Zach Tarvin

Hi, I'm Zach Tarvin

I build apps and tell stories with technology

🇺🇸 Chicago, IL

This site shows off a few of my favorite projects—past and present—plus a few thoughts now and again. Looking for more? Check out the social media links below.

About Me

About Me

Oh, hey! I’m Zach. I’m a creative technologist, writer, and software developer based in Chicago. Basically, I love telling stories with technology for myself, for brands, for friends. Basically, big nerd.

Apps

Apps I've built and continue to maintain.

What's Your Number?

What's Your Number?

How does an earned media agency help employees understand their billable hours target? By asking a simple question.

SwiftUISwiftDataWidgetKitAppIntents
PolitiCall

PolitiCall

The easiest (and best looking) way to call your reps.

SwiftUISwiftDataAppIntentsWidgetKit
Demo
Candygrams

Candygrams

Sweet stickers you'll love.

SwiftDataMessageKitCloudKit
McDonald's Finder

McDonald's Finder

How many developers can say their first shipping code on the App Store was as the sole developer on the official McRib finder?

Objective-CKotlinMessageKitMapKitCore DataFirebase

Creative Campaigns

Brand campaigns and creative projects I've worked on.

Trolli Invades Myspace

Trolli Invades Myspace

How do you launch a candy line made of buildable, mix-and-match characters? Myspace. The answer is Myspace.

Back-end developmentCreative
Paw for PB

Paw for PB

An AR game for Instagram celebrating Gotcha Day.

Spark ARTypeScript

Latest Blog Posts

Thoughts, insights, and tutorials on web development, design, and technology.

The Arcade at Menlo Park

The Arcade at Menlo Park

For a while (several years) I’ve missed writing. I’ve sat down a couple times to write about some thoughts on how much I dislike algorithmic-based social media and…. Life transpires.

PolitiCall 4.1 is here

PolitiCall 4.1 is here

Fresh bits for PolitiCall just dropped with more support for Siri, Spotlight, and widgets.

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Work Experience

  • Golin

    Director, Creative Technology

    • Produced chart-topping iOS apps and breakthrough AR and voice experiences with a focus on architecture, development, concepting and prototyping for emerging technology initiatives and delivered launches that attracted earned media as “world’s-first” industry innovations.
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  • Golin

    Senior Creative

    A copywriter who codes? It’s a thing. Contributed or was briefly the social voice of McDonald’s, Klondike Bar, Fruttare, Popsicle, Sargento Cheese, Conagra Brands, Walmart, and many more. The McRib? All-Day Breakfast? Szechuan Sauce? I did that!

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  • Freelance

    Editor/Writer/Student

    Through college and grad school I was editor of Oyez Review, Prairie Margins, Technical Editor for Mid-American Review, and editorial assistant for the Journal of Property Management, among others. I spent a lot of this chapter of work making some really cool books—in eBook and in print.

Education

Roosevelt University

Master of Fine Arts — Creative Writing

Furthered my craft in fiction as I worked on a novel-length thesis about loss, AI, and grief. Was also the editor and later special projects editor of Oyez Review.

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Bowling Green State University

Bachelor of Fine Arts — Creative Writing

Fiction concentration. Minor in journalism. At BGSU, I was also a student leader in the Arts Villeage Learning Community, where I co-founded an improv group. BGSU was also where I worked on the editorial staff of Prairie Margins, a national undergraduate literary journal, and Mid-American Review.

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