Lynda Weinman is an American business owner, computer instructor, and author, best known for the company she started with her husband, Bruce Heavin, the multi-award winning online software training web site, lynda.com.

Weinman, a self-taught computer expert, worked in the film industry as a special effects animator, and later became a faculty member at Art Center College of Design, UCLA, American Film Institute, and San Francisco State Multimedia Studies program teaching computer graphics, animation, interactive design, and motion graphics. She is also a published author and writer.

Weinman is married to her company co-founder Bruce Heavin. Heavin is the co-author of her books coloring web graphics and coloring web graphics.2.

Education

Weinman graduated with a degree in Humanities from The Evergreen State College in Olympia, Washington.

Career

A year after graduating from The Evergreen State College, Weinman opened two retail stores, Vertigo on Melrose, and Vertigo on Sunset in Los Angeles. They closed in 1982.

Weinman worked for Dreamquest and as an independent contractor doing animation and special effects. She worked on several major films, including RoboCop 2

RoboCop 2

RoboCop 2 is a 1990 science fiction action film directed by Irvin Kershner and starring Peter Weller, Nancy Allen, Dan O'Herlihy, Belinda Bayer, Tom Noonan and Gabriel Damon. Set in the near future in a dystopian metropolitan Detroit, Michigan...

(1990), Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure

Bill & Ted's Excellent Adventure is a 1989 American science fiction–comedy buddy film and the first film in the Bill & Ted franchise in which two metalhead slackers travel through time to assemble a menagerie of historical figures for their high school history presentation.The film was written by...

(1989), and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier

Star Trek V: The Final Frontier is a 1989 American science fiction film released by Paramount Pictures. It is the fifth feature in the franchise and the penultimate to star the cast of the original Star Trek science fiction television series...

(1989).

Weinman attributes her initial interest in computers when a boyfriend brought home an Apple II

Apple II

The Apple II is an 8-bit home computer, one of the first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products, designed primarily by Steve Wozniak, manufactured by Apple Computer and introduced in 1977...

, and she taught herself how to use it by reading the manual. Her computer skills have all been self-taught.

Weinman taught digital media and motion graphics at Art Center College of Design

Art Center College of Design

Art Center College of Design is a private college located in Pasadena, California, and was cited by BusinessWeek as one of the 60 best design schools in the world. The college’s industrial design program is consistently ranked number one by both DesignIntelligence and U.S...

 in Pasadena, CA from 1989 to 1996. Her book designing web graphics, published by New Riders in 1995, is often credited with being the first title to discuss web authoring technologies from a visual design perspective.

Weinman was co-founder with husband Bruce Heavin of the Ojai Digital Arts Center in Ojai, California in 1999.

lynda.com

The lynda.com Online Training Library is a learning platform that teaches a growing range of computer skills in video format to members through monthly and annual subscription-based plans. The company was founded in Ojai, California and has since moved locations to Ventura and Carpinteria, California, where it currently employs over 200 full-time staff members and over 140 teachers who earn royalties from their shared revenue model. The company website was created in 1995, and the company incorporated in 1997.

lynda.com evolved from its original conception as a free web resource for Lynda’s students, to the site for her books on web design, to the registration hub for physical classrooms and conferences, to an online virtual knowledge library, where today, members can watch software and technology courses in several categories (3D and animation, audio, business, design, development, home computing, photography, video, and web and interactive design). The company also produces documentaries about creative professionals.

lynda.com is used by many high-profile businesses, such as Disney, Google, and Adobe. It also has several academic clients, including Princeton University, Indiana University,, Brigham Young University, and MIT.

Flashforward Conferences

lynda.com and United Digital Artists Productions, Inc. (UAD) cofounded the Flashforward Conferences and the Flash Film Festival which first took place in 1999. The Flashforward Conference was the first event in the world focused on Macromedia Flash, and 14 events were held in San Francisco, New York, London, and Amsterdam, serving over 20,000 attendees over six years. The Flash® Film Festival presented over 200 awards to top-designed Flash sites and applications, to winners from over 30 countries. The conference is currently on hiatus.

Magazine Articles

• Web; Better Web Graphics with Transparency. Macworld, October 1998
• A Web graphics primer. Macworld, May 1998
• Tile your site: use tiles to create the layered look on your Web pages. Macworld, May 1998
• Preparing Web graphics. Macworld, August 1996
• Lynda Weinman on What's Next for Flash in 2006. PeachPit, January 6, 2006
• Web Design Tips: Making Site Comps and Prototypes. CreativePro.com, August 13, 2003

Awards

• Art Center College of Design Great Teacher Award, 1997
• San Francisco Women on the Web Top 25 Women, 1999
• GirlGeeks Golden Horn-Rims Award recipient, 2000,
• First Hollywood Film Festival’s Discovery CyberAwards Nominee, 10.14.1997
• Entrepreneur of the Year finalist, Ernst & Young Entrepreneur Of The Year 2010 Regional Awards
• Entrepreneur of the Year, South Coast Business and Technology Awards
• 2011 Women of Achievement Award, Association for Women in Communications, Santa Barbara chapter (AWC-SB)

Boards

• Santa Barbara International Film Festival
  Santa Barbara International Film Festival
  The Santa Barbara International Film Festival is a film festival and non-profit organization, established in 1985, that showcases independent American and international films. The SBIFF line-up includes 20 world premieres and 11 U.S. premieres, with newly expanded 11-day festival...
  
  
• Lotusland
  Lotusland
  The place-name Ganna Walska Lotusland, also known as the Lotusland, is the historic estate of Madame Ganna Walska and current location of a non-profit botanical garden in uniquely designed landscape gardens located in Montecito, near Santa Barbara, California, United States...
  
  
• AIGA National Board Member, 2009-
• Miller Freeman Web Design & Development Conferences
• "New Media Magazine"
• The Evergreen State College Foundation Board of Governors & Trustees, 2004-

Philanthropy

Weinman is the namesake and benefactor for the 'Lynda Lab,' the Experimental Effects Lab in the Center for Creative and Applied Media (CCAM) at her alma mater, The Evergreen State College. The Foundation has a pledge from Weinman and husband Bruce Heavin to establish an endowment supporting equipment in the CCAM. Weinman and Heavin have also contributed to scholarships at Art Center College of Design, as well as an ongoing endowment for additional scholarships.

External links

• lynda.com - online software training company co-founded by Lynda Weinman. Provider of educational materials for individuals, businesses and schools, including the Online Training Library and CD- and DVD-based video training.
• FlashForward
• Hansel Minutes
• The Browser-Safe Web Palette