welcome

Welcome to jarsloth.com, an online portfolio of my work and personal projects. Please take a moment to look around and browse through some of my samples.

about me john schumacher

After earning my BA in American Studies, it quickly became apparent that, unless I wanted to stay in school indefinitely, the chances of being able to use my degree in any way to support myself was probably not feasible. Being one who likes to keep his options open, I began to think about the things I enjoyed doing and how they could lead me to an alternate career path.

Shortly after the end of my college career, two key events happened: I began creating my own website using the WYSIWYG tools of a popular Internet service provider of the time (I think we all know which one I'm referring to...) and I purchased a Nikon FM2n manual SLR. Even without the benefit of formal training in graphic design, I was convinced that the plethora of animated GIFs, 20 pixel-thick horizontal rainbow lines, as well as a universe full of 3-D background images just could not be good design. Web or otherwise. At the same time, I begin experimenting with photography - my everyday viewpoint began to change as I began to see everything around me in terms of composition and framing. So with the help of my brother (a graphic designer), my camera, and several versions (of questionable origin) of Photoshop, GoLive, and ultimately Dreamweaver, I began to teach myself the basics of design.

Enter the new millennium. I found myself hired on with my brother in the marketing department of an e-commerce company. My duties included updating the Intranet and Internet sites - I finally got to use my web design skills in a career-oriented path, or so I thought. Within a year, the company became one of the many casualties of the fallout from the Internet boom collapse. The bubble burst, as did all hopes of cashing in on stock options, though I was able to finagle a year's worth of actual experience to add to my résumé. Not too bad.

I have since changed my focus to print design and currently work for Zaner-Bloser, an educational publisher located in Columbus, Ohio. This position has given me a strong foundation in graphic design as well as invaluable experience. As a result, I have had the opportunity to build upon those fundamentals by taking various design and web design courses. Life is an on-going learning process.