Hi, I'm Marvin Forte, a designer, musician and hiker from sunny Phoenix, Arizona.

I've been designing for print since 1988 and for the Web since 1998. My award-winning design skills have bolstered projects for Microsoft, Major League Baseball, The San Francisco Giants, The Nature Conservancy, TaxLoopholes, Maui Millionaires, The Scottsdale Charros and Jim Nasi Customs.

My forte is graphic design, information architecture and project management. I specialize in creative, intuitive design that’s simple and elegant.

It was inevitable that I would become a graphic artist. From the time I was a kid, I spent all my spare time drawing, doing calligraphy, designing posters and painting. That was, until I found my second love as a teenager, music. While playing in a rock band by night, my design skills led me to a day job as a graphic artist. Back then, graphic arts involved X-Acto knives, galley type, wax, paste-up, overlays and border tape. In 1989, my boss bought an Apple Macintosh, a color printer, and an imagesetter, and said “figure out how to use this stuff”. I did. I had to teach myself how to use all these new tools: back then it was PageMaker, Freehand, Illustrator, Photoshop, QuarkXPress and more. It came very naturally to me and I picked it up quickly.

After a number of years designing and managing design departments and service bureaus in North Carolina and Arizona, I struck out on my own in 2000 to found Forté Graphics, a freelance print and Web design firm. Then in December 2001, I partnered with Robert Smith, whose fledgling company VISIONN was just getting off-the-ground. Partnering my design skills with Robert’s marketing background, we expanded the company's client-base and services, which helped propel VISIONN to explosive growth over the next few years.

Outside of the office, I still share time with my second love, music. My brother and I front a band in Phoenix called The Dygmies. We've released two CDs and are working on our third. I also play a with a couple of local cover bands: That Kool Band (60s and 70s classics) and AZ Diamond (Neil Diamond tribute). I'm working on a solo album as well. I love hiking, good food and bad science fiction.

Favorite Movies:

  • Amelie
  • Blazing Saddles
  • The Empire Strikes Back
  • Unforgiven
  • V for Vendetta

Guilty Pleasure Movies:

  • Conan the Barbarian
  • Serendipity
  • That Thing You Do
  • This is Spinal Tap
  • Tombstone

Favorite Music:

  • The Beatles
  • Crowded House
  • Elvis Costello
  • The Shins
  • XTC

Favorite Guilty Pleasure Music:

  • Abba
  • The Bee Gees
  • Queen
  • Styx
  • The Sweet