Blog #1 - About Me

Hello Graphic Design enthusiasts,

For those of you that don’t know already my name is Ronan Weber. I am currently a student at Marian University in my senior year, studying graphic design and business. I originate from Cairns, Australia in Far North Queensland. The gateway to the rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. I grew up there for 18 years of my life before I moved to the United States to fulfil a dream I had since I was 8 years old. You could say I’m an Aussie through and through.

I always wanted to become a professional BMX racer since I was young and move to the U.S to live out that dream. My Dad wouldn’t let me go unless I had a backup plan. That’s where I found Marian University with the most decorated cycling team in the nation. From all disciplines of cycling, from cyclocross, road, track, mountain bike, and BMX. I was accepted in early 2017 and never looked back. I have the best of both worlds. Being a student-athlete, I race at the elite level year-round and come back to school after the weekends and get back to the books. There’re not many schools in the world that support BMX as a collegiate sport and I am extremely lucky and grateful to have such an opportunity at Marian University.

Design came to me in high school where I wanted to expand my video production abilities so I could make my YouTube videos more professional and of higher quality which in turn I found a new love for Graphic Design. Since then I’ve learnt the ins and outs of Adobe suite at Marian University and have developed a portfolio I’m proud of and will continue to grow and expand upon. I enjoy the aspect of learning something new within the Adobe suite programs daily. It is something that I am super passionate about and strives to become more knowledgeable about. From constantly asking my teachers questions to looking up and watching YouTube videos in my spare time. You could say I’m almost as passionate about design as I am with my sport.

Being a high-performance athlete and student has given me some incredible organisational skills as well as time management. School always comes first for me and training and racing 2nd as I know BMX won’t last forever. My sport has given me the opportunity to travel the world as well as represent incredible companies within the industry where I have learnt to develop relationships and market through contracts to promote and share their company at the elite level. From a social media marketing standpoint as well as looking through analytics on posts to find what is performing the best. I have also done freelance design work with projects commissioned by varied clientele, from successful businesses to elite athletes looking to create content and change their image. This is where R9 Designs was born.