Meet the team

Erica Aitken, co-founder and president.

As a production manager and a designer, Erica was mortified that she could never properly explain (bad) colors to her customers. A bit of reading, a talk with Son, and a few seminars convinced her that she would better serve her fellow designers by starting a business that would bring beautiful, predictable and accurate proofs.
The rest, since the beginning of Rods and Cones in 1996, is history.
 

Son Do, co-founder and technical officer.

Son Do co-founded Rods and Cones, Inc., in 1996. He provides technical expertise and insight on color management and its integration into a digital workflow. His years spent in the trenches of color management's emerging technologies have given him exposure to most color management products, in most industries, including design and advertising, prepress, printing, and digital photography. He is an accredited Adobe instructor and conducts training in Adobe CS2, QuarkXpress and other related applications. He has spoken at Seybold, Photo Plus East, and the GATF Color Conference among others. He holds a BS in Bioengineering from the UC Berkeley and worked as researcher at Genentech, Inc.
 

Anne Taylor, Field Technician and Workflow Specialist

We are pleased to welcome Anne Taylor at Rods and Cones. Anne joins our team in her capacity of Field Technician and Workflow Specialist. She brings years of color management expertise as well as a strong affinity for end users and their individual workflows. Starting in 1992 she worked internationally as an as an independent consultant and trainer to color trade houses, printers, design agencies, photo labs, and digital image archives. Corbis was a key client for seven years until 2000 when she accepted the full time position as their Worldwide Manager of Image Quality. Her responsibilities included researching, establishing, and implementing image quality standards, color management workflows, digital submission standards and procedures. 
 

Rita Amladi, Trainer and field technician

Rita worked as the Lead Photoshop Support Engineer at Adobe Systems and has a BFA in Graphic Design from the Academy of Art College, San Francisco. She is a Certified Technical Trainer and an Adobe Certified Trainer for Adobe Photoshop. Rita teaches classes on Photoshop and related topics such as color scanning & digital capture, color correction & retouching, digital special effects and production techniques for print and web-based art. She has authored and contributed to several publications from Adobe Press, such as the Advanced Adobe Classroom in a Book, and Production Essentials. Her communication skills are a great asset during color management installations.
 

Laurence Pignon-Vrancken, Web designer

Laurence graduated with a BS in Architecture in 1987 from the ISA Saint-Luc Liege, Belgium. She discovered her affinity for information architecture after moving to Silicon Valley in 1995. Since then, she has designed numerous web sites that have successfully married good design with technological capabilities and target audience's expectations, while serving the esthetic drive and time/budget constraints of her clients. Laurence is also currently exploring development methods in e-learning projects with the company e-Osmose.
 

Debbie Triacca, Office Manager

Debbie joined Rods and Cones in the Spring of 2001 and has managed the chaotic environment of our headquarters in Santa Cruz.

Mia Pacini, Business Development and Sales Administrator

Mia Pacini supports our business development and sales team with patience and efficiency. She plays an active role in the development and implementation of Under the Cone, Rods and Cones’ virtual art gallery. Mia combines her work with her ongoing studies at Cabrillo College and West Valley College.