[What I did, with pictures.]
Contract Art Director & Graphic Artist
Charlottesville, VA | 2005 – Ongoing
I have been fortunate to work with many wonderful people and businesses, who were open to my creative solutions to their marketing and branding needs.
Art direction, design, illustration, web design, retouching and production for Ash Lawn Opera, Peace Frogs Travel/Outfitters, UVA, Bristles Hair Salon, Live Arts Theater, Castle Hill Cider, Staengl Engineering, and others. Work has included copy and headline writing, as well as identity materials, social media, mass email, and market strategy.
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S&P Global
Studio Manager (interim/contract)
Charlottesville, VA & Washington, D.C.
December 2017 – February 2019
A three-month contract turned into an intense fourteen.
Hired to set-up this company’s print and digital studio in Washington D.C. Art direction, design, production and quality assurance of an estimated 80% of the company’s visual footprint, including brochures, conference and trade show materials, advertising (print and digital), U.I./U.X. and social media assets, plus banners and signage of all varieties. Hiring and training of studio personnel; secondary hiring and training of personnel on-site in Manila, Philippines. Improved and established file management and organizational practices; repaired quality control issues and mended relationships and perceptions between the creative team, project managers and stakeholders.
Links Choice
Creative Director (contract)
Charlottesville, VA
July 2017 – ongoing
I now have a deep understanding of used golf balls, and the close-knit, honest, committed people who keep them alive.
Originally hired to salvage a brochure PDF that needed revisions, I built a long-term relationship with this family-run business – eventually re-branding most of their printed materials, packaging – and re-designing their website. I was called to film a day with them and long-drive champion, Brian Pavlet in Orlando FL, resulting in a couple of fun long-form commercials – found here and here.
Ivy Publications
Editorial and Advertising Designer
Charlottesville, VA
April – October 2016
I’m proud to have contributed to the thoughtful and beautiful publications this company produces.
Editorial and advertising design for Wine & Country Living and Wine & Country Weddings magazines – plus layout and design for Charlottesville Family, The GoTo Guide, and The Charlottesville Welcome Book. Responsibilities included light illustration and often extensive photo retouching.
LOOK3: The Festival of the Photograph
Production Manager &
Exhibition Coordinator
Charlottesville, VA
February – July 2015
I took on two positions and lost fifteen pounds.
Responsible for the planning and details of execution for all public-facing events and exhibitions for the 2015 Festival, including five gallery shows and three outdoor exhibitions; Artist Talks at the Paramount Theater; two nights of productions at the nTelos Wireless Pavilion; extensive web and all print production; gallery and outdoor signage; hiring and coordination of vendors, paid labor and volunteers. Other concerns included artist management, procurement, budget, logistics, politics, and heavy lifting.
Served as Gallery & Outdoor Print Designer and Print Production Manager for the 2016 Festival.
Photography by Tom Daly.
Virginia Legends Basketball Camp
Creative Director (contract)
Charlottesville, VA
July 2014 – March 2015
Being the CD for this start-up called upon everything I had learned in my career, and the end result was very well-recieved and personally rewarding.
Hired to build this brand from scratch, from logo to a finished website and all materials, physical and digital. Responsibilities and accomplishments include marketing & strategy; copywriting for website, advertising, forms and marketing materials; website organization and architecture; creative direction of web development company; website construction and editing; design and branding of all identifying materials including letterhead, business cards, posters, signage, and social media. Efforts resulted in a partnership with Atlantic Coast Athletic Club, an overjoyed client and a unique look-&-feel in a marketplace catering to middle-schoolers and their parents.
UVA Darden Graduate School of Business
Image Specialist (contract)
Charlottesville, VA
September – December 2014
It was a privilege to work with this great team on their new website.
Selected images from extensive libraries for website redesign, based on content and context; edited, retouched and placed using a custom CMS. Detailed Photoshop work on website mockups. Redesigned information graphics.
Hired again for illustration and information design in August 2022 and May 2023.
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Silverchair Learning Systems
Art Director
Charlottesville, VA
March 2007 – January 2013
My work was integral to the company’s growth and position in the marketplace. I also felt like I was doing some good.
Responsible for all supportive and instructive imagery in online courses created for senior care institutions and staff. I was an integral part of this company’s growth and exceeded calls for increased quality and quantity of imagery from clients and users. Art directed photo shoots of both people and products. Found or produced images in keeping with aesthetics, politics, gender/race sensitivity, state/federal regulatory compliance and technical/medical accuracy. Design and illustration of informational graphics and photo composites. Contracted and art directed illustrators and photographers for original staged, human and anatomical art. Sought and managed photo permissions.
Silverchair Information Systems
Art Production Manager
Charlottesville, VA
March 2007 – May 2014
What started as a job in print and web production turned into an intense exercise in helping to transition a publishing company into a software platform and hosting company. This was not a design position, but I did what I could.
Responsible for the print and web production of all images produced by McGraw Hill Medical, Wolters Kluwer and other clients. Took responsibility for all non-anatomical illustration from vendors, plus all color correction and retouching. Managed all art for the company’s transition into journal publishing. Responsible for the re-conversion of legacy material of journal clients, including every image printed by the American Medical Association since 1998; analyzed and remediated tens-of-thousands of images from other high-profile trade publications (client list available at silverchair.com). Initiated essential communication and interaction with colleagues, clients and vendors to ensure satisfaction of both clients and end-users. Developed policies to solve content retention and organizational problems, with impact analysis in all areas – from contracts to server space. Design and execution of promotional materials and website graphics. Authored documents on branding, policies and internal organization.
C-ville Weekly
Graphic Artist
Charlottesville, VA
June 2005 – March 2007
I learned how to do ads really fast and had a great time.
Design and production for advertising in this alternative weekly newspaper. Art directed photo shoots for both products and people. Responsible for management and training of new employees.
I saved very little work from this job, since spending 15 minutes on an ad was often too much.
Contract Art Director & Graphic Artist (agencies)
Seattle, WA
April – October 2004
I needed to create and learn from different people on a different coast.
Art direction, design, illustration, retouching and production for Hadley Green Creates, Inc. and Publicis, Inc. Clients include Microsoft, T-Mobile and Safeco Insurance. Most work was collaborative, but I saved one piece that I designed.
Young & Rubicam
Studio Manager
Manhattan, NY
January – October 2003
For three years prior to my hiring, no one else had stayed in this position for more than three weeks. My job was to make the gaps invisible – between people, ideas, organization and execution.
Responsible for the Philip Morris Studio. This team advertised five brands in foreign markets and handled all advertising and point-of-sale for Parliament, both comps and mechanicals. Responsible for scheduling five staff members and up to twelve freelancers around the clock. Developed new systems of information management and workflow. Responsible for account support and assistance to the Creative Director, Art Directors, Account Team and Production Artists in an endless variety of scenarios, from technical to aesthetic, with both colleagues and client representatives. Extensive comp work & retouching; moderate solo design and heavy collaborative design.
Momentum Worldwide
Studio Manager
Manhattan, NY
January 2000 – May 2002
How I approach creative/art direction currently is largely based on this experience. This was the most talented and focused team I’ve ever seen. We were so good that the parent company dissolved the entire art department.
Responsible for all materials produced and published from this branding/promotions agency. Extensive production work and design for pieces of all nature and size: ads, posters, kiosks, 18-wheelers, signs & banners, direct mail, table tents, 3D structures, object wraps, etc. Integral and vocal participant in all marketing and strategy meetings. Developed new systems of information management and workflow. Nature of work required absolute command of Adobe software and print production techniques. Design and often complex retouching and color correction, plus management and direction of staff, illustrators and vendors. Clients included American Express, Sirius/XM and Qwest Communications.
I saved no design work from this job; the pieces here were found elsewhere on the internet.
Contract Art Director and Graphic Artist (self & agencies)
Charlottesville, VA & New York, NY
November 1998 – January 2000
My career adolescence, but there are a few things I still like.
Art direction, design and production for Margeotes, Fertitta & Partners; Young & Rubicam, FCB (New York, NY); Probe, Inc., Raven Galleries, Beachway Press (Charlottesville, VA); Bain, Inc. (Boston, MA); ThirdBridge, Inc. (Washington, DC).
Probe, Inc.
Graphic Artist | Art Director
Charlottesville, VA
January 1996 – November 1998
I learned everything I needed to know here. All that followed was a re-learning, enrichment or simple confirmation.
Responsible for strategies and execution of advertising, direct mail and collateral materials. Designed and produced four 100+ page catalogs for individual product lines. Contributed concrete, creative marketing/advertising strategies that produced a tangible increase in market share. Art direction of photo shoots and illustration; print bids and estimates; press checks. Often complex retouching and color correction. Clients included Weidmüller, Inc. and GE Fanuc.
Contract Graphic Artist (self)
Charlottesville, VA
1991 – 1999
I found the creative potential of a Xerox machine and still call on lessons learned in these years.
Clients: Trax nightclub, Red Light Communications, Live Arts Theater, Offstage Theatre, Larksdale Press, [your favorite local band] and others.
EDUCATION
The University of Virginia
B.A., English Language & Literature
B.A, Psychology
Unintentional minor in Religious Studies
Rice University
Graduate of The Publishing Program: a comprehensive course in book & magazine publishing.
