Background
I love design.
I fell in love with Photoshop in the early nineties.
Since then, I’ve taught around ten thousand students how to use Dreamweaver, Director, Flash and others from the Apple Marketing Center in Boston. Did a lot of training around the U.S. for large companies like, Macromedia / Adobe, Apple, Nike and NeXT or pretty much anyone with lift tickets or access to a good surf break. Also did a lot of technical presentations at National and International conferences for organizations like the World Organization of Webmasters and the World Wide Web Consortium. It wasn’t enough and I dreamed of working off-grid.
On September 10th, 2001 I woke up in Hawaii, again.
After more than ten years of trying to work my way back to Hawaii, I finally made it. Many things changed the next day.
Work on Hawaii Island is different. Supporting mostly small business owners over the last 15 years has been tough. Trying to convince government to embrace digital was tougher. Building a lot of small business websites taught me a lot. Two things in particular are memorable. First, the relationships we build in Hawaii are more meaningful and valuable than the actual website and second, “designing with nature” challenges me more than anything else. The convergence of biology and pixels is inspiring and perhaps more authentic than always starting with a blank canvas.
The treehouse studio is remote. So I often go into town to meet clients and teach classes the Hawaii Innovation Center at Hilo. I like re-imagining sustainable living practices in conscious designs that can create positive impact for others.
Living lightly on the land, sometimes practicing vipassana, yoga, agriforestry and working on the treehouse are part of the mix. Honoring local culture, expressing gratitude and loving kindness are my passions. Path-work over goals and destinations. Applying ancient methodologies and modern technologies in everyday life inspires me towards better natural designs.
If you’d like to help strengthen Hawaii’s green economies, let’s meet.
What others have said, “volunteers through student mentoring and serves on the Hawaii Island Junior Achievement Board of Directors.” “Brent earned the Webmaster of the Year award in 2009 from his peers at webprofessionals.org.” “As Co-Founder of Green Collar Technologies he earned the Small Business Administration’s “Home Based Business Champion of the Yearno (3:30)” for the State of Hawaii.”