It was essential that I be able to understand and operate all equipment in the shop, including a 64” large format eco-solvent printer, an equally-sized cold laminator, multiple vinyl plotting and electro-foiling machines, a flatbed 4’x8’ router, and many various power tools. Having previous experience as both a professional and hobbyist, I was able to adapt my experience in the printing industry, vinyl applications, and as a CNC machinist [throughout high school and college). On top of the daily fabrication of various custom dimensional signs, mountings, and other various custom large-format solutions, I was heavily involved in large sign installations that require more than one man, as well as wrapping and decaling vehicles, both of the consumer and commercial sectors. Maintenance of the shop’s machinery was also an important duty that I would carry out on a scheduled basis, such as routine cleaning of the printing, plotting, and laminating equipment, as well as routine cleaning of the printing and vinyl application areas.The final duty that I had working here, was more of a clerical side of the business. On a day-to-day basis, I handled all initial project estimations, as part of the client survey process and production planning. Some of these tasks included contacting fabrication and material supply companies for material prices and availability, researching hardware and tool costs to be factored into an estimation, and discussing with my teammate the site location (as he was most often responsible for this) and installation procedures. He would advise me on all hardware needed, travel time and expenses, etc., which I would have to factor into the estimation using our company’s pricing structure. Finally, I would have to keep [on average] a monthly watch on material and hardware pricing, so that I could update our own estimation software with the updated materials and pricing, which would in turn be used in the pricing process.

My primary responsibilities were to work within my department to hand-apply and machine-apply vinyl graphics and safety materials to fabricated signage for both small and large companies, as well as for organizations such as the cities of Tucson and Phoenix. Projects varied in size and technical requirements, ranging from simple parking lot signs, to large signs that stood over 20-feet in height and required electrical lighting and extended in-house fabrication. Cleaning and preparation of substrates, premasking, weeding and trimming of vinyl were all common daily tasks.While most of my daily workload kept me at bay within my department, I often found myself helping out in other departments and learning new skills, as well as to help other areas of the company keep up with deadlines in more critical areas. This often involved assisting the electricians in setting up lighting systems for signs, completely preperatory work such as pre-wiring LED lights together, or assisting in the fabrication of the actual signs themselves. Tasks like these often brought me to the paint shop to help the painters mask off large signs and letter forms, as well as the final packaging of the signs themselves to prepare them for shipment.

I handled the majority of the design workload at NOPP. This varied from creating and refreshing brands, working closely with regional healthcare systems to develop paper and digital forms, and designing event materials for local organizations. Projects ranged in size from business cards and small promotional products to highway billboards and ice rink surfaces, and were spread across a wide range of mediums, including paper products, adhesive vinyls, hand-tooled wooden signs, and occasionally graphics for the web.Most of my work involved creating and prepping art for 4-color process and spot-color printing. Larger projects were generally outsourced for production when they exceeded our equipment’s capacity, while smaller ones were often produced using our extensive business copy center and in-house press equipment.More often than not, I worked with customers directly, handling everything from initial concepts and proofing, to final artwork detailing and production. Project estimation and pricing were generally handled by my manager, though there were times when I was called upon to assist with those tasks.

My main focus at AONmedia was working with customers to create unique, sturdy, and flexible designs that could be used in a variety of mediums (primarily web and apparel). Projects generally consisted of a logo design, and more often than not an accompanying web design layout. If a web design was created, I would then work closely with freelance web developers in converting layouts into functional HTML/CSS web pages.

My first venture into the world of graphic design. I started out by making flyers and shirt designs for local bands, eventually adding in graphics for social media web pages (Facebook, Twitter, MySpace, etc). I was solely responsible for finding clients, quoting potential work, and seeing the project through to the finish within reasonable deadlines.