Graphic design is about problem-solving.
Problems may include:
(...or some horrifying combination of the above!)
I’ve been working professionally as a graphic designer since 2011, and in that time I’ve seen it all.
Fortunately, I can draw upon these experiences to help you and your team get the job done!
Continue scrolling to see some examples of my work.
The world might be moving to digital, but you still have to lay out a print document every now and then! Here are a few I've worked on.
A poster for a regional beauty conference:
A poster for musical education:
Pages from a graduate school brochure:
A spread from a brochure for cosmetology education:
This is an in-progress layout from a presentation explaining a company's workflow:
I was instructed to make an "adlob," or "ad-like object." I'm not quite sure what that's officially supposed to mean, but — for our purposes — it was basically just a potential look-and-feel piece for a larger campaign.
A poster for a college play:
I took an HTML class in school where the professor made us hand-code websites using a basic text editing application. Because of this, I felt that I knew how to code and, when given the chance, volunteered to help build emails at one of my former jobs.
However, I quickly learned that I did not know how to code for emails, but was guided by a patient developer on the differences between coding for websites versus emails.
I learned the ropes and was able to craft emails that would work across all the different platforms. Since then, I've worked with several email platforms, including Salesforce, Emma, Mailchimp, Movable Ink, and Blue Hornet.
Below are two options I created for an email that welcomes newly-registered website members.
Over the years, I've created many files used for presentation purposes. Usually, these are things like PowerPoint templates, graphs, and slide deck imagery. Below is a one of the more involved presentation projects I worked on as a freelancer. The idea was to help sell an app the company was developing by creating a visualization for investors.
These are the initial files I received from the client:
(proprietary information redacted)
To wrap my head around exactly how the
visualization should look, I created this sketch:
After going over the sketch with the client and making some tweaks, we landed on this design for the presentation:
(I never found out what happened with the presentation, or the app for that matter. Such is the life of a freelancer!)
If you're familiar with instructional design, I'm sure you know that it's difficult to keep a portfolio of your work, as most of the copy and graphics that you end up using are proprietary.
However, I've worked in Articulate's Storyline and Rise doing things such as creating courses, adding fresh graphics to old courses, and updating courses from Flash to HTML5. Let me know if you'd like me to build you a basic course as an example of my abilities!
Most recently, the companies that I've had the good fortune to work with have been more focused on digital then print. As such, I've been creating a lot of web banners. See below for a small selection.
Here is a selection of some of the various logos I've created over the years.
In 2016, I was working at the University of Dallas. Our videographer left, so I was tasked with "just updating an After Effects template" that had already been built. I had animated in Animate CC (formerly known as Flash). After Effects was an Adobe product. Easy enough, I thought.
I was wrong.
Fortunately, after going down a rabbit hole of After Effects and Premiere tutorials, I was able to pick up the skills necessary to not only update the template but create new videos! Later, in 2019, I got to use those skills to edit raw videos into short pre-roll ads. Video editing and animating have come to be some of my favorite things to do professionally.
Due to the tight time constraints of most projects I've worked on, I don't get to do as much illustration as I'd like to. Therefore, I spend a lot of my free time illustrating in one medium or another. See below for a mixture of professional and personal pieces I've created.
I was working at an IT company, and — when they learned of my interest in illustration — they asked if I'd be interested in pairing with a staff copywriter to come up with a comic for the site's blog. I was, indeed, and it turned out to be a fun break from normal, everyday design work!
I began my educational journey in 2007 at Montana State University, where I studied Mechanical Engineering. Upon realizing the mistake I'd made, I promptly switched majors to Graphic Design and never looked back.
In 2009, I transferred to the University of Texas at Arlington in order to save money on room and board (having moved back in with my parents and 3 obnoxious wonderful siblings).
In 2011, I began an internship at a small ad agency in downtown Dallas, where I was able to work on all aspects of the design process, from concept to design to print and digital production. When I graduated from school, they hired me on as a full-time employee.
Since then, I've worked in several roles at a mix of corporations, agencies, and one university, picking up skills along the way.
Let's see... What else do people put in their about section... Aha!
Awards and accolades:
In 1989, I was named "Snohomish County's Fastest Baby."