BIOGRAPHY Mark Feuring (DESIGN MANAGER: Industrial Designer - Founder - Optic-Studio)... after years of interest in pursuing a career in the arts... The first school I attended was the University of Missouri at Columbia. At that institution I studied basic art and design courses, including figure drawing and photography. My professional interests and accompanying courses include environmental and housing design. (MU 1989-1991 completed 46 hours including 21 credit hours of basic art/design courses) After two years, I transferred to the University of Kansas. At KU I motivated my studies to Industrial Design. Courses include color theory, marker rendering, model building, materials and processes as what would be applied to industrial design. Human factors, anthropometrics and ergonomics were stressed for the interface between the human user and the product item. Each year, studio symposiums were held with critiques in which I developed student projects. I was taught to use the computer as a tool for communication. At KU, I also focused on the marketing principles for all forms of product development. (KU 1991-1995 114 credit hours including 47 hours of art/design studio courses - BFA Industrial Design) Through college, I worked in the swimming pool industry as a lifeguard along with pool maintenance and construction. I also worked as a maintenance technician at the KU Union training table. I also had jobs as a pizza artist and dishwasher in local restaurants around Lawrence. Over the six year period, I also sold in-home water purifiers to well-water residents in Kansas. More focused approaches to basic general undergraduate work was a job as a paste-up artist for a local yellow pages book while attending classes. After spending twelve semesters in college, I continued learning about design from various professions. I started career work color plotting negatives for a printing division. We worked with cereal and product boxes. (1995) After Union print shop downsizing, I moved to Arizona to work for a Southwestern furniture manufacturer. In the studio, I learned various native methods in building furniture unique to the Southwest and a lot of tips and tricks for sanding and finishing furniture. My main task was to sand 40 chairs in an 8 hour shift. (1996) As time passed, I worked odd jobs doing maintenance and repair work including painting house interiors. (1997) Moving on, I went to work for a friend who was starting a business constructing wire and cable harnesses for soda machines and computers. I worked with him until he sold his business to a larger conglomerate. Working production with automated equipment and preparation of harnesses for industrial wiring was job task. (1998) I was also a Machine Operator in a cardboard factory. I was to aid in the design process of shipping boxes and worked with the crews running the production lines. I learned to work a die-cutting press that takes the diagram for the punched out box from an AutoCAD drawing template, a glue machine to seal the boxes and a one-color printing press to place text and logos on boxes. (1999) The computer revolution turned up a notch, and I decided to go back to school. In a short time, I was learning the graphic programs of Quark and Illustrator at the University of St. Louis. I soon decided to attend class full-time and enrolled in anatomy and physiology, AutoCAD, and 3D computer animation courses. At St. Louis Community College Center for Advanced Imaging, I studied photo-realistic animation programs such as 3D Studio Max and AutoCAD drafting courses. I also was accepted at Parks College of Engineering at St. Louis University, where I took a Pro-Engineer Course. (2000) (completed 28 hours including 25 hours of art/design computer studio courses --- Total college studies 189 credit hours including a total of 93 art/design studio credit hours - 14 semesters 13.5 credit hours a semester for 7 years...Professional student!) In 2001 I was employed at a community newspaper as a composing artist in the St. Louis area. My job was to compose advertising layouts for local businesses, manage a Web site, and paginate the pages at press time. Pre-press design and utilization of layout software was the tool challenge for skill labor. Production time was the building process of typesetting 2 pages of 11x17 adverting composition per 8 hour shift. (2001-2004) The new orientation in multimedia led to a venture in assistance for a local videography service. Working wedding video events including documenting while editing timeline video added an exciting opportunity for job career growth and skill development. Working with digital cameras and Adobe Premier while eating nice meals at elegant ceremonies added orientation to visual presentation. Production time was 20 hours editing wedding event and 20 hours editing reception party. The tactics were mostly two camera edits with sometimes a 3rd still camera. (2005) I am a person who takes the approach that new designs for products can be developed and problems can be solved on existing goods in the marketplace. My current project criterion involves working with package design to predicate the consumer durable goods industry toward the point-of-purchase with the understanding that a “better mousetrap” can be built. National Plastics and Stock Clam has given me an abundant base of building block references to assist with graphic pre-press package design. Working with printing divisions and networking cost figures to solve the clientele needs are criterion about growth and development to better marketing through commercial art. Various package freelance jobs have introduced me to firsthand needs of clientele. (2005 – Current) The model prototypes on this website were constructed either in art school at the University of Kansas or the years preceeding my education. I seek all forms of work and opportunities that reference environmental and graphic design. My affiliations include Eagle Scout Association of the Boy Scouts of America, Sierra Club, Lambda Chi Alpha Fraternity and Kansas Water Polo Club.