Brian Patterson

Raised on love for illustration spawned from a steady diet of comics, Dungeons & Dragons, and cartoons from the 1980’s, AppleInsider contributing editor Brian Patterson graduated from high school in 1995 and the workforce as a silkscreen printer and freelance illustrator/graphic designer, working on Apple hardware and software every night from day one.

Unable to attend art school through conventional means, Brian’s initial skill set was entirely self-taught in a time well before videos and tutorials for everything existed on YouTube. The process was long and difficult, but he learned with every project and eventually caught the eye of a big art department.

In that department, over the course of a decade, Brian’s skill level in art, design, and Apple expertise jumped by leaps and bounds, as he handled projects and campaigns for national brands and Billboard Top 10 artists and ascended to the position of Art Director. During these years, Brian researched, campaigned, and brought in new approaches and technology to the firm that fundamentally changed the way they do business with those lessons retained to this day.

During these years, Brian created and launched the webcomic d20Monkey, a series following the exploits of a gaming group and their adventures in their lives and exploits of their characters in the world of tabletop roleplaying games. The series grew a large audience, and in 2015, Brian resigned his Art Director position to go full-time with comics and freelance illustration/design.

In 2021, Brian Patterson is a beloved member of the online comics industry with a completed 10-year series under his belt — and a new series on the way. And also, along the way, he contributed to the design and art on several crowdfunded projects, and accumulated art and writing credits from every major roleplaying game publisher. He brings to AppleInsider a large audience of fans, and over two decades of real-life experience as a graphic designer and illustrator with Apple products backing him on every step of the journey.

Brian currently uses a 2018 Mac Mini with an eGPU, a 22-inch Wacom Cintiq, and the Adobe Creative Suite.