Brian Artka passionately builds, browses and breathes the world wide web while living in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.

The History

I am a geek, and geeks have history. With that said, this is my sparse autobiography.

My first interaction with a computer was on the Commodore 64. My aunt and uncle had one and every time I was over there, nobody could get me to leave the computer.

Eventually, my family bought a 486dx based Personal Computer. It was mainly used for gaming(like X-com, Command & Conquer, etc.), but I also used it for connecting to the ExecPC BBS and, of course AOL. These were my first interactions on the internet. I was sold, and my life changed from here. I met a few people online (this was before the whole scare of not knowing who you were talking to) and made a few friends. These were super geeks, this was before the internet was popular.

In the early to mid 1990’s we got a better computer and I fell in love with online first person shooter games. Specifically one called Delta Force. Now remember, I told you I was a big geek, so while playing these online FPS games, I formed a few squads, or groups of online gamers, with local friends and online friends from around the world(mainly the US). As a squad, all of our members would get online at one time and compete, in leagues, against other squads. It was very fun. This is now a multi-million dollar industry. I learned much about interacting with people you have not met face to face and about leadership in general while playing these games. (yes, really; its surprisingly had some good)  One of these squads was called Detachment Alpha (yeh, go ahead and laugh). A group of the same guys and gals are still playing other online games under the same moniker.

While playing these online FPS games, I started to dwell into making websites for the squads. Now, we are talking old school wild west web design here. Think table based, no thought to the user interface, WYSIWYG designed hunks of junk. Hey, we all started somewhere right? I continued to make sites this way for a good number of years, some for friends, some for small clients, some for myself.

In the late 1990’s into early 2000, college and real life started. I went to Minneapolis for a year with the intention of learning Computer Science at the University of Minnesota. Now, in 1998, Computer Science was a broad term. I got forced onto some mundane class track and did not do very well in the Twin Cities. My GPA was horrible and I would not be going back to school there. I will say that my first public relations moment came out of my first year in college; for another laugh, here it is.

I ended up getting a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Film and Video Production at the University of Wisconsin- Milwaukee. In my last year at UWM, I had filmed a documentary that was aired on PBS called “The Hakala Brothers”. This documentary is now on Vimeo if you have some free time to watch.

The Transition

Ever since making some pretty cruddy websites for the video games I played, I was teaching myself design, web design and programming languages. This was off and on for many years. One summer in the middle of my college years, I tore my Menial Meniscus in my knee while playing softball. The injury put me out two-three weeks resting on a couch and drugged up. I purchased and read plenty of graphic design and web design books during this time. My interest in this field(web design) doubled.

One year later, while playing softball, I tore my other knee. Same spot, same injury. I knew it right when it happened. I was out for two more weeks. I once again purchased design and web design books, read them, studied, and learned all on my own. I was beginning to understand what my passion was. If you read this far, let me know, I owe you a beer sometime. This is not brief as I thought it would be.

After college, and the softball injuries, I started a small side business with a friend that did video and web design for small businesses. It was a great learning experience and I recently closed the business to start a new venture.

While working full time for others, I continued to educate myself and keep up on the web design industry. I came across a website called A List Apart, and I fell in love with web standards. From here I studied the musings and books of Jeffrey Zeldman, Eric Meyer, Dan Cederholm, Molly Holzschlag, and many others prominent in the web standards movement. My passion was defined.

I continue to read, teach myself, network at industry events across the country (SXSW, WebJam Session, An Event Apart, and more) and meet new and interesting like minded people who have become good friends. I wouldn’t have it any other way. This is what I do and I love it.