Bio

My name is Irvin Lin and I’m a writer, recipe developer, designer, photographer and self-taught baker. I went to school for painting and English lit, and immediately realized that I had no actual “real world skills” when I graduated. Luckily, while working at an alternative non-profit art gallery in St. Louis, I started to design some of the in-house printed calendar of events and brochures. During that time I took some classes on graphic design and eventually moved out to San Francisco just in time for the dot-com bust 13 years ago (ahhh…the days of web 1.0).

Of course, at the same time I was designing, I was also baking. I’ve been baking since I was 9 years old, constantly making cookies and cakes whenever I could. The magic that comes from putting together seemingly random raw ingredients and creating delightful treats still astonishes me to this day. As I moved from job to job, the one constant I had was that I would bake whenever I had a chance.

As this blog took off, and I started to get more freelance design projects and food writing gigs, I took a leap of faith in September of 2010 and finally quit my day joy where I worked as a senior designer for a shop that specialized in restaurant and retail design. Ultimately that particular place wasn’t a good fit and I’m looking forward to where life takes me next.

As of this moment, I’m happy baking up a storm, writing this blog and patching together a living via numerous freelance gigs, whether it’s freelance food writing, designing for small artisan food companies and blogs, recipe developing projects, a random desert pop-up selling contraband baked goods, and occasionally working with brands. Some would call me a jack of all trades, but I’d just like to think of myself as well rounded.

I’ve spoken at a few blogging conferences, including BlogHer Food 2011, where I co-lead a session on branding/design for food bloggers and moderated a session on bring blogs to the mobile space. I also spoke at the 3rd Annual Foodbuzz Fest on social networking and the importance of social media for bloggers. I’ve had the honor of judging a number of food competitions, including the Taste TV Chocolate Salon, the 18 Reasons DIY Crazy Dessert competition and the Eat Real Festival: Jams, Preserves & Marmalade category. I also co-host the 18 Reasons DIY Dessert Quarterly events.

I’ve written or contributed work to the US MasterChef magazine, Blackboard Eats, SF Weekly’s SFoodie Blog, Bay Area Bites, Huffington Post and Rama Tours/Crimson Bamboo. I’ve developed recipes for Attune Foods, Alexia Foods, and Peanut Butter & Co. If you’d like to learn more about my freelance writing, receive samples of my professional work or are looking for a a recipe developer please feel free to email me.

If you’d like to learn more about my graphic design skill set, feel free to visit my portfolio site at jackhonky.com. I’ve worked with some big name brands, including Ben & Jerry’s, IHOP, Wendy’s, Quiznos, as well as smaller artisan companies.

I do occasionally work with brands that I believe in. I always disclose to my readers when I do this. If you would like to discuss building a relationship with me, feel free to email me and let’s start a dialogue. I’m happy to send you a media kit.

Finally, if you’d like to connect with me outside of this blog or email, feel free to follow me on Twitter, Facebook or Google+. Just be forewarned I social network a whole heck of a lot. This may explain why my Klout score is a ridiculous 57.