Hunting down alumni: Kevin Loughran (2007)
April 21, 2012
By Laura Williams
Webster Leiden recently had the pleasure of hosting interactive developer Kevin Loughran for a series of guest lectures. Kevin graduated from Webster Leiden in 2007, but don’t be fooled: he is not your average Webster alumnus.
Kevin was born and raised in New York City. At the tender age of six his family bought their first computer, and so began his fascination. Following high school, Kevin went to study Motion Graphics and Animation and Flash Development at NYU. He was picked up in his first year by Nickelodeon, and started working part-time designing and developing the company’s website. After two and a half years at NYU, Kevin made the decision to accept a full-time offer from Nickelodeon and quit school. Kevin worked for Nickelodeon for five years, designing various sections of the website, as well as creating the first in-house 3D game, before deciding it was time to finish what he started. Itching for a change, Kevin searched for campuses as far from New York as possible, and stumbled upon Webster University. Like most people who start at Webster Leiden, he came with the intention of hopping from campus to campus, but never left. He graduated with Departmental Honors in Media in 2007 and went to California, where he began his work as a freelancer, developing websites for movies studios such as Warner Bros, Sony Picturehouse and New Line Cinemas. Kevin continues not only to design websites for companies such as Showtime, Mountain Dew, Avon, and Columbia Pictures, but has also begun to develop apps and games for Apple. His game Corpse Toss is available on ITunes.
Kevin came to Webster recently to offer some words of wisdom to students about life after graduation. His motto is “If you’re not networking, you’re not working.” The importance of establishing professional relationships, especially as a freelancer, cannot be stressed enough. “You really never know who is going to call you out of the blue after years and offer you work.” Kevin also advises students not to stress about finding work. “Once you enter the ‘real world’- the one you’ve been threatened with since you were a kid- you realize that people haven’t got a clue. Don’t overestimate others, and don’t underestimate yourself.”
For more information on Kevin, visit his site www.interactivemonster.com.
