Richard E "Skip" Ploss

Skip is a graphic designer, columnist, web developer, teacher, author/illustrator, director and actor.

His history in graphic design goes back to 1968 when his teacher, Mrs. Downing, pointed out to him that his drawing of two unnamed dinosaurs in a primordial swamp was "a good one".

During high school Skip would "take notes" by drawing. Skip’s “doodling” would lead to the famous "Bannerman Incident" of 1975. During Freshman Rise of Western Civilization class he was asked to stay after school for his reckless doodling by his teacher, Ms. Bannerman, which he did. When he was able to show the teacher how the pictures related directly to the subjects discussed in that day's class he was allowed to continue. Upon graduation he presented her with a 25' x 8.5" panorama of the American Civil War done with turtles.

While it is true that he purchased his first computer, a Commodore Amiga 1000, because it had more colors (4096) than anything else he could afford at the time (The printer, a Xerox Diablo C150, cost as much as the computer) Skip is at home on a Mac or PC.

In 1995 Skip was hired to draw "cartoonish" elements for a new website. He was then "given the opportunity" to learn the coding behind the webpage (ok, he was thrown an HTML book and a brochure and asked to translate the brochure to this web page). He was unique in that he was not a programmer but an artist who learned programming. Soon he had a department of 10 artist/programmers. The company folded but he has kept designing ever since.

Skip's love of writing, fostered by the late Symour "Sigh" Schneid a former editor for Argossy and Science Fiction Magazines was, for awhile, partially satisfied by The Hersam Acorn Press giving him a column in their "The Home Monthly" which is delivered to households in eight Fairfield County Connecticut and Westchester County New York towns. The column, called "And Another Thing..." was where he was allowed to "play".

His teaching life began when a former instructor of his asked him to return to the Fairfield University School of Continuing Education to help in the development of a web technology curriculum for their Computer Design Institute. He did and became an instructor there, teaching until 2002.

In 2005 Skip published his first book for children titled If Picasso Were a Fish in which he took a look at the subject of a fish through the styles of 15 famous artists. His second book published the same year is If I Had a Gift. Since then he has written and illustrated two more and is currently working on numbers 5-7.

His involvement in theater includes acting, directing, producing, writing, set design and management. He has acted in productions and readings including, See How They Run, Witness For The Prosecutionand The Hasty Heart, The Founders and Mastergate. His directing credentials include; Arsenic and Old Lace, Guys and Dolls, 1776, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying, My Big Fat Italian Feast (which he wrote as well), Wasp on this Island (which he also wrote) and Wenceslas Square (which he directed at Wilton High School), The Foreigner, The Nerd, High School Musical  and Candida. Set designs include Arsenic and Old Lace, 1776, The Perfect Party, Deathtrap, The Secret Garden, The Sweet Bye N Bye and Wenceslas Square, The Nerd, High School Musical and Candida.

"I enjoy variety in the projects I do from website design to script writing and directing. Cross pollination between disciplines fosters creativity and keeps you thinking outside the box." He says. By having a wide range of creating interests he is able to create using many different styles and techniques.