My Story

Hello, my name is Robert “Bob” Irish.

I grew up for half my childhood in New Hampshire and Vermont and the second half in Idaho. All growing up I enjoyed drawing. I still have many of my drawings from the 80s and 90s . I spent a lot of time drawing, shading, coloring, and painting. Known for my drawing abilities, I often filled the requests of my peers for drawings of things like a flower, animal, or funny character.

In the 90s, as the personal computer and the internet found their way into everyday life, I became fascinated by them. For Christmas of ’95, my parents gave me a book on how to code in HTML 3. With the basic hosting that came with our dial-up internet service I created my first web page — an Audrey Hepburn fan page. Yes, I was an Audrey Hepburn fan as a teenager. When I wasn’t drawing or on the computer, I did competitive drama and high school theater.

During my Sophomore year at Centennial High School, I joined the school newspaper as a part-time artist. One day, while dropping off some illustrations to the newspaper room, one of the kids showed me how they laid out the newspaper on the computer. I was mesmerized! The next semester, I joined the staff full-time and worked as a production designer, helping to layout pages. I was thrilled to be part of such an amazing group. During my Junior year, our school newspaper placed in several categories at the statewide high school journalism convention.

After high school, I served a mission for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints throughout the state of Nebraska. After returning home, I met my wife Julee. in March 2002, we were married and attended Brigham Young University – Idaho where I furthered my study of visual design.

After only two semesters at BYU-Idaho, we moved back to Boise, where I enrolled at ITT Technical Institute (no longer a school). After starting with a major in Multimedia I later switched to Web Development. In 2006, I graduated from ITT with an Associate degree. After taking a break from school, I went on to earn a Bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Business from the University of Phoenix.

While I have had a love for graphic and web design since I was a kid in the 90s, I have been doing it as a living since 2003. Since that time I have worked on numerous projects for employers as well for clients as a contractor.

I’ve never considered myself a writer, but I’ve always loved conjuring up a story. In 2021, I self-published and illustrated a younger reader’s novel, Drake and His Magical Drawings. I hope to continue that story as well as write others bouncing around in my head.

I live in Nampa, Idaho with my wife and three of my four kids. My oldest lives close by.