Hello, I'm Misono... Designer Extraordinaire.

I’ll never forget the day that my piano teacher told me that my fingers were “not made for the keyboard.” After six years under her tutelage, this diagnosis seemed slightly overdue, but she had grown frustrated with the way my short, clumsy fingers fumbled across the piano keys. I was secretly relieved to be liberated from being chained to the instrument for my daily hour of practice, but a part of me was disheartened at being told I was not meant to do something. At the ripe age of eleven, a career path closed before my eyes.

Five years later, I was introduced to the wonder of the Internet. Fascinated at how information was transmitted and presented on the web, I stayed up at night spending hours studying the code behind various websites, while my high school classmates were out partying and hanging out at the mall. I eventually built my first personal webpage based on my self-taught knowledge of HTML – without the aid of a WYSIWYG editor, it took me days to build a simple page, but I believe that the approach was beneficial in nurturing a solid foundation of knowledge of how code works.

Over a decade has passed since those novice days of coding. My design work has grown more detailed and refined, my markup cleaner and more accessible. Gone are the days when I built with tables and frames; I now work with HTML5, CSS3, and responsive layouts. I may not have been destined to become a great musician, but my fingertips now dance across a different set of keys to produce stunning designs that sing.

With nine years’ professional experience in designing web media and print collateral in both staff and freelance positions, my past clientele have included academic institutions, social networking services, new media start-ups, non-profit organizations, local small businesses, and boutique web design studios. Equipped with a dual degree of a BFA in Graphic Design and a BA in Mass Communication from Virginia Tech, my design skills have been bolstered by meticulous academic training, and sharpened by seasoned work experience in the industry. I love to learn, so I appreciate how the ever-evolving nature of design and the web keeps me on my toes and challenges me to continually master its latest tricks and tools.

Please take a moment to peruse my work, and hopefully you’ll find yourself enamored. Feel free to drop me a line for work inquiries or just to say hello!