Who I Am
Hello,
I specialize in taking an entire brand, its purpose and values and condense it into a picture with a few words and images to communicate a message. I specialize in digital and print advertising. I am a graphic designer. I have been doing this professionally for five years. I have twelve years experience with Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver, five years experience with Illustrator, InDesign, and Flash. Additionally, I have a year of experience with Google Web Designer and Adobe Edge Animate.
I believe in simplicity and that simplicity is difficult. I believe that design communicates a message and that message should be simple, yet powerful. I believe that good design creates connections between people.
I believe in research: that the job of a designer is not just to design, it is to create a reality. To do that effectively, I need to gather information about not only my client, but theirs as well.
I believe that there is always a solution to any given problem. I believe in finding the best solution and doing it right. I believe that this requires time… sometimes a lot of time. I believe in having fun while working. I believe it produces a better product or service.
I believe in dabbing in adjacent fields. I believe it can teach you a lot about your own field.
I believe in research: that the job of a designer is not just to design, it is to create a reality. To do that effectively, I need to gather information about not only my client, but theirs as well.
I believe that there is always a solution to any given problem. I believe in finding the best solution and doing it right. I believe that this requires time… sometimes a lot of time. I believe in having fun while working. I believe it produces a better product or service.
I believe in dabbing in adjacent fields. I believe it can teach you a lot about your own field.
Two of my five years in the business was spent as the only graphic designer for a large local motor group with nine franchises (Toyota, Scion, Kia, Nissan, Volkswagen, Honda, Hyundai, Ford, and Mazda). I had to work with the owner, general managers, sales managers, finance managers, service managers, as well as franchise representatives and franchise compliance departments to produce everything from ad campaigns to newspaper ads, building signage, flyers, stationary, business cards, t-shirts, buttons, mugs, websites, e-mail offers, and anything else that would require my skills.
I graduated from Clark University in Worcester, MA with a B.A. in Psychology and minored in history. The longer I work in graphic design, the more I realize how much these studies actually apply.
I currently reside in my hometown of Portland, Maine with my two cats. I love fishing and hiking in my spare time. I recently got a kayak and have been doing some exploring and fishing with that. I like to read. I think reading is vitally important and find it highly disturbing when someone declares that they do not read. I love to cook, even though most meals are enjoyed only by myself. There is something extremely rewarding in gathering ingredients and producing a meal. I love woodworking for the same reasons.
