Erica Melville Castle Email & Phone Number

Middlebury, Vt, Us

I am a lifelong artist, applying visual design principles and critical thinking to day-to-day and professional career. I leverage my experience in constructive critique, pedagogical approach, and continuous improvement while being accountable to execution.View my art portfolio at www.ericamelvillecastle.com

Providing design direction and creative strategy for educational and tech products. Lead and oversee design efforts to provide a cohesive experience that is visually striking and engaging. Shape design processes, tools and standards to create better experiences. Leveraging expertise in creative design direction, process excellence and inclusive leadership to promote design team growth.

Burlington, Vermont Area

Promoted to manage the development of interactive learning experiences for PreK-12 and young adult learners, across 20+ simultaneous projects ranging from $30k to $1m. Leads, inspires, and manages 45+ digital and print designers, illustrators, animators, coders, media producers and design managers and directors throughout the product development process. Operationalizes workflow efficiency and bolsters innovative and repeatable design choices. Most proud of:• Building a design strategy… Show more Promoted to manage the development of interactive learning experiences for PreK-12 and young adult learners, across 20+ simultaneous projects ranging from $30k to $1m. Leads, inspires, and manages 45+ digital and print designers, illustrators, animators, coders, media producers and design managers and directors throughout the product development process. Operationalizes workflow efficiency and bolsters innovative and repeatable design choices. Most proud of:• Building a design strategy from the ground up; transforming a siloed organization into collaborative teams with flowing information, better enabling creation of cohesive and engaging user experiences that meet accessibility and mobile standards• Spearheading JIRA consistency initiative, bringing uniformity to ticket structure, workflow and deliverables across projects, and giving leadership a more holistic view of the work• Fostering a data-driven management culture; tracks team output to refocus efforts on under-resourced projects or get ahead of potential roadblocks• Enacting design practices such as regular critiques, training to level-up team members, and facilitating opportunities for professional development Show less

Middlebury, Vt

Oversaw production process and timeline in creation of K-12 online language courses, from course inception to completion and delivery to client, in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment. Re-engineered workflow for writers, builders, media and QA teams (35+ people.) Directly managed team of illustrators, animators, media producers, and voice talent (14+ people.)• Analyzed project management software options and selected Smartsheet for better team efficiency and communication, ensuring… Show more Oversaw production process and timeline in creation of K-12 online language courses, from course inception to completion and delivery to client, in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment. Re-engineered workflow for writers, builders, media and QA teams (35+ people.) Directly managed team of illustrators, animators, media producers, and voice talent (14+ people.)• Analyzed project management software options and selected Smartsheet for better team efficiency and communication, ensuring individual contributors remained focused on prioritized tasks.• Championed new documentation practices in Confluence and simplified organization of assets in Google Drive helping the team get systemized, increasing collaborative productivity and output• Formulated strategy with engineers to troubleshoot tech solutions for enhancements and conversion to HTML5 based product for product stability and longevity• Partnered with UX Director to refocus design, bring consistency and quality to the product through the media and content teams, enabling the team to make better decisions and create a more cohesive user experience Show less

• Editorial and design consultant for young adult novel• Continue development of children’s art series and fine art painting series• Provide color for graphic novel series in Photoshop and design and typography in Illustrator• Develop logos, signage and branding for various clients and businesses

Portland, Oregon

As the initial hire for this start-up independent publisher, I directed operations, assembled and oversaw teams of artists, writers and graphic designers while directing design and production timelines for 12+ books and 20+ related print projects.PROJECT MANAGEMENT• Managed workflow and prioritized project tasks on up to eight major projects concurrently, each spanning six to 18 months• Interviewed, hired and directed the work of 40+ freelancers and 15+ vendors• Collaborated… Show more As the initial hire for this start-up independent publisher, I directed operations, assembled and oversaw teams of artists, writers and graphic designers while directing design and production timelines for 12+ books and 20+ related print projects.PROJECT MANAGEMENT• Managed workflow and prioritized project tasks on up to eight major projects concurrently, each spanning six to 18 months• Interviewed, hired and directed the work of 40+ freelancers and 15+ vendors• Collaborated with marketing team on product development and cultivated business growth• Established relationships and managed production with eight local and overseas printersDESIGN & ART DIRECTION• Provided leadership on art, design and composition for production of children’s books, graphic novels and educational workbooks• Created, managed and edited marketing documents, signage, promotional materials, logos, ad placements, and digital and online content in support of published books• Planned book design and layouts in accordance with company’s style, editorial policy and publishing requirements• Collaborated with authors, illustrators and designers to accomplish creative goals• Developed and implemented color palettes for graphic novel series in Photoshop and design and typography in Illustrator for 550+ pages Show less

Taught 3 semesters of Painting I. Developed course syllabus with guidance of Stephen Westfall.

Mfa, Visual Art/Painting

Ba, Fine Arts, Economics

Activities and Societies: Cross Country Running, Track and Field