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A portrait of Sam Labash, the owner and designer of this website

I'm Sam. I'm a lot of things - Pennsylvania native, amateur climber, father to a cat - but you're probably here because I'm a digital designer and artist.

To summarize, I'm a multimedia digital designer and artist with 6 years of professional experience and a wide arrary of skills that complement each other. I understand each step of the design process across a multitude of mediums, which gives me a unique perspective on designs from both a practical and aesthetic point of view. I'm also an arguably-accomplished creative photographer, with my work being exhibited, auctioned, and even featured on the cover of a fine art magazine.

ABOUT ME

My design journey began when I started experimenting (mostly fooling around) with Adobe Illustrator when I was around 15 years old. I took some summer graphic design courses and continued "experimenting" until I graduated high school. I love the feeling of creating something that I can be proud of - aesthetically, practically, and technically - and so I decided to pursue digital design in college. I graduated from Duquesne University in 2023, majoring in Digital Media with a concentration in Human Computer Interaction. My specialty lies in UX and UI Design, but I am proficient and experienced in Graphic Design, Web Design, Design Research/Testing, and other types of media design.

My design philosophy revolves around simplicity - a user shouldn't have to get familiar with your platform to be able to use it efficiently. Centralization, clarity, simplicity, and fluidity are at the core of my design style.

Art and design are siblings, and I find that almost always the two go hand-in-hand. Thus, in addition to my work in digital design, I am also a fine-art photographer.
I began photography when I was 14 years old, when my mother gave me her camera to hold during a hike. I fell in love first with the "click" of the shutter, and then with the satisfaction of seeing a good composition, exposure, and focus on the tiny screen. I took classes for the next six years until I began working as a freelance photographer for graduate photos, marketing, and professional headshots; all the while pursuing my art as a hobby.
In the last few years, I've had the privilege of working with several professional models to experiment with creative portraiture. I also joined the Pittsburgh Society of Artists and Associated Artists of Pittsburgh, two local creative guilds.
Since 2020, my work has been featured in two exhibits, has been sold at auction, and has been featured on the cover of fine art magazine :lexicon.
My commercial photography is stored on this site under the Photography tab, but my creative work is stored on a different website - feel free to take a look!

Creative Photography Portfolio

There's very little to say about my personal life - I was born and raised in Pittsburgh, I have a cat named Lucille Belle (like the actress, Lucille Ball, except it's spelled "Belle" because she wears a bell on her collar), I speak French and lived in Paris for a spell, and have my hobbies like anyone else.

I'm a bit of an escapist in my hobbies - I enjoy film, music, books, and video games.

My favorite movie is Blade Runner 2049, a sci-fi trip from my favorite director, Denis Villeneuve.

My favorite music changes weekly, but generally I stick to punk rock and hardcore (that being said, I have my picks in every genre).

My favorite author would be the honorable Sir Terry Pratchett, but recently it's been Ben Aronovich and his Rivers of London series.

My favorite game, by far, is Baldur's Gate 3, and my top ten list is dominated by other RPGs - The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077, the Fallout series (New Vegas, specifically), Pokémon, and roughly half of FromSoftware's recent publication list, in this order: Bloodborne, Elden Ring, Dark Souls 3, Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice, and then the rest.

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