Hi there! As I’m sure you already know by now, my name’s Erik Swan, and I’m a web designer, lighting designer, and hopefully a future engineer! I’m currently a senior at Eden Prairie High School, in Eden Prairie, MN. I’m a huge technology/math/design nerd, and although school takes up most of my time, I love spending what free time I have pursuing my hobbies.

I’ve done lots of web design work since I was just a kid. Some of it’s paid, some of it’s free, some of it doesn’t even have a purpose, but all of it is fun. Although using FrontPage’s WYSIWYG view was once the pinnacle of my web design skills, I now like to consider myself an HTML/CSS pro, and I’m learning more everyday (currently on my to-do list: a full mastery of JavaScript and jQuery, Object Oriented PHP, and putting everything together to build live HTML5 webapps). In fact, this website is built according to the latest HTML5 spec, a first for me.

In addition to web design, I’m extremely interested in lighting design for theatre, concerts, dance, film, you name it. As a kid, I was really interested in magic (and still am), and I think my interest in lighting and special effects stemmed from that. There is something really cool about using technology to create illusion on stage, to making people believe something that is not really there. In this sense theater is just as much an illusion as a magic act. The sets, the lighting, and the acting are all illusions; the audience is being engaged in, even moved by, something that is not really there. Being able to control what people see, think, and even feel with nothing but my creative brain and a bunch of photons is a satisfying feeling. Plus, it’s always cool to blast the fog, pump the music, and make lights go flashy-flashy. Who doesn’t enjoy that?

Anyways, next year I’m hoping to go to a four-year college to study either Aerospace or Electrical Engineering. Not quite sure where I’m going yet, although I’ll know soon. No matter where I go, I’m sure it will be awesome!

Thanks for taking the time to read a bit about me. If you want to contact me or have any questions, please use the Contact Me button at the bottom of the page or click here.

Thanks!
    — Erik