abandoning apathy

Davin Greenwell is a designer, producer, photographer and DJ.
His history in graphic design started when he was 10. He started doing some basic programming, enough to program an animation on the Apple IIe that his dad brought home from school for the summer. From there it was on to Superpaint when it came out, and eventually Photoshop when that came, along with Illustrator. From there it was onto commercial design by the age of 16, and then a brief hiatus to college to study business administration and marketing to back up his passion for making things look and function beautifully and efficiently. Several years later, he finds himself at an ambitious and successful Victoria company, working on some of the highest profile design sites in the entire world.
Design is not limited to visuals for Davin. Bringing his years of refinement in concept, composition, energy and flow to the music world was a natural step. Making music under the name “AFK”, collaborating as “Tiebreaker” and “Royal Assassin,” Davin’s music has been spun by the biggest name DJ’s in the world, such as Armin Van Buuren, Hybrid, Sasha and John Digweed to name a few. To further his music efforts, he co-founded Pacific Front Recordings and serves as Director of Marketing and A&R.
All this would be enough to keep Davin busy in the evenings, but in the day time several years ago, while doing PR and outreach for BC Hydro, a camera was placed in Davin’s hands. What followed has been a passion for composition and flavour through a completely different outlet. Although this is a visual art, in a way it is similar to DJing more than it is to design, as a DJ is responsibile for arranging, not creating specific things on their own. Compare this to the photographer who has a telephoto lens and 5 interesting things in front of him or her. What does the photographer with the telephoto lens do, capture one from where he or she is standing, or completely change the point of view, step to the side and line some of them up to tell a story?
Which brings us to DJing – an interest which complements all of the above in different ways. In as many ways that you can take a photo of a picket fence, in as many ways as you can make a drum fill, and in as many ways as you can arrange layersets in any given Adobe product, you can arrange records and CD’s, original tracks and remixes, and do it in real time in front of an audience. This is audio arrangement with instant gratification and results – and often times with his own music.

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