Profile:

UX/UI/Visual designer and graphic designer with over 10 years of experience in print and web design, advertising and production. I have 10 additional years of experience partnering to run a business where primary responsibilities were creative direction and consulting towards a user-centered and data-driven growth strategy. Recent years have been used for freelance design, continued education in UX and UI design, and professional painting. I aim to show my value in a cross-functional team by providing effective, compelling designs that drive positive results. My portfolio shows that I am organized and highly creative. Through professional and personal projects it demonstrates my adaptability and motivation to reflect user research in to products that improve with every iteration.

Education:

Bachelor of Graphic Design, North Carolina State University, 2001

Certificate of Completion, General Assembly 2022-2023, User Experience Design

Certificate of Completion, Design Lab, September 2023, User Interface Design

Skills and Tools:

Tools:

Figma, Adobe InDesign, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Sketch, WordPress, Google Apps, Slack, Miro, Xtensio, Userbit, Mac OS, Windows, Microsoft Office, Pages, Power Point, Adobe Creative Suite

Skills:
Visual Design, UI – User Interface Design, UX – User Experience Design, User Research, Iteration, Collaboration, Wireframing, User-Centered Design, Journey Mapping, User Flows, Prototyping, UX/UI, Information Architecture, Creative Direction, Branding and Strategy, Ideation, Graphic Design, Print Media, Print Production, Image Production, File Management, Photography, Digital Illustration, Copy Writing, Proofreading

Experience:
Freelance UX/UI/Visual Designer, Graphic Designer, Marie Niehaus Minehart Design,
Raleigh, NC. March 2020-Present

Providing visual design, graphic design, research and testing support for print and web projects that adhere to brand guidelines for each client. Working autonomously with efficient time management and attention to detail while considering various deadlines and budget needs are primary values. I am trusted to provide compelling and innovative deliverables while representing the qualities important to each individual. Services vary from logo design, business collateral, and signage, to responsive interfaces that include wireframing, prototyping and iteration towards a satisfying data-driven web products. Working user experience design processes with the Design Thinking Method in to traditional graphic design has yielded competitive results.

Creative Consultant for TorquedPerformance.com, Denver, CO, Portland, OR, Waynesville, NC. 2010-2019
Provided creative direction, logo design and promotional brand strategy for Torqued Performance, an automotive tuning service business. Through daily meetings, success evolved through a user-centered approach that leveraged the service we could provide with the data showing how our clients behaved. With this data-driven, user-centered approach we identified and provided for their core needs. I created the Torqued Performance original logo and ‘Stay Tuned’ slogan for the merchandise design. I also provided creative direction and brand strategy for the for redesign of TorquedPerformance.com. We focused on the community aspects of vehicle modification and racing, while prioritizing features around aspects of fun and the spirited nature of the sport.

Design Contract, Lakeshore Staffing, Denver, CO. May 2010
Provided image and data production services to an architectural design firm (Barker Rinker Seacat) for the redesign of their website. Responsibilities included resizing, retouching and populating photography from databases to a site building tool, and uploading finished images to an online source for future use. Aside from Adobe Photoshop, accuracy, time management and file management were the primary skills required for this position.

Graphic Design Production, The Sports Authority, Denver, CO. 2006-2010
Graphic design and production for fast-paced advertising department. Iterated on designs and maintained rounds of edits for content-heavy pages where maximized space, compelling imagery and accuracy of data were all top priority under tight and moving deadlines. Alignment to brand styles and processing of changes from marketing managers as well as creative direction from team leads was a process of reacting to daily market changes. Innovation inside the umbrella of brand consistency was encouraged, as was fresh conceptualizing for seasonal product changes and holiday events. Compelling reinvention was important inside the framework of the brand’s 50+ year legacy. Cross-functional team collaboration and up-to-date accuracy of hundreds of products per insert were accomplished with stamina and determination to deliver within printing deadlines.

Graphic Design Production, EToys, Sears Wishbook, Denver, CO. 2006
Graphic designer for the EToys, Sears Wishbook and My Twin catalogs. Each book was content-heavy, and required brand awareness and adherence to styles and direction provided by creative directors and the marketing team. Maximizing space while maintaining sense of playfulness with accuracy in descriptions and prices through rounds of updates were the main skills required along side photo editing and file management. For a special project, I illustrated cover concepts for pre-photography brainstorming sessions for the Sears Wishbook.

Graphic Designer, Martz Supply, Denver, CO. 2004-2005
Graphic Design and marketing for high-end kitchen and bath retail and wholesale supplier. Created and maintained sales and specification material for clients. I handled light showroom photography and created sales materials and mailers and special promotions for the showroom and outside sales teams. I also provided product photography if nothing was supplied by the data sources, and set up and managed a database of product images for use in sales kits. Sales kits included product selection booklets that were printed and assembled per client order.

Graphic Designer, Wilkinson Supply Company, Raleigh, NC. 2002-2004
Designed internal and external marketing materials for high-end kitchen and bath retail and wholesale supplier. I designed and printed business cards, brochures, mailers and catalogs for inside and outside sales teams. I also provided light showroom photography, created and managed a database of sales materials and executed copywriting and proofreading as needed.

Visual Design Co-op, IBM developerWorks, Research Triangle Park, NC. 2000-2001
Used Adobe Creative Suite to design and iterate on illustrations and icons to accompany articles and services to developers. Provided support to represent articles and services by visualizing new ideas within the scope of creative direction. We created compelling images that satisfied the need for fresh materials while adhering to iconic IBM brand styling and the needs of the content team.

Graphic Design Production, Homes & Land, Pinehurst Magazine, Raleigh, NC. 1999 & 2002
Design and production for real-estate catalogs. Provided support to design and edit content-heavy advertisements representing real estate agents in a monthly catalog. Responsibilities also included typesetting, layout design and proofreading for Pinehurst Magazine which involved more sensitivity to the brands of each advertiser and storytelling in articles. My team designed ads and article layouts that served the clients while adhering to the Pinehurst Magazine brand concept of opulence, tradition, and hospitality.

Continued Education (2020 & 2021):
Interaction Design Foundation: Become a UX Designer from Scratch (Top 10%)
Interaction Design Foundation: How to Create a UX Portfolio (Top 10%)
Enterprise Design Thinking: Practitioner Badge
Udemy: Sketch from A to Z: Becoming an App Designer