Behind the scenes at Axis Design Studios you will find the incredibly hard working team of just myself. This affords me the pleasure of filling this page with more than just what Axis Design Studios is, but also about me, its creator.
Axis Design Studios was conceptualized in the middle of 2002 as a creative outlet for my artistic works. Since then Axis Design Studio's has continually strived to produce quality artistic pieces for both work and pleasure. My portfolio is slowly growing to include my works from clients as well as selected pieces from my classes and elsewhere. My artistic influences vary greatly, however, God, music, and art are, and continue to be, the biggest parts of my life.
Starting from the beginning, I promise I will keep this short. I have always been rather artistic. I was a bit of a crafts kid who loved anything I could build with my hands. I could build nearly anything my mind could imagine with Lego's, Tinker Toys, Lincoln Logs, and later my personal favorite K'nex. When I was five years old my father sat me down in front of a strange television like object that only displayed shades of green. He then grabbed a large object from a stack and stuck it in the machine. With a clanking, grinding sound the words Organ Trail appeared on the screen and my life was changed forever. That Apple 2E introduced me to a world completely foreign to me. It wasn't long before I began tinkering with computers and discovering how they work. Later I started going to computer shows and building my own computers. At this point, my life my life's goal was to become a computer hardware engineer. I had even looked into colleges and planned on attending the California Institute of Technology.
Fast forwarding through some years of video gaming and such to my junior year in high school when I started attending the Center for Advanced Research and Technology (CART) in Clovis, California. The school was a joint project between the Fresno and Clovis Unified School Districts and was designed to address technical subjects not normally taught at school in a project based format. It was a half day program that required you to attend your regular high school for the other half. I began my time at CART in a lab for computer technicians that aimed at providing those who finished with an A++ certificate. Halfway through I decided that if my future in the technical side of computers was to require me to work with the personality types of my teachers tell the day I retire then it just was not for me.
It was at this time that I transferred to the Multimedia lab and began working in digital art. That was the single biggest change to ever influence my life to this date. In the five short months I spent there, I embraced the digital arts and never looked back. In my senior year, I continued to hone my skills in this area and worked on completing my senior requirements and preparations for college.
In May of 2004 I graduated from high school and became an Eagle Scout in the Boy Scouts of America. A short summer later I began school at San Jose State University to get my BA in Spacial Arts with a minor in Graphic Design. Fortunately for me, their art program is world class and it does not require the tuition fees of equivalent private schools. In my time at San Jose State Univsity I discovered art on levels I did not even know existed in me.
After graduating in the spring of 2008, I graduated and have since left college behind to pursue a career in the design world. My college experience was nothing short of what anyone would expect it to be. I still live and enjoy Silicon Valley life. I have come to value the life God has set before me in ways I think only he could instill in one. I enjoy my job and the comfort in provides my life outside of it and only hope that I can always be so fortunate.
Axis Design Studios continues to be my outlet to the world and I hope to provide similar outlets to those seeking a designer. If you would like to see what Axis Design Studios can do for you please let me know. Thank you for your time and please, enjoy the rest of the website.
Burke Shartsis