Art Director, Web Designer, Graphic Designer, Copywriter Résumé
Summary return to top
Award winning, senior level designer/developer with over 20 years of professional experience in Marketing and Communications. A coder who designs and a designer who codes. Demonstrated ability to translate client ideas into functioning reality. Has passion for learning and well-honed trouble shooting and problem solving skills. A strategic and conceptual thinker with a balanced of mix of creative talent and technical know how. Leads by example with an easy-going manner and builds trust by sharing knowledge, vision and experience with colleagues.
Employment History return to top
Hy Cite Enterprises, LLC , Madison, WI
Sr. Graphic Designer/ Web Designer— Nov. '13 to present
Responsible for visual design, development and maintenance of websites and online resources, as well concepting and designing advanced collateral material for print advertising.
- Design, Code eMail campaigns; curate recipient list
- Design and produce printed marketing materials including posters, fliers , publications, and signage
- Design, curate, and produce digital assets
- Design and manage customer and internal facing web pages
- Acomplishments:
- Oversaw the design and development of corporate (HyCite.com) and customer (RoyalPrestige.com) websites; provided art direction, wire framing and information architecture.
- Oversaw the design and development of the recruiting website (OportunidadRoyal.com ); provided art direction, wire framing, custom coded a WordPress child theme, lead generation forms, and API.
- Set up and customized a customer-facing blog using WordPress
Mundane Egg Design / Dazzlefish, Rockford, IL
Freelance Art Director— Feb. '01 to present
Providing art direction, creative direction, copy writing, print and web design services for a wide variety of clients. Scoping projects from concept to completion, advising clients on their graphic goals, working within determined time lines and meeting budget plans.
- Select Freelance Work:
- CSS and Graphic Design Advisor (volunteer) for SitePoint.com
- Concept, design, and copywriting for brochure and banners branding and promoting Escondido Union School District's Safe Walk Program, Escondido, CA
- Logo design and website design and development (HTML, CSS) for Nobium General Contractors, Escondido, CA
- Logo design for the City of Rockford's Sesquicentennial Anniversary, Rockford, IL
- Logo and brochure design work for The Consortium on Chicago Schools, Chicago, IL
- Designed logo and corporate identity for the River District, Rockford, IL
- Website design and development (HTML, CSS, javascript, Joomla!) for Nemrac Translation Services, Rochester, NY
- Website design and development (HTML, CSS, javascript) for Rose Elementary School/EUSD, Escondido, CA
- Website design and development (HTML, CSS, javascript, PHP, WordPress) for Beercraft Blog, Rochester, NY
- Logo design and website design and development (HTML, CSS) for Hoo Haven, Durand, IL
- Website design and development (HTML, CSS) for Volkswagen Audi Partners of Rockford, Rockford, IL
- Designed promotional brochure for Prudential Insurance, Rockford, IL
Rockford Register Star (a Gannett newspaper), Rockford, IL
Marketing Designer— Sept. '98 to Aug.'08
Acting in the capacity of art director, involved in all steps of design,from concept to production, of all advertising and collateral materials branding and promoting Register Star products and events.
- Serving as project manager for branding and recruitment initiatives
- Developing concepts for marketing campaigns and visual styles to maintain brand consistency
- Developing and producing print ads and web banners and other online assets pertaining to the Register Star brand and its products
- Creating and managing fill material
- Directing photo shoots
- Writing ad copy and headlines
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Accomplishments:
- Designed visual brand identities as well as print and web assets repositioning the company as the multimedia firm—Register Star Media
- Project managed several ads campaigns, including the re-branding of the Register Star's classifieds section—The Source
- Increased brand awareness and customer response
- Created a unified look for branding materials, standardizing fonts and logo usage
- GenX Committee member, this committee researched ways to increase readership among the 24-35 demographic; headed the Independent Publications (aka 'Zine) sub-committee
- Developed an optimized method of fill ad usage, eliminating billing redundancies and reducing lineage cost by nearly 34%
- Produced award winning work
ScaryHouse Studio, Rockford, IL
Art Director— Oct. '97 to Sept. '98
Responsible for conceptual development, designed and produced print advertising material and assisted in the design of web sites for ScaryHouse Studio and its clients.
- Developed ScaryHouse Studio's promotional material for print and web
- Developed banner ads and site comps
- Provided creative direction in the development of print to web and web to print strategies
- Accomplishments:
- Created a unified look and feel for the start-up company's self-branding and promotional efforts
Cain & Company Advertising, Rockford, IL
Graphic Designer/Art Director(contract)— Apr. '97 to Oct. '97
Conceptualized, designed and produced advertising, promotions, collateral materials, catalogs, and direct mail pieces for clients of Cain & Company advertising agency.
- Involved in all steps of design from concept to production
- High resolution photo-manipulation, image editing and creation
- Met with clients of Cain & Company to develop creative concepts and coordinate design efforts
- Clients:
- Caterpillar, Eagle Automation, ToolMasters, Bemrose USA, Members Alliance, Weberg Gutters, Rockford Wrestling Club
Rochester Museum & Science Center, Rochester, NY
Graphic Designer— Nov. '96 to Feb. '97
Designed and produced outdoor banners, advertising, posters, signage, brochures, newsletters, collateral, and other promotional material for the Rochester Museum & Science Center and its clients.
- Developed advertising strategies to brand and promote the Rochester Museum & Science Center
- Assisted in writing copy for ads
- Responsible of all aspects of projects assigned, from concept to completion, including budget management
Skillsreturn to top
- Graphic Design and Art Direction
- Concepting and Ideation
- Brand Development
- Copywriting
- Problem Solving and Lateral Thinking
- Project and Creative Management
- Excellent Written and Verbal Communications Skills
- Quickly Grasps New Concepts
and Technologies - Collaborative Demeanor and Strong Interpersonal Skills
- Critical and Analytical Thinking
- Multi-lingual and Multicultural
Toolsreturn to top
- InDesign
- Illustrator
- Photoshop
- LightRoom
- DreamWeaver
- XD
- HTML/CSS
- Javascript / ES7
- SASS
- PHP
- BootStrap
- jQuery
- WordPress
- React
- Redux
- mySQL
- Git
- PowerPoint
- Word
- Excel
Awards return to top
- Original technique featured on CSS-Tricks:Targeting Menu Elements with Submenus in a Navigation Bar
- Dan Schulz Award for Web Design from SitePoint
- Graphic Design Guru of the Year from SitePoint
- Newspaper Association of America ACME (Advertising, Circulation, and Marketing Excellence) for the New Press branding campaign
- Gannett MAC Award (Marketing and Communications) for the design of the Rockford Register Star's Have You Seen Me? classified ads promotion campaign
- Newspaper Association of America ACME (Advertising, Circulation, and Marketing Excellence) for the Newspapers In Education Testimonials campaign
- Newspaper Association of America ACME (Advertising, Circulation, and Marketing Excellence) for the rrstar.com Forums branding campaign
- Newspaper Association of America ACME (Advertising, Circulation, and Marketing Excellence) for the Tilli's Story Marketing and News promotion campaign ads
- Newspaper Association of America ACME (Advertising, Circulation, and Marketing Excellence) for the Sell Your Stuff For... classified ads promotion campaign
- Recognition for the design of the City of Rockford's Sesquicentennial Logo
- 1st place Blue Ribbon Award (Inland Press Association) for the design of TheSource launch/branding campaign
- Gannett MAC Award (Marketing and Communications) for the design of the RockfordRegister Star's Community Numbers advertising sales campaign
- Work and design philosophy featured in the articleDesigning Without Fear, in the July 2001 issue of Elient K's Design Authority magazine
- Gannett MAC Award (Marketing and Communications) for the design of rrstar.com's branding campaigns
- Newspaper Association of America ACME (Advertising, Circulation, and Marketing Excellence) for the Rockford Register Star's It Seemed Like a Good Idea at the Time private party ad campaign
- Newspaper Association of America ACME (Advertising, Circulation, and Marketing Excellence) for the Rockford Register Star's Community Branding ad campaign
- Gannett MAC Award (Marketing and Communications) for the design of the Rockford Register Star's It's What You Know. branding campaign
- 1st place International Newspaper Marketing Association Continental Showcase Award for the Rockford Register Star's It's What You Know. branding campaign
- 3rd place Blue Ribbon Award (Inland Press Association) for the design of Bergner's To All a Good Night co-promotion
- Newspaper Association of America ACME (Advertising, Circulation, and Marketing Excellence) for the design of Bergner's To All a Good Night co-promotion
- Heart of Rockford Award for the design of the River District's logo
- Drawings and poetry published in Cabbages and Kings, The Pendulum, and The Great Lake Review literary magazines, as well as Parchment, Quill and Verse American poets anthology
Education return to top
BFA Degree from the State University of New York at Oswego.
Concentrations in Studio Art and Graphic Design, Minor in English—graduate standing Cum Laude.
Full Stack Web Development Certificationfrom NuCamp Coding Bootcamp.
Graduated with honors on both, Front End and Back End coursers.
References return to top
References available upon request.