Active as an interactive media designer and researcher since 1976, Brenda Laurel founded Purple Moon in 1996 after years of research in gender and technology to create interactive media and games specifically for girls. In 1999, Purple Moon was acquired by Mattel. At the time of her SXSW 2004 Keynote, Laurel was teaching in the Graduate Media Design Program at ArtCenter College of Design in Pasadena, California.