Chuck Braasch

Chuck Braasch graduated with an associate's degree in commercial art from the Madison Area Technical College in 1997. After working professionally as a graphic designer in Madison, Wisconsin, for three years, he moved to Milwaukee, where he temped at various design firms in order to get a feel for what the city had to offer. This led Chuck to temping at Kalmbach Publishing Co. in the Ad Services Department, then officially joining the Art Department in January 2001. Over the next eight years and eight months, he worked on all of Kalmbach's publications (Astronomy taking up six of those years) short of the jewelry titles.

After that time, Chuck moved on to become Senior Graphic Designer for an equine magazine at a small publisher in Brookfield, Wisconsin, where he expanded my skill set and responsibilities. Three years and three months later, he returned to Kalmbach to strengthen his portfolio while applying his seasoned abilities to Astronomy and Garden Railways.

Since going to the theater with his parents to see the original run of The Empire Strikes Back when he was 4, Chuck has always been looking up to the stars and wondering about what's out there in galaxies far, far away. Since then, he has always been greatly interested in the search for life in the universe, whether it's through SETI's continual efforts, the Mars rover missions, or the pursuit of exoplanets in a habitable zone. String theory is also something that interests him, and Chuck finds it to be an entertaining challenge to wrap his mind around.

On a design related note, Chuck is amazed at how the quality and size of astronomical photography have improved throughout the years both on a grand scale like Hubble, but also on the amateur level. He says it's all making his job of creating beautiful and engaging layouts so much easier. It's also very inspiring and something he may pursue someday.

Other interests of Chuck include tinkering with the powerhouse PC he built, computer gaming, discovering new recipes to cook, and continuing the tradition of watching movies and reading books that inspire the imagination and fuel creativity. Realizing he should get out more, Chuck is also attempting to golf again after a 10 year hiatus.