Hello

'When I think of Darren, one word comes to mind: Brilliant. Not only is he a super-talented visual designer, but he has a keen mind for the entire user experience. I have heard many who work under Darren say that he is easily the best manager they ever worked with. He is a team player, a creative genius, and best of all, a very friendly and likable person. Highly recommended.

Darren is one of those rare designers who brings the whole package. Not only does he create brilliant visual and interaction designs for building world-class consumer software, but he can also code it just right with HTML/CSS/Javascript. And beyond that, just plain fun to collaborate with.

I have been honored to have Darren as my manager since 2006. As a manager Darren treats his employees with respect and has a genuine interest in seeing his team learn, grow and expand their responsibilities in an environment that Darren makes very collaborative. Darren's positive attitude and whatever-it-takes work ethic rubs off on his team as well as others within the company who have the privilege to work with him. Darren believes that quality and pride in one's work is the wind that guides the Creative Team ship and he has a crew that supports him 100%. If Darren were to ever leave the company where we work together, I would want to know where he's going with hopes there would be an open position within his team.

Possessing the most desirable (and oft conflicting) qualities of a creative visionary, trusted administrator, and customer evangelist, Darren always creates the most positive, productive atmosphere for those who depend on and take direction from his generous experience, insight, and passion. I have never met a creative leader more caring in his attention to and execution of every detail, in reinforcing the strengths/objectives of the company as a whole—who is equally devoted to enriching those same qualities in each member of his team. While Darren’s singular contributions truly accelerate the ambitions of a great company like Zazzle, his exemplary leadership and enthusiastic support provide the foundation on which the best organizations are built.

Darren is an exceptional User Interface expert. He has a rare combination of expertise in user interaction, implementation wizardry and ability to bridge the gap between product management and engineering. He was instrumental in building products at Informative that were used by hundreds of thousands of users for large companies like LEGO, Procter and Gamble, etc...

Darren has an amazing talent for design. I was truly in awe at how well his creative vision transformed our site and brought us one step closer to brand recognition in the online on-demand e-commerce retail industry! He not also is talented, his work ethic, management skills, and execution on projects was impeccable. He really has that "can-do" attitude. Nothing is ever impossible for Darren. He was an invaluable asset to our team.

Darren proved himself to be a critical founding member of the engineering team from the early days of only a handful of engineers, and was instrumental in growing the design / creative group into a highly effective department within the company, all along providing an example of dedication and commitment to the company for others in his team to follow. Along with solid technical skills, Darren demonstrates mature qualities as a personnel manager of a substantial group of designers. Darren's blinding smile, infectious laughter and great sense of humor make him a pleasure to work with, even - and especially - in the most difficult of circumstances.

Darren is an amazing person to work with! He is multi-talented and one of the few people I know who is as comfortable in HTML/CSS/JS as he is in Photoshop/Illustrator. During our time together at Zazzle, the development team grew from less than ten people to over fifty and throughout the expansion, Darren was a key part of the company's foundation and a cornerstone for the organization, helping to oversee the design team and serving as the "design guru" in the company. Besides his skills, Darren is also great to work with. He is one of the most positive people I have met, always striving to better himself and his work. His optimism is infectious and he is a core part of the culture at Zazzle.

Darren is one of those rare designers who can do it all, from original concept to Photoshop/Illustrator mockups to guru-grade XHTML/CSS. Not only that, he's at once both a fun and brilliant mentor in the office.