Meet Team Artifex
Beginning in 1999, Artifex has built a team of award winning designers, programmers, and project managers who are well suited to meet the challenges of today's fast-paced business environment.
Our employees are full-time professionals who ensure your completed project will not only be great-looking and perform as expected, but will also be built efficiently and with the appropriate documentation and protocols. You benefit from project managers who make flexibility and availability a top priority.
- Joe Williamson
Principal,
Director Director Work: Leading the Artifex programming and research & development efforts, Joe makes platform, dataflow, and code usage decisions for our website development projects. He guides our programmers in resolving questions about programming techniques, programming languages, browser compatibility, and database design. Joe is also responsible for building Windows-based development platforms for Internet application projects.
As the lead programmer for many of our ongoing web maintenance contracts, Joe is in charge of adding new functionality and adjusting code where appropriate. Joe programs in ASP, ASP.NET, JSP, and Cold Fusion, and works with MSSQL, MYSQL, and Oracle databases. He also stays abreast of new technologies and researches how they can best be applied to our work.
Play: Joe is an avid sailor - his favorite sailboat trip involved "...wandering the San Juan islands." He also plays guitar and was a bass player in a local Tacoma band in his younger days. On a side note, Joe has won awards for his unusually large cranium.
- Joel Chrisman
Principal,
Creative Director Work: As our creative visionary, Joel oversees and manages the design process for any project where visual components are critical. Driving the design team to dig deep, think big, and still deliver within a specified time frame and budget is his primary role. Upon that fundamental truth, Joel strives to find more efficient ways to help the design team successfully navigate "the vortex"... that uncertain chaotic space between concept to delivery.
Joel has a fine arts background, but primarily works in PhotoShop®, Illustrator®, and InDesign® and oversees all client identity efforts. While he excels at logo and website design, his specialty is print and package design and engineering for physical media.
Play: When he's not remodeling his home or hanging with his family, Joel enjoys golfing, fishing, snowboarding, mountain biking, and being known for "cueing" the best baby back ribs in the history of the world. Joel also has been writing and illustrating a children's book entitled Gideon's Garbanzo Bean.
- Mario Barrera
Senior Designer Work: Mario specializes in graphic design for print projects. He works closely with clients to gain an understanding of creative direction and to define their print requirements. In addition to creative design and conceptualization, he is responsible for the print pre-press process and quality control management on print projects.
Play: Mario enjoys family, friends, music, and a book once in a while. He loves to travel, especially to visit his family and friends in his native Mexico. Whenever he can, he travels to another country to visit friends. When he is not making PhotoShop® magic at work, he is cooking some spicy music. Mario is a salsa percussionist with Cambalache, a Seattle-based music group.
- Tavieo Sawyer
Multi-Medium Designer Work: Tavieo's diverse background allows him to work in both print and Internet projects at Artifex. His specialties include website design, photography, and animation. He is involved in the design of all our new website projects and works on animation where necessary. As our resident photographer, Tavieo utilizes our in-house studio to take product photos and also excels at outdoor photography.
Play: When not at work, Tavieo spends time with his wife, family, and friends. He and his wife enjoy traveling, dancing, music, food and good association. They love to explore new places and trying new things, is vital to him but it doesn't take precedence over taking care of his spiritual needs first.
- R. Ryan Anderson
Multi-Medium Designer Work: Ryan is primarily responsible for web design, (X)HTML development, and Search Engine Optimization (SEO). He specializes in designing websites that match a company's established identity and integrates with offline marketing materials. He is involved in initial design meetings with clients, asking questions to help define a client's design preferences and suggesting approaches to original design. Ryan builds websites to W3C XHTML and CSS standards to ensure that websites render properly in all supported browser versions and platforms. Ryan is also involved in website usability efforts and Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) Section 508 compliance.
In addition to his website design and development responsibilities, Ryan works in 3D Studio Max®, Swift 3D®, and Flash® to produces 3D designs and animations. Beyond providing animations for Artifex clientele, Ryan designed, animated, and produced an Artifex commercial that is currently airing on KBTC Public Television.
Play: Off the Artifex clock, Ryan is a freelance cartoonist.
- Miguel Ángel Friginal
Web Developer Work: Miguel is a web developer specializing in PHP and MySQL platforms. He previously worked in the advertising industry before becoming a web developer, eventually starting his own web development firm in his native country, Spain. He is passionate about "... usability, accessibility, quality content and finding new ways of solving problems through the use of proper technologies". Miguel is also skilled at coding websites in standards complaint XHTML and CSS.
Play: Miguel enjoys tinkering with his Macintosh computer and reading science fiction. His favorite book is "How to Survive a Robot Uprising: Tips on Defending Yourself Against the Coming Rebellion" by Daniel H. Wilson. He loves spaghetti bolognesa and is famous in Spain for the incredible amount of food he can eat in one sitting. He has also taken a strong liking to the game of foosball.
- Cliff Foster
Web Developer Work: Cliff specializes in PHP and MySQL platforms. He builds relational databases, and performs Unix, Linux, and Apache server management. Cliff excels at XHTML and CSS standards compliant web design and is our resident javascript guru.
Play: Cliff enjoys snowboarding, especially at Crystal Mountain. He is an avid music lover of all genres and sometimes moonlights as a DJ. He loves the mountains and relaxing at his beach cabin on weekends.
- Jordan Moore
Web Developer Work: Developing Internet applications and maintaining existing data-driven websites are Jordan's primary responsibilities. He programs in PHP, ASP.NET, and JavaScript and utilizes MySQL, PostgreSQL, and MSSQL databases. Jordan follows W3C XHTML and CSS web standards and focuses on building accessible websites that are easy to use. Jordan graduated from Olympic College with two A.T.A. degrees and is working towards earning his B.S. in Computing and Software Systems from the University of Washington, Tacoma. He previously worked at two Internet-based firms before joining Artifex.
Play: Jordan loves listening to good music and has played the keyboard in several rock bands in the past. When he's not working or studying, he enjoys spending time with the love of his life, Jackie.
- Troy Binford
Web Developer Work: Troy develops web applications using his knowledge of Java, PHP, and ASP.Net using C#. He has experience with Oracle, MSSQL, and MySQL databases. He graduated from DeVry University, Federal Way, WA with a BS in Computer Information Systems. He was previously lead PHP/MySQL developer for an e-Commerce company out of Poulsbo, WA.
Play: Troy has listened to a wide variety of music while growing up and has settled on Drum 'n' Bass as his favorite genre. In his free time, he plays Nintendo Wii and World of Warcraft with his wife, Heather.
- Steve Melius
Web Developer Work: Steve’s experience includes writing server side code in ASP.NET 2.0 and C# technologies. He builds websites to W3C XHTML and CSS standards for cross browser compatibility, and incorporates SEO best practices. Steve graduated from Western Washington University with BA in Management Information Systems.
Play: Steve enjoys hanging out with friends and family, playing intense sports, going on long road trips, eating fun foods (sushi, smores...), going to concerts, watching movies, occasional karaoke, learning to play piano, camping, taking artsy photos, and exploring new places.
