As a middle-class kid in the 80s, 3thought co-founder Matt Ulvila had the privilege of being at the crest of the personal computing and computer graphics wave. He spent hours on his Uncle Philip’s vintage Mac 5112k doodling with MacPaint on the big beautiful 9-inch, 512 x 342 pixel, monochrome display. His father worked (and still does work) in the printing business. This gave Matt a front row seat to the behind the scenes workings of a press and the evolution of the printing industry over the past 30+ years.
Watching his father work his way up from the press room floor to customer service and eventually sales instilled Matt with a strong work ethic, networking skills, a passion for technology and a general disdain for sloppy production files. He loved hearing about all the latest and greatest technologies as his father would tell stories about the many projects he worked on.
Although his father certainly had a strong influence on his career path, Matt credits his mother for giving him a love of all things creative. As an only child, his mother took special care to occupy his time. She often planned various arts and crafts projects. She encouraged him to expressive his creativity though drawing and painting and building with Legos. Matt’s mother is a talented artist herself. She was voted class artist in high school, and currently works as a floral designer. Matt draws a lot of parallels between his work and hers: arranging shapes and colors to create a design. She also taught him the importance of listening to the client and working within a budget.
Matt’s professional career actually began while he was a student at Marshfield High School as an intern at a design studio. He continued to work there through college as well. Upon graduation from Keene State College, Matt began working for that same firm and worked his way up to Senior Designer/Production Manager. During his 14 years with Shields Design Studio, his role was constantly evolving and allowing him the opportunity to acquire a wide range of skills.
In his career as a designer, Matt has performed most every job function along the way, and that gives him a great understanding of how projects really work. He knows his strengths and how to utilize the strengths of the people around him. He has developed a talent for listening and asking the “right” questions and knows how to find creative solutions for his clients. Matt is constantly seeking to better himself and his love of learning is evident in all that he does.
When Matt is not giving his all to 3thought, he enjoys playing video games (although he’s had to cut way back), tweeting, blogging and keeping up on all the latest tech news and gadgets. He is not much of a TV guy, but he is a huge fan of LOST and Mythbusters. Matt loves to volunteer his time, and serves on the Keene State College Alumni Board of Directors. He’s passionate about Boston Sports and “jacked and pumped” for the start of football season.
Matt currently lives in Plymouth, MA with his three cats and enjoys spending time with his friends and family.
