About Ethan
Hello! I'm Ethan, a student, freelance graphic designer, and tabletop game designer from Southwestern Missouri. I currently study at Missouri Southern State University, double-majoring in Mass Communications and Public Relations, minoring in Graphic Design and Multimedia Studies, and taking a certificate in Honors Interdisciplinary Studies.
My love of game design started at an early age, from scribbling custom Magic: The Gathering cards in marker on index cards at age 7, to designing and ordering a print copy of my first (very bad) card game when I was 11. Since then, I've designed over twenty prototypes of card games, board games, tabletop games, and others, entering several contests and earning two scholarships to Protospiel events, where I playtested with and learned from veterans of the industry.
I discovered my interest in graphic design through designing and printing my games, also at a young age. After trying my hand at designing cards, boxes, and rulebooks, I took several online courses in the field, completing the first at 13 and taking more yearly until I became a full-time Dual Enrolled student at Crowder College and started freelancing at 17.
Outside of my work and design, I'm also a member of MSSU's honors program, and of the Phi Theta Kappa international honors society, and an actor in my hometown's community theatre. While my dream has always been to work in tabletop game design full-time, my other career goals are to continue working freelance in design until I graduate, then to work somewhere in the film industry, ideally as a writer, editor, or director.
Thank you for your interest in my work and services, and I can't wait to get to work on your next project!
--Ethan Hoover