The Short Version
LookatLao Studio has been around in various incarnations since 1986 when we got our start producing short films and improvisational mix-tapes via several Casio keyboards and a melodica. Sure, our fan base may have been limited to those that would hang around in our basement drinking Schmidt, but we were dedicated to being creative one way or another. The "Studio" eventually disbanded and we only produced work when we could all be in the same part of the country at the same time.
After design school, I moved to Seattle and after many jobs in the restaurant industry, an apprenticeship with an artist, and a two-year stint in Thailand, I somehow ended up in an HTML class. The whole internet thing seemed pretty cool.
By 1998 LookatLao Studio was reborn as a Web design firm. Sure, I was (and still am) the only employee, but I had lots of friends doing similar work and we ended up forming a freelance collective. By 2003 we were turning down work because we couldn't handle the volume.
Soon enough I was lured away to work in a big fat design firm where I was offered something that, until then, had been completely foreign to me: salary. And benefits. Now I get to work for one of Seattle's top graphic design firms and I get paid for doing what I love to do. So yeah, that part about doing what you love and the rest will work itself out seems to be true in my case.
Since I work full time I don't normally do freelance work with the exception of stuff for friends and the occasional restaurant site. If you think you fit into either of those categories drop me an email: hello@lookatlao.com