About

Call me Nick. I’m half Swiss and half American. Those who know me well describe me as being open-minded, easygoing, and focused. Open-mindedness helps a lot in my profession; I am an engineer, specializing in design and front-end development on the web.

I have been working for agencies in the print and web business since 1996. At first I started out as a print designer. Later, I became an image retoucher. Then I gradually advanced into new media. It’s hard to decide what aspect of my work I like more – the technical or the visual.

At some point I decided to take time off from work to study multimedia. I received a bachelor’s degree with first class honors from the University of Middlesex in 2007. I enjoy passing on knowledge, which is why I worked as a part time teacher at SAE in Zurich. Also, I have coached and held presentations at user group meetings.

I like traveling and I don’t mind moving. I grew up in New Jersey and Switzerland. After my Swiss military service, I backpacked through Asia for a year and resided in both Australia and California. Now I am back in Switzerland, pursuing further studies.

In my head the following scene takes place: I am walking on a tightrope with a balance beam. As if in a cartoon, a miniature devil and angel pop up on each side of the beam. The devil, who is wearing the face of Andy Warhol, yells: ‘Who cares if your design is useful, if it doesn’t look good, nobody will read it anyway.’ The angel, with the face of Jakob Nielsen, reprehends from the other side: ‘don’t hinder your users with visuals, for they want to gather information quickly and as easily.’ The trick for me, as a media designer, is not to fall off the tightrope.