Self-branding is often a stone in any creative professional’s career. I am no different. I really don’t have trouble coming up with ideas. I just drop a bucket into the well and pull the ideas out. Deciding which one to roll with and make the commitment to is a different process—the “stone in the shoe” part.

As a designer, photography has always been and always will be a driving expression of ideas and the primary way I flex the muscles that every creative person needs to exercise to stay sane and/or to stay in business. The photographic mastheads that first meet your eye at the top of the page here are going to rotate between a dozen or so that I made up in advance.

I decided to do this for a couple of reasons. Firstly, we have lots of them and they all look great; and secondly, I simply get tired of looking at the same one for too long. It’s part of the creative professional’s curse. Constantly re-imagining, revisualizing. Maybe that’s a major reason why we do what we do all day long, and often into the wee hours.

Therefore, I will change the masthead every week or two—but I can’t promise I won’t change it more than once a day either—so maybe you’ll take interest and decide to come back ever so often to have a gander.

Independent contractor, Matthew Richards, and a team of experts, are available for any of the following services in Detroit, Chicago or Madison.

Strategy
Wireframing, Navigation, User Interface and Information Architecture; Storyboarding; Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Search Engine Marketing (SEM); Copywriting for SEO; Blogging for SEO; Content Management System (CMS) Training; Branding Strategy, Design and Implementation; Special consideration given to artists, writers, musicians and bands for public image strategy

Web & Interactive Design
Page and Interface Design; Blog Design and Implementation; Asset Development; Flash Interface, Environments and Banners; Flash Character Animation; Motion Graphics for Web, Video and Broadcast; Presentation and Interactive Media Design for training, speaker support, advertising and marketing using PowerPoint or Adobe Flash; Special consideration for website design packages for artists, musicians and bands; Actionscripting, CSS, PHP, AJAX, Java, HTML

Print Design
Design from conception through production; Traditional and Digital Illustration; Digital Imaging; Copywriting

Photography
25 years of photography experience, including traditional film, medium format and digital applications; Exclusive contributor to iStockphoto.com; Commissioned assignments available on work-for-hire basis; Natural and studio lighting; Photo shoot coordination and execution; Models, make-up artists, assistants and locations sourcing available; Asset management; Expert in photo compositing, retouching utilizing the latest techniques; Special consideration given to photography for artists, writers, musicians and bands; Lifestyle, beauty, creative and conceptual image specialist