My name is Dana Chrysler, owner and creative director of Type By Design, founded in 2002. I have over 20 years' experience in nearly every stage of the printing process, including typesetting, design, layout, camera, print brokering, image scanning, and photo manipulation. My background has equipped me with the knowledge and traditional training not often found in the average graphic designer.

As far back as I can remember, I have loved type--the beauty of a well-designed printed piece and the art of a beautiful font. As a kid, I would cut up mom's old catalogs (homemade clipart) and paste selected Sunday comics captions on them. I thought my creations were quite clever and amusing and hoped everyone else would, too. Even then, I loved working with type and graphics!

In high school, my interests were journalism, drama, and music. After high school, my first job was working for the classified department of the local newspaper. The pay wasn't much, but the hustle-bustle atmosphere of constant deadlines was addicting--no day was ever the same.

A couple years later, I moved to the big city and worked as a typesetter using Compugraphic typesetting machines, measuring type in picas and points, and developing the typeset film in a chemical processor (those were the good old days). I worked hand in hand with agency graphic artists and clients at a Seattle-area advertising agency and print brokerage. The whole "print thing" was definitely in my blood.

Later, I was a member of the print department of a large insurance company called USAA (United Services Automobile Association), with over 5,000 employees. Typesetting and designing complex forms and brochures for USAA's national marketing campaign, I honed my skills.

My life took a bit of a detour after that when I had a stint as a flight attendant for Continental Airlines (right). But serving drinks and demonstrating the fine art of seat-belt buckling didn't mesh with my family's lifestyle (plus the frequent absences from home), so I chalked it up to a great ride and moved on. The free flying passes helped, of course.

I picked up my career at a local advertising agency and had the privilege of producing their first phone directory, later to become known as the award-winning "MacGregor Plaid" directory. The variety of clients kept me on my toes and I enjoyed working on the wide array of projects.

I moved on to became Production Coordinator for the national corporate advertising department of John Fluke Manufacturing Company. Dealing with high-end Seattle-area print vendors, performing press checks, and following projects from concept to finished piece, I built upon my knowledge of printing and pre-press production (and worked our trade show booth in Las Vegas, left).

When desktop publishing was introduced in the mid-80s, I learned to combine type and graphics in one layout program and to produce the finished page on a desktop printer. Building on the foundation of my traditional typesetting skills, I moved on to the cutting-edge tools of the day (Photoshop, Pagemaker, CorelDraw, and others).

Looking back, I realize that those years spent working for the newspaper, advertising agency, print brokerage, and corporate advertising department (even the flight attendant profession) taught me the importance of doing quality work for a variety of clients in a high production setting. I learned that I loved the work and helping people.

Today, I'm following the passion that's animated me since those early days of cutting up mom's old catalogs--providing great design for great people--and having a blast.