Meet
Jonathan Hanwit
Director of Client Services
Jonathan’s passion is people. If he wasn’t working for Parallax, he’d be traveling the world, learning about other cultures and talking with his hands – and feet if necessary. Jonathan’s prior business and marketing experience, in combination with his knack for building relationships, makes client services an ideal role for him. His strength is working with the clients to create and achieve marketing goals, communicating these goals to the design team, while keeping the client’s perspective and audience in check. He handles all aspects of the business, and at times adds some creative juice to the punch. Prior to Parallax, Jonathan worked for three years as a Business Development Manager for a San Diego based non-profit, Partnerships With Industry. Before that he worked as a Marketing Manager for Unicorp Marketing, after graduating from Radford University in 1997. Oh, and he traveled from Asia to Europe overland (and then some) in between the two jobs. If in need of a laugh, ask him to tell you one of his many ridiculous travel stories. Be sure it’s after lunch though.
Guusje Bendeler
Creative Director
That’s pronounced Who-sha. She’s originally from The Netherlands. She’s not afraid to speak her mind and she’s always up for a teaching moment. That’s why she’s such a strong art director and educator for her designers, students and clients. Although she still gets hands-on in some design projects, now she mostly oversees that each project reaches the high level of quality Parallax is known for – no cutting corners here! ;) Guusje graduated in 1996 from the Royal Academy of Art in The Netherlands where she earned her degree in graphic and typographic design. She worked for more than ten years at renowned design firms in The Netherlands and US, where she designed award-winning books, catalogs, exhibits, posters, brochures, ads and annual reports. Because she likes sharing her knowledge and loves seeing young designers grow into their talent, she also worked for six years as a part-time graphic design lecturer at San Diego State University.
Edison Miclat
Senior Designer
Edison’s great sense of color and design details, make him an aesthetical pro. Not only is he a strong designer, he’s the best at asking the right questions, making sure all bits and pieces come together the way they should and seeing a project through to the end – all with a little help from his trusty sidekick Newton. Before Edison graduated from San Diego State University, he lived in Japan where he cultivated his aesthetical eye and love for photography.
Elizabeth Braud
Project Manager
Our Louisiana native and LSU alum brings plenty to the table as our project manager. Her copywriting, advertising and design experience in combination with the practical knowledge gained when she started her career at New Orleans Agency, Zehno, makes her a naturally great fit with Parallax. But in actuality it is her personality, and natural tendencies for detail and organization that make her excel at the position. That, and she has quite a knack for creative stuff too!
Allen Ramirez
Designer
Allen’s passion for graffiti and urban art, gives him a fresh perspective and extra edge as a designer. An illustrator at heart, Allen was the kid in grammar school that his friends “hired” to doodle on their binders. Today he incorporates his talent for illustrating into his everyday work with typography and graphic design. Allen first interned with Parallax in 2010 and they took notice of his creativity. After graduating from SDSU’s Graphic Design program, Parallax scooped him up as their newest designer. When he’s not sketching in his “black book,” Allen can be found skating around town, snowboarding and surfing. And to answer the question on everyone’s minds – he’s been growing those dreads since 2004.
Mark Ngolab
Web Developer
He’s been coding websites since the early days of AOL. He built his first computer as a college freshman. He one day hopes to develop an app for the iPad. He’s Batman! Actually he’s Mark Ngolab, our in-house developer. (But he is big fan of Batman.) Mark majored in Graphic Design at SDSU’s School of Art and Design, and studied under Guusje Bendeler. What started as a hobby has now grown into a passion, as Mark adapts to the ever-changing world of web development, working with HTML, CSS, Flash, PHP, Wordpress and now Drupal. This tech guru’s eye for design paired with development experience makes him the final piece of the Parallax puzzle.