1. I’m a Persian Canadian with Indian parents and a Ukrainian wife living on an island in America.

2. My father was an Architect and my mother has her masters in Sociology. This explains the yin and yang of Xerxes.

3. I was born in Vancouver and graduated high school in Southern California. So that means I am sorry and also not sorry.

4. Oprah and I have something in common: We have both received Doctorates of Humane Letters from SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design).

5. If I wasn’t a designer I would be a stand up comedian.

6. I invented the Dogs of Amazon 404 pages.

7. I have designed 7 stamps for Canada Post and 1 coin for the Royal Canadian Mint.

8. I work at Google leading the UX Community & Culture team that supports the 5,500+ creatives around the globe.

9. I love to kayak with my family on lakes, rivers, or the sea.

10. My grandpa photographed GANDHI during the last two months of his life.

11. I’ve been lucky enough to work on the Alfred Hitchcock, Martin Luther King, Jr., Muhammad Ali and Albert Einstein estates.

12. I am on the TypeCon board of directors because...I am a type nerd.

13. For four years I worked as Creative Director for Bill Gates' media licensing companies Corbis, Veer, & Greenlight Rights.

14. I have been a founding partner of 2 design studios one that is over 17 years old.

15. I taught Typography at ACAD for 10 years and a Masters class at UW in HCDE.

16. I am a husband of one and father of two amazing humans.