In 2001, Russ flew in an airplane from Georgia to New York. Once there, he attended art school at NYU. He also spent a lot of time writing and acting. It turns out his mind was more interested in problem solving than in artistic expression (though it was a close race) and so he chose to pursue a career in design, particularly the interactive variety. In the few short years since graduating, he has worked for RDA International, Nitro Group, The Ingredient as well as independently through his own design studio, Strange Native.

Just before school ended, Russ joined the independent rock band, The XYZ Affair. In addition to recording albums and playing sold out shows in some of New York City’s best venues, they made music videos and toured the country. That’s about as good as it gets.

Russ applied to the Interaction Design MFA program because he believes it will fulfill his childish dream of being an inventor.

He chronicles most of what he’s excited about at: www.strangenative.com