance
- Classifieds Advertising Department--Content Management
- Layout Department--Specialized Content Provider
Work Examples:
Qualifications and Responsibilities
| Topic | Political Positioning | Competency |
|---|---|---|
| XHTML Markup | pure separation of content and layout style(s) | Expert |
| CSS Layout | saves time and energy, essential to modern web design | Expert |
| JavaScript | implementation must be search engine friendly, accessible and degrade gracefully | Average |
| PHP Programming | stand on the shoulders of giants, hack your brains out. | Below Average |
| Photoshop® | N/A | Expert |
| Flash® | 100% flash-based web sites are lame. Use it sparingly to add enhancements instead! | Above Average |
| Illustrator® | I prefer drawing it by hand | Average |
| Premiere/After Effects® | my video editing software package of choice | Above Average |
| 3D Studio Max® | I can build or animate anything | Above Average |
| Microsoft Paint® | I know the secrets | Expert |
| Customer Service | definite interpersonal skills | Satisfactory |
| Deadlines | willing to sacrifice family relationships | Satisfactory |
| Public Speaking | dynamic presentations using powerpoint | Above Average |
| Religious Conviction | avoids mythological discussions with strangers | Poor |
| Humor | the ultimate weapon | Expert |
| Love | just kidding, love is actually the ultimate weapon | Expert |
| WAR! | maintains a conscientious objector status | Mild |
Education
Cogswell Polytechnical College - Sunnyvale, California
- BA, Major: Computer Video Imaging (CVI)
- Magna Cum Laude
- 1997 - 2001
The University of Alaska Southeast - Juneau, Alaska
- oil painting / elective classes
- 1997 - 2001 (summers)
Juneau-Douglas High School - Juneau, Alaska
- Art Honors
- 1993 - 1997
References
- available upon request
*This feature has been hidden from public view to foil dirty blackmailers, spammers and terrorists.
Community Service Involvement and Press Citations
- Tacoma shows Tacomic the money - MATT DRISCOLL, Weekly Volcano 2009
- Seventeen local artists get TAIP grants - Rosemary Ponnekanti, Tacoma News Tribune 2009
- Cartoonist's League of Absurd Washingtonians (C.L.A.W.) - 1 of 4 founders 2009
- Frost Park Chalk Challenge | Chalk Art Photo Pool - Founder
- Exit133 Video: Mr. RR Anderson | High Rez Video
- Tacoma Gnome: part 1 | part 2 | part 3
- Daniel Blue and R.R. Anderson: The New Wave of Tacoma Artists Taking Tacoma By Storm
- [Pen is] Mightier Than Swords - Tacoma's Political Cartoonists, Tacoma Daily Index (2007)
- Holistic Forge Works on Exit 133 - Think Different 2006
- The Web Wonder - Business Examiner Article 2006
- Spawns of Insomnia, Winner "Best Art" 24 hour comic book drawing marathon - Participant 2005
- Card carrying member of the Cartoonists Northwest organization, joined 2004
- Juneau Empire "Voice," cartoonist, "Questioning Humdrum" weekly feature 1997
- Juneau Public Library, "Creative workshop for kids" cartoon instructor 1996
- Ray Troll Exhibit, Painted backdrops for Alaska State Museum 1995
All Star Team of Alaskan Artists brings fine collection to museum
Margo Clare Cummings - Jan. 29-Feb. 4, 1998 / Vol. 7, Ed. 4
One new name this year is R. Ryan Anderson, a promising 18-year-old from Juneau, whose oil painting "Samurai World Traveler Seeks Advice from Wise Walrus" beat out some seasoned veterans for one of the coveted places on the wall. As well as having one of the most creative titles in the show, Anderson has a fantastic style full of freshness and clarity; his paints seemingly leap off the canvas and pull you into the scene.
The Samurai World Traveler and all the other members of this year's All Star Team of Art will become the Alaska All Star Traveling Team when the show closes here in Anchorage. The art will be on tour for the remainder of the year in exhibit halls in Kenai, Homer, Fairbanks and Juneau.
Live Web Site Examples Client Projects & Technologies Delivered
Holistic Forge Works Web Design Portfolio
- "Holistic" (X)HTML & CSS
- Graphic Design
