Some are probably asking what exactly 3rd Hour Designs is. The simple answer would be it's currently an on going online portfolio of my works covering several different media types. It's a way for me to show, not only myself, but the general public the collection of accomplishments that I've been working on over several years. I, Benjamin Wetteborn, am the creator of 3rd Hour Designs. It's my home away from home allowing me to submerse myself in my imagination and release my creations for others to see.

I suppose you can say it all started when I was born in Kaiserslautern, Germany in a hot summer day in July…okay, maybe that's a bit too far back. Let's try something more recent:

There are two sides to my, "when did I start". The artistic side of me, I like to think is genetic and has always been with me, as my mother, grandmother, great grandfather, etc. all display a form artistic talents. Even as a child, when I was being babysat by my Oma (grandmother) she would sit me down in the living room while I entertained myself for hours playing with various buttons making patterns across the floor. Going through school I always made sure to be in some sort of art class to keep doing what I enjoy, and that's allowing my imagination to express it's self through pencils, paints, charcoal, etc… With a loving family for support I found that my imagination was unlimited and I was ready to conquer the world. *laughs*

The logical side of me has perhaps a little more detail. I've always been a big fan of numbers, logic and problem solving. I started programming at around the age of 10, creating websites from scratch. I wasn't enrolled in any "computer" classes but rather found the challenge of creating programs and applications on my computer (at the time a 386) by looking at examples of other websites and trying to figure out how they were able to make code present their website in the manner they saw fit. I saw programming as just another media type which allowed me to express my imagination. Rather being limited to a pencil and paper, I was now able to have a digital canvas with limitless borders. Over the years I picked up more and more languages as each brought a different set of solutions to the table, as well as problems. I started beginning to mix languages, interacting with databases, multi-threading, using objects, solving daily wants and needs with just a few simple lines of code. I was hooked and didn't plan on giving that up anytime soon.

Over several years I've worked for several different companies that required my knowledge of programming and saw my artistic talents as an added element I brought to the company. Rather then being limited to being called just a designer or a programmer I was able to fill the spots of both, presenting complex business solutions with a touch of flare to top it off.

The rest as you may want to call it, is just history. I hope you enjoy browsing through my online haven. Feel free to contact me with any questions about possible projects, employment, methods, or with the occasional off topic inquiry. :)