Hey there,

And welcome back to the portfolio of yours truly, Brandon Greene-Hooks. Between the time since the last post, the title of this post, and all the changes you see on the site, I have a lot to explain. Funny enough, these are all related to one another, so we have that going for us. The best place to start is the beginning, so without further ado, let's get to it.

Why the long hiatus?

Simply put, I lost my job of nearly nine years - as did everyone else in my department. Further still, the year leading up to the layoff was particularly stressful, as I was placed in a new position for the first few months of 2023, then transferred into yet another, different role for the remainder of the year. Between work, personal projects (more on that in just a moment) and trying to maintain a social life, the portfolio was put aside. During that time, I was still creating - I just wasn't uploading any of those works.

Why the title?

After eleven years of running this site, I am officially archiving it. With any luck, that doesn't mean it'll be going away; just that it won't be my primary focus anymore. And the end of one thing marks the beginning of something else. I've brought this up in the past, but the first iteration of this portfolio was a freelance business called "Greene Graphics". Back then, I realized I loved making art, but wasn't as fond of having to manage the growing list of clientele, so I stopped advertising my services and pivoted to what you know as "ZeroFolio". What you may not know, is, there was a small subsection of that business called "Greene Gaming". It's where I kept the "Super Mario Bros. in First Person" download files, since it wasn't really something I offered to "do" for other people. Game development had always been my passion, and the elements of graphic design just kind of fed into it in a lot of ways. Something in me needed to be convinced to give games my all, and I guess the events of 2023 was it.

In spite of the downbeat mood this post took on, I'm beyond excited to announce my new studio, Dysmys Games, LLC. From here on out, all the games that were previously here, will be there and/or on their respective marketplaces. For the uninitiated, that's "Sunburnt", "Geo", "Light Strike", "The Great Breaker", and "Super Mario Bros. in First Person" - plus a slew of titles coming up in the near-to-soon future.

Why all the changes?

After separating the portfolio from the studio, something felt off. A few things, actually. The first was a surprising lack of works I distinctly remember making, but regrettably never added here; now they're here. The second was a lack of visibility for newly added works, since everything is ordered by the date it was created; now there's a "recent additions" section, along with a "featured" work showcased at the top of the page that changes regularly. The third was a lack of transparency in portfolio item previews, since thumbnails were vague and non-descript; now they better represent their full versions.

Some pages remain very much the same in form and function, however. You can still learn more about myself and the portfolio as a whole on the About page, and get in touch using the Contact page. There's still a lot to do before I can call this finalized design "complete", so please bear with me and pardon the dust in the meantime.

That's going to be it from me. I want to take a moment and thank everyone for their continued support throughout the years. So, sincerely, thank you. Hope to see you again. Until then.