User:Carlosbenjamin

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Carlos Benjamin Walker, at Brunel Universities on campus pub, the Hub, London UK, 2006.
Carlos Benjamin Walker, at Brunel Universities on campus pub, the Hub, London UK, 2006.

Carlos Benjamin (born Carlos Benjamin Walker, August 23, 1981 in Ashland, Oregon) is a young product and graphic designer, and student. Currently residing in Bethnal Green, London, UK, he is working towards his Master's Degree, at Brunel University, West London.

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[edit] Biography

Of Mexican decent on his mothers side, and Scottish and Mexican decent on his fathers side, he grew up speaking english primarily, with sparse use of spanish during visits with his maternal family. After three years in Ashland, his family relocated to Los Angeles, California (staying with his maternal grandparents) and then to North County, San Diego, where he spent the majority of his formative years. He is the only child of Bruce James Walker (a carpenter) and Rebecca Ann Dominguez (a webmistress).

Inspired by his maternal grandfather, Ildefonso Guytan Dominguez - who was an aerospace engineer for McDonnell Douglas and worked on the Apollo 13 project for NASA - his first choice for his future career was "design engineer," a position not far from what he currently practices. As a consequence, and combined with his father's capentry skills, much of his youth was spent either making things, or taking things apart. As time progressed this hands-on approach would manifest into an analytical approach that paved the way for everything from skateboard ramps, garage bands and a hand built cross-bow, to finished furniture, computer based sequencing and musical production, and classic car repair.

Of the variety of projects undertaken, a few remain indelible on his skill sets - namely the 13 table, a 1948 chevrolet panel truck, and the 1976 atlantica fixed gear conversion - providing as much personal enjoyment through learning the processes involved, as in the finished product. Interestingly, as a testament to that, he has sold or given away all of the afformentioned projects.

In late 2000, he relocated to Davis, California to finish his Associates of Art, in Art, and - after only one semester - then moved to San Francisco to pursue the rest of his bachelors degree, a Bachelors of Arts in Industrial arts, With an Emphasis in Interdiciplinary Environmental Design, at San Francisco State University.

In September 2005, he began his Masters degree, at Brunel University, in Design Strategy & Innovation, with a focus on the mutual effects of design theory and sustainable development upon each other. He is currently in the final stages of writing his thesis.

[edit] Carbon Based Design Technologies

While taking classes at MiraCosta College, he noticed the niche market need for in-home computer and networking tech support, through their job board. After taking on a few clients, and within a manner of weeks, this proved to be much more lucrative than his book-selling job, which he quit promptly. In an effort to look professional, he decided he needed business cards, which then meant he needed a company.

Based on the fact that he found ficticious business names (names that meant nothing, like Sony, or Xerox) personally entertaining, and that most people would never question their validity (because of reasons to do with brand equity), he decided that "design" and "technologies" would round out the companies title. Because he thought that his first and middle names would catch better in the user's mind, he dropped the use of his last name within the professional world and thus, in early 2000, Carlos Benjamin Design Technologies was started.

After nearly a year of work within the consultancy he founded, Carlos Benjamin Design Technologies had shifted almost entirely to client oriented design work, and needed to expand to handle the increased load by taking on more people - and thus negating the presence of his name within the companies title. After meeting Alex Zeh in a product design class at SFSU, and bonding over shared passions (scandinavian utility, japanese simplicity, italian bicycles, girls), Alex was brought onboard as the "other half" of the core to the company. Already owner of the (now defunct) url http://cbdt.bz, he quietly changed "carlos benjamin" to "carbon based" to keep the URL. The use of "carbon based" draws on the analogy of the concentric atomic-model (as membership began to increase, there were various levels of participation within the group, while Alex & Carlos remained constant), and the near omni-presence of the carbon atom in day to day life. With a new name, and a new set of motives, Carbon Based Design Technologies was born. A new logo was made, a website constructed, business cards printed, and promotional buttons (badges) were made and distributed, all based on a new identity and continuity of modus.

After his move to London, he decided to rebuild the companies site comprehensively, outside of flash, and based as entirely as possible on HTML and CSS - teaching himself CSS in the process. A new URL was procured, http://carbonbased.biz, and - once the site had been peer proofed - version 9.2.0 of the site went live, June 2006. Currently, the company performs double duty as a for-hire design studio, and as a platform to assist its members in completion of their own projects.

[edit] Miscellaneous

  • Began studying piano at age 5, alto saxophone (and later tenor) at age 11, and guitar at 13.
  • During 5th through 7th grade (1991- 1993), he collected (and still owns) complete sets of comic cards, mostly from the Marvel Universe including (but not limited to): Marvel Universe Series' I, II & III ; Marvel Masterpieces x2; Fleer Ultra X-Men Series I & II.
  • Credits the official advent of applied art & aesthetics in his life to his experiences doing graffiti throughout North County, San Diego, the consequential discovery of piecing (see graffiti terminology), and the general art theory it required (layout, balance, color use, shadow, perspective, etc). Within a year, this career came to a quick end after getting arrested for stealing ~$300 dollars of spray paint from the local hardware chain, HomeBase, and consequently spending a night in jail. Although there were no legal ramifications, the importance of graphic theory would never leave him.
  • While living at the corner of Carl and Cole - the heart of Cole Valley , San Francisco - he hosted a free wifi broadcast titled, "105 carl, bring beer" [1], with the intent that passers by, patrons of the coffee shop accross the street and anyone within range was welcome to use the internet connection, as long as at some point, they returned the favor with beer. The tactic proved successfull on numerous occassions.
  • Has one tattoo of Ganesha, designed by him and all his best friends at the time, and done by a then little known tattoo artist (but widely respected graffiti artist), Mike GIANT, in his living room. The tattoo was prompted by a dream that occured less than a month earlier.
  • Since the adoption of his 'shorter' name in 2000, he has continued to use this version for almost everything casual and non-legal: chatting, blogging, power bills, mobile phone contracts, library cards, and even socially (in the real world). However, he did not change his name, he simply does not use his last name - which constantly misleads people to incorrectly address him as "Mr. Benjamin" - he prefers simply, "Carlos."

[edit] Internet Contributions

Carlos also contributes to a small number of galleries, weblogs and webpages:

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