1. How did the worlds of design and beer first collide for you? How do they relate?

Beer labels. I’ve always paid attention to packaging and even considered going back to school for industrial design for a while. In the early days of my craft beer education, I’d pick beers based on their labels. I’ve since learned it’s not the best way to do it, but it’s my designer instinct and it was a place to start. I feel lucky that I moved to Boston for college, a city with a lot of beer options to look at, as well as to drink. There’s a great sandwich/cheese/specialty shop in the South End near my old office where I’d go for lunch. While I waited for my food, I’d look around the store at all the labels of the beers, chocolate, boxes of pasta. It was pretty typical to leave with more than the sandwich I’d gone there for.

From there, I blame BeerAdvocate. There I was, minding my own business, when a 7-month-old magazine needed a new designer. I didn’t know much about the beer industry at that point. Luckily I had already been introduced to BeerAdvocate and craft beer, and was trying new beers and learning as much as I could. Working on the magazine definitely expedited the learning process for me — all of a sudden I was formatting homebrew recipes and trying to find the correct glassware for a photo. There was pressure to get it right, because I was designing a publication for people who knew more about the subject than I did at the time. There are still people that know a lot more than I do, but I’d like to think that I can hold my own.

2. How has your life changed since putting your skills to use in the beer industry?

There are some incredible people in my life now due to this job. The beer industry is full of the friendliest and possibly the most interesting people I’ve met, from scientists to homebrewers. Everyone has a story, and that’s influenced me to try to have an active part in the industry and to not just be a part of the media watching from the sidelines.

3. What's the day-to-day like helping shape the future of one of the world's most widely-read magazines about beer?

Like most jobs in publishing, it’s not glamorous. Well, like most jobs anywhere. There’s a lot of time spent on the computer emailing and planning for upcoming issues. When it’s time to take photos of bottles for the beer reviews, there’s a makeshift photo studio that takes up half of my office for at least a week. There’s a lot of multitasking with the magazine, the fests, and any other projects that might be going on. And I try to keep a balance between the day-to-day tasks and finding time to work on the creative parts, where I’ll get lost in what I’m doing for a few hours while the emails pile up.

4. What are some of your favorite spreads? Why?

These may not be the best designs out of the work that I’ve done, but they’re some of my favorites. I like a challenge, so these picks are ones that I had fun putting together.