About Matt Myers
Did you know..?Interesting facts about Matt that you may not know.
Also see: [Matt’s Résumé] • [Matt’s References] • [Testimonials]
- Matt has over 25 years experience as a professional graphic artist. He started freelancing in high school when he was 17 years old.
- Matt’s training as a graphic artist include blueline illustrations, pasteboards, rubylith and in-camera work. This background in traditional graphic work gives him an edge in understanding the history of his profession.
- In addition to graphic arts, Matt is also a very proficient programmer. He won the “Computer Programming” award in High School 2 years in a row for work in B.A.S.I.C., Pascal, FORTRAN, and COBOL. He’s continued to learn other languages, including HTML, DHTML, HTLM 5, javascript, jQuery, and CSS.
- Matt is an avid Apple Computer fan and has never personally owned a PC. Admittedly, he’s used PCs at various jobs and in proficient in Windows, but has used and owned Apple and Macintosh computers since 1984.
- Matt was a finalist in Discovery Channel’s 2011 “SHARK WEEK” fan video contest. You can view his video submission for the contest here and his introduction video to Discovery here. Matt even volunteered to be attacked by a police dog to get “exciting” footage to use in his final submission. (Matt did all the editing, graphics, and greenscreen work on these videos himself.)
- In 2013, Discovery Channel named Matt “SHARK WEEK SUPERFAN” and invited him to be a guest on an exclusive Google Hangout, live from the National Aquarium. View the video of the hangout here.
- Matt’s love for sharks (and marine life) led him to pursue advanced education concerning sharks and other chondrichthyes. Matt completed a course on shark biodiversity, biology and conservation from Cornell University and the University of Queensland.
- Matt created the urban legend of the “Lake Norman Monster.” He markets “Normie” the Lake Norman Monster merchandise and summer “Monster Sightseeing Tours” for kids on Lake Norman. The cruise has been called a “summer family tradition” by Lake Norman Magazine. In 2010, he published a children’s book featuring “Normie” the Lake Norman Monster.
- Matt’s hobbies include photography (film and digital), painting (oils and acrylics), and drawing (pencil, chalk, and pen & ink).
- Matt is the co-owner of an executive protection dog company and has training as a K9 handler for narcotics and explosive detection dogs. (That’s right, bomb and drug sniffing dogs.)
- Matt enjoys traveling. His international travel includes Antigua, Cozumel, Ireland, and London. He hopes to continue his international travels.
- Have you ever wrestled an alligator? Matt has. Ask him about the summer of 2006 and his experience wrestling alligators in Florida.
- Matt enjoys model building and electronics. Matt built a life-size, fully functional remote controlled R2-D2 using blueprints from LucasFilm. It took him nearly three years to complete this project. (You can see construction photos here.)
- Matt is quite the movie buff. In addition to theatrical releases, he enjoys documentary films – especially the works of Werner Herzog. Matt’s DVD and Blu-Ray library contains hundreds of titles, including some obscure and out-of-print films.
- Matt worked as Marketing Director and helped edit and provide creative input on an independent documentary film from 2004-2007, in his free time. You can find the film’s IMDB Page here. (Matt’s IMDB Page can be found here.) Matt marketed the film at various film festivals across the U.S. and the premier in Orlando, FL. The film was eventually picked up by a studio in the UK and shelved after it was released only on DVD in Australia. You can view the trailer for the film here.
- Matt was featured as a Stormtrooper in a set of officially licensed Star Wars trading cards from LucasFilm. (Really! Here it is! Card #59!)
- During his college years (and for a few years afterward), Matt attended various trade shows and conventions where he helped man a booth and promote a business for a friend in the comic book industry.
- Matt organized and ran a Star Trek convention in Charlotte in 1999. He promoted the convention, did the artwork for the marketing materials and website, organized the celebrity guest, set up the registration and ticketing process, and managed the books (including paying the hotel, catering, and charitable donations to The Make-A-Wish Foundation and the American Red Cross).
- Matt lost 94 lbs in 2018-2019 using diet and exercise. He looks and feels like a different person now!
- Matt leads the Mooresville Ruck Club, a GORUCK sponsored rucking club. (Rucking is urban hiking.) The club meets every Saturday morning and two evenings during the week for rucks in and around Mooresville.