IM Spotlight: Krystal

Image Management's very own Krystal Carr is a stellar website designer and programmer. Let's get to know Krystal a bit better, shall we?

What got you interested in website design and programming?

I've always had a natural knack for art and computers ever since I was little. My Grandpa was sort of an engineer, and he was always working on random electronic gadgets in the basement, taking apart and fixing things to my astonishment. I guess he is where I got my curiosity for tech from. At Park High school, I took a class in web design which taught me the basics of HTML and from there I knew that I would love to do this as a career. The first site I designed may have had a terrible all blue and gold color scheme and had been completely about a video game called Bully, but those were all small beginnings.

After high school I pursued my first degree in Computer Support. My first job in the field was working at GeekSquad, which I didn't really enjoy. It was cool for a total tech person, but I felt very limited with my creativity. I then knew that as an artistic being, I was not in the correct field. From there I went back to Gateway and worked on my Web Development degree, all while taking any courses available in art and design. Although I am pretty artistic, I tend to think that my ability to pick up tech and programming are much more considered my bread and butter, which is why I focused on programming more than design. I love that now as a Web Developer, I'm able to work on both design and programming which keeps me as happy as possible.

What are some of your hobbies outside of work?

I am a big video gamer and I spent lots of hours inside the digital gaming world. I even had a past of competitive gaming with big games like Call of Duty and Left 4 Dead. Gaming has been a huge part of me since I was 5 years old, and I hope to continue this until I'm around 90. Besides gaming, I can most likely be found writing content for one of the top gaming websites, Sheattack.com. I had always had a passion for writing and videogames, so I get to combine the best of both worlds together. Through SheAttack I have been able to attend huge gaming conventions such as PAX East and West, and I even earned the opportunity to interview many top game developers. My biggest accomplishment was being able to sit down and interview two of the voices that made my childhood fantastic, the voices behind Dragonball Z's Goku and Vegeta! If not writing or gaming I like to indulge in other hobbies such as working on creating my own jewelry and crafts, and also binge watching TV or anime series on Netflix.

What has been your favorite project so far at Image Management?

There have been quite a few projects that I really enjoyed working on here at Image Management ranging from my first website which is Jim's Garage Door Service and even some of my latest projects like Urban Trends SalonSpa and Central Wisconsin Credit Union, but I will say that my favorite project so far was working on VideoScore. Darryl Ingram was a delight to work with. I loved how the project began with just a local idea, and now it has launched into a grand website that can now be shared with the world. Darryl came in with such a great game plan for VideoScore which pumped my spirits up for wanting to help even further expand the site into what he envisioned. I love it when a client has so much passion for the work that they do and it is very inspiring to me. This website looks very professional and clean, which makes this one of my favorite sites that I have created so far. This level of work is what I strive to create as I work on any future projects.

What's your favorite food?

I love anything that involves pasta, fish or soul food! My favorite pasta meals include pasta fettuccine and alfredo, spaghetti, and raviolis with meat and tomatoes. My favorite fish meals involve catfish, tilapia, and especially combining pasta and fish together, you can not go wrong at all. As for soul food, I'll always love my Grandma's home cooked meals. Others can taste good, but very few can compare. I enjoy dining at Olive Garden and Applebees, where I would definitely recommend their chicken alfredo meals.

What are your favorite books?

I've always been a huge bookworm growing up. I indulged into the world of Harry Potter, The Chronicles of Narnia, Babysitter's Club and Goosebumps just to name a few. Now days while I don't have as much time to put into reading, I prefer quicker reads like Young Adult Novels, Graphic Novels and Manga. Some of my most favorite books are Invisible Man by Ralph Ellison, The Divergent series, Mercy Thompson, World War Z, anything by Stephen King, and I've recently been getting into the Planet of the Apes comic series that came out in 1974.

What's your favorite type of music?

What usually keeps me going throughout the day is having a good selecting of music to pump me up. I love anything with a catchy beat and meaningful lyrics. I enjoy many different genres all ranging from Funk, Metal and even K-Pop (Korean Pop). I love lots of the great classics such as Metallica, Earth Wind and Fire, RUN DMC, ACDC, just to name a few. Recently I've been jamming to lots of Lana Del Rey, Korn, MilkyChance, NWA, and Big Bang.

What's your favorite TV show?

My all-time favorite TV Show has been and still remains with LOST. I have yet to find another "stranded on an island with many strange supernatural things happening" series that stands as strong. Each week I wanted to uncover more to the story while also discovering a new mystery to solve. Some of the best screenwriting went into that show and some of the actors, I'll never forget. As for current TV you can always finding me watching anything WWE (RAW, Smackdown and NXT air weekly), Scream Queens, Breaking Bad, Game of Thrones, Scream Queens, The Walking Dead, and I love the classics such as Twilight Zone.

What's your favorite inspirational quote?

"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward." - Martin Luther King, Jr.

I love this quote the most because it is so simple yet powerful. When I was younger I spent a good deal of my time learning about the Civil War and what leaders rose up from that time. Martin Luther King Jr always inspired me to fight for what I believe is right and to do in such a non threatening way but with so much power behind his words. This quote to me keeps me going in the hardest of times, to know no matter how hard the journey may be to reach my goal, but we must always continue to push forward to make it to that goal.