Brad Ellis
picture guy

Brad has been pointing and clicking his way through print media since the early '90s. He first got his hands dirty with a couple indie music publications (Oil the Music Magazine and The 411) and took his turn as editor of the college newspapers at both Black Hawk in Moline, Ill., and St. Ambrose University in Davenport, Iowa. Later, he was winning awards as a newspaper designer at a local daily. Along the way, he rounded up the art and mass comm. courses he'd taken over 11 years at three different schools and cobbled together a Bachelor of Elected Studies degree. From 2003 to 2009, Brad made shiny magazines and specialty publications. These days, he’s running his own design shop, inspired by the color of all that is good. Free time activities include casual disc golf, his vintage scooter, flipping tractor tires, sewing, growing food and resisting the temptation of egg rolls.

JR Tschopp
word guy

JR Tschopp is a writer, filmmaker, artist and geek. He has been involved professionally in video production for more than ten years, working in live productions and television. Since the age of 16, he has written and shot over two dozen short videos as well as completed six feature-length screenplays. JR studied English and Theatre at Black Hawk College in Moline, Ill., focusing on creative writing, directing and production. When he has free time it is spent revising his first novel, playing the occasional disc golf game, drinking craft and imported beers in Brad’s driveway, hanging out at his local coffee shop, and obsessing about tacos. For more information about JR, visit his official site..

Beccy Harris
picture gal

Beccy is a tea drinking, indie/alternative music adoring, thrift store shopping graphic designer who has an obscene love for patterns, all things related to typography and the color green. She brings a strong art background to the table as she grew up learning the ins and outs of drawing/painting with private art teachers and graduating from Southern Illinois University Carbondale with a BFA in Communication Design. When she’s not designing banners and posters for a local Anheuser-Busch distributor, you can find her weekend traveling, attending concerts, sweating it out in hot yoga classes, throwing back weird beers and generally kicking arse and taking names.

Karly Steele
word gal

Karly, being entrenched in the library system for ten years, is a reference librarian in Illinois. She brings both a picture and a book person's perspective to Dark Highlands, having received a Bachelor of Science in Studio Arts from Illinois State University and a Master of Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Part hippie, Karly enjoys reading, wine, craft beers, artistic "things", musicals, the outdoors, coffee shops, and listening to the Rolling Stones (much to Brad Ellis' chagrin).