As a professional artist and designer, growing my lifelong passion into a small business has been an adventure. I spend my nights making things out of wire, metal clay, resin, acrylic paint, and leather. My designs have become increasingly diverse over the years, and I am always on the lookout for new materials to experiment with and new techniques to try. I find myself in a constant state of wonder.

I manage all the strategic decision making for the creative and market for the TireSocks brand, I also provide key input on their decisions that will drive business value. I coordinate with the President to create and follow annual marketing budget allotting for: advertising, direct mail marketing, tradeshows and more. I oversee all press/media relations, write regular press releases, design ads and maintain internet presence including social media sites. Lastly, I implement all marketing strategies including updating new marketing materials and managing a contract advertising agency team.

Design and develop various materials for small and medium sized clients all over the U.S. such as: packaging, advertisements, point of purchase displays, direct mail pieces, posters, brochures, catalogs, newsletters, t-shirts, business cards, letterheads, CD and DVD artwork, banners, newspaper media, websites, logos and branding work. Companies I worked for:Doug McBride Photography (Des Moines, IA) - Brochures, advertisements, banner ads, website updates and materials, photo correction and manipulation. 2009 - Present2 Sister's Photography (Denver, CO) - Logos, branding materials, DVD and CD covers, brochures, banner ads, and print media. 2005-2014Silver Horse Shoe (Pocatella, ID) - Signage, business collateral and logo/branding materials. 2008-2010Farrell’s eXtreme Bodyshaping - Instructors (Des Moines, IA) - T-shirt designs for 10 Week workout groups. 2006-2012Other short term or custom jobs:Denver Children's Museum - Exhibit signage design for the Firefighter exhibit. 2011Cisco - Logo and branding materials 2010Murphree Construction - Brochures 2009Indigo Ink - Photo corrections and print collateral 2008Caddychicks - Print and email collateral 2006-2007Biz booya - Logo, branding materials, brochures, website design, illustrations, and print ads. 2005-2006American Dream Machine - Logo, branding materials, brochures, website design, illustrations, and print ads. 2005-2006Sophic Inc. - Design logos for various clients all over the U.S. 2005-2006Iowa State University - Designer: Women’s basketball brochures, magnets, posters, and other print and marketing collateral. Consultant: Poster, brochure, invitation, program, and print production for artist in residence program. 2003-2004

Design custom storybook albums designs for professional photographers. Album designs are creative, elegant and unique. All albums were custom created to fit the couple, theme of the wedding, and photographs that were taken by photographer; No use of templates or album design software. I also do photo corrections and manipulation such as sepia or other tones, selective color and removal of unwanted items. Created branding materials, website materials, and any other graphic or web design needs for professional Photographers.

Managed kitchen staff, cooked, waited on, and checked out customers. Came up with specials and helped to come up with menus for specialty events. Setup cleaning checklist, and kept daily inventory lists. Ran business while owner was out of town, doing all the purchasing, stocking, and making sure employees had what they needed to succeed.

Design custom storybook albums designs for professional photographers. Album designs are creative, elegant and unique. All albums were custom created to fit the couple, theme of the wedding, and photographs that were taken by photographer; No use of templates or album design software. I also do photo corrections and manipulation such as sepia or other tones, selective color and removal of unwanted items. Created branding materials, website materials, and any other graphic or web design needs for professional Photographers.

Hired short term as a contract graphic and packaging designer for 6 different brands under the Colomer Beauty Brands Salon Division (MOP, Difi, Abba, American Crew, Roux, Orofluido). Designed packaging, catalogs, sell sheets, distributor newsletters, email blasts, brochures, buying guides, and other print materials.I harmonized entire American Crew packaging line. Re-designed all 95 products to make them consistent and meet all US and Euro standards. Worked with printers, silk-screeners, and all those involved in the process of getting the packages from Marketing to the stores.

Minimized printing problems by preparing, trapping, and correcting pre-press files for multi-million dollar companies such as Kong, Epson, Larabar, and Atkins. Monitored pre-press workflows, including color iterations and color modifications to achieve desired results. Prepared plates for offset presses on a CTP (computer to plate) screener; conducted proof checking to ascertain color density and file accuracy. Completed press checks with customers and businesses.

After 6 months received an Excellent on work Review and 5% raise. At 8 months was promoted to Associate Creative Manager with team of production artists working underneath me. Created new design for SNIGRAB which was unchanged for 30 years. I also received 2 champ awards for "Outstanding Work."Job Duties: Manage production team for weekly inserts, to ensure that all deadlines are met with quality performance. Create new photo shoot ideas for lighting and angles. Work with photographer and production team to obtain new shots. Work on creative projects, re-designs, new look ideas, populate, design and create ads and other projects. Develop plans to improve the ad production process and roll out new ones. Create version charts to specify pagination of ads to be printed in numerous national markets. Communicate with the printer to ensure that all information regarding the release of the ads is correct, accurate and timely.Previously: Production Artist:Produced inserts and other media according to corporate style guide. Produce variations to improve ad design. Designed and built newspaper and magazine ads, posters, in-store signage, billboards, ROPs and other print media. Managed ROP and Grand Opening campaigns including design and release of all pages. Trained new employees and temps on brand standards and how to use and set-up files and images.

Created large-format prints, photography and banners. Used laser engraver to create awards, trophies, name badges, plaques and specialty items on unique surfaces. Engraved crystal trophies and designed awards for such places as: Colorado Division of Wildlife, Regis University, Rip It Energy Fuel and numerous other companies.

Designed and built packaging for trading cards, collectables and gaming cards. Designed point of purchase displays, signage and other collateral for manufactures such as Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokemon, Magic the Gathering, MLB and many more. Implemented the start of logo and image libraries. Worked with vendors to get artwork and style guidelines for packaging design. Worked with marketing to create plan-o-grams and the look of in-store signage with products and in-store set-up. Products were distributed to retails such as Target, Walgreens, Rite Aid and many others.

Designed all research brochures, power point presentations, t-shirts, invitations and training material for research for Boeing and other air craft manufactures. Used Macromedia Authorware to create training materials for cd and dvd delivery. Updated and maintained company websites with the most current information.