2014 - 2018
Entering design and media through school
MATTyP, or Matt Phillips, has been evolving his mixed media design, photography, and videography through self-taught styles and personal technique of in-your-face antidesign and vintage imperfection muse. Originally starting with audio and web development based high school classes, Many of the elective classes and extra curriculums throughout secondary years of school were tech, music, media, or design related such as;
the programs i started with
Shortly after graduating high school, I started at my first job as a "gap year" to focus on choosing higher education. Not too long afterwards however, the COVID-19 Pandemic happened and changed the plans. While focusing on my job at the time, video content took over and I shifted my focus from Graphic Design to retro tech and physical media oriented content creation for YouTube and TikTok. I also decided to transition my entire workflow from Windows to a MacBook Air in 2020, delving more into the Apple ecosystem and realizing how much adjusting to programs not available through Windows would be needed. This change helped me in beginning to find and experiment with higher quality programs. This also gave me a way to combine my past graphic design skills into video for TikTok, keeping me occupied during my free time after work when not experimenting with analog effects, obsolete physical media, or using older cameras on trips and hikes.
During this period I learned various video editing tips for both mobile and computer workspaces, as well as video shooting tips with some TikTok shorts or YouTube videos showcasing older camcorders. I dove into the retro world of tech and began a fascination with showcasing and using vintage digital and analog cameras and consumer tech without having to "modernize" with extra expensive parts
Taking a break from creating content on social media, nature related trips and travels to be more active and social, shifted my focus yet again more towards photography. having dabbled with nature and portrait photography in the past for specific projects or ideas with others. I've been learning more about product photography to mix creativity with camera control, while also rediscovering my passion for graphic design. I've recently learned about vibe coding and have used it with the likes of Framer with sites such as this one and retrotechlibrary.org to ease my love for design into fully working websites that stand out and are easy to match my preferred styles and tastes.
While i am still learning most of the above as of recently, i have also re-found my love for design and keeping my style unique and distinct from the minimalism around me to let myself experiment with more bold, grungy, and imperfect design styles.
