About Me

marvin_grins

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, The Scottsdale Charros and Strategic Retail Group.

My forte is graphic design, interaction design, typography, illustration and brand development. 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 web development firm 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 eight years.

In 2009, I started a brand new company called Bravoforté, specializing in web design, print design and branding.

I have also been involved with AIGA (the professional association for design) since 2006. I have served terms as Chapter Secretary, Vice-President, and President. I am currently Outgoing President and Legacy Director for the Arizona chapter, as well as a member of the national Chapter Advisory Council, where I advise western chapters of AIGA.

Outside of the office, I still share time with my second love, music. I write, record and perform my own original songs. I also play a with a local cover band called Flipside-45. I love hiking, good pizza and bad science fiction.

Favorite Movies:

  • Amelie
  • Blazing Saddles
  • The Empire Strikes Back
  • Moonrise Kingdom
  • 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