A boutique design consultancy that specializes in branding, packaging and product development. I also provide video art direction, UI, traditional and digital marketing communications. MindWare — I collaborate with Mindware’s product development team to create educationally focused games, puzzles, workbooks and craft kits. I provide naming, illustration, design and production of packaging, game boards, craft kit components, instructions and rules. Illustrate, design and produce Mystery Mosaics, a line of coloring books which received the Major Fun Award. Other products include: Paint Your Own Stepping Stone Kit, Imaginets, Block Buddies, Qbitz, Mask Kit, Keva blocks and building sets, Mine Shift, Dizios, DestiNation USA, Cart Before the Horse, Find Your Way Gnome, Tribbit, Frog Wobble, PicWits!MacPhail Center for Music — Consults and provides branding, website, marketing communications, and fund-raising materials. Maud Borup — Product naming, product and packaging for winter and Easter holiday gift product lines created specifically for Target, Walmart, Sam’s Club, Home Goods, and other national retail chains. Gifts include a food and/or hard-line component such as mug, oven mitt or toy. St. David’s Center for Child and Family Services — Brand development, naming, tag line, branding guidelines, and marketing strategy to introduce the new brand.Other clients — Amerilab, Avalon Medical, Bay Island, Cardinal Pets, CFANS (College of Food, Agriculture, and Natural Resource Sciences at the University of Minnesota), Chocolat Celéste, The City of Saint Paul, Fairy Finery, Kazoo Magazine, Lifetime Fitness, Modern Gourmet Foods, NetSPI, Northern Brewer, Northfield Hospital, Oak Grove Church, Pincushion, and Uncle Bubble.

Courses taught: Design Tools I, II, Typography, Illustration, Advanced Graphic Design I, and Web Design I. Director of the Art Gallery

Created branding for corporations, their products, brands and services. I helped define brands and producs and/or service portfolios for internal and external audiences. I conducted communications audits, analyzed and leveraged research results throughout the design process to meet client objectives. Notable projects include:Cargill Corporate Identity — Illustrated new logo to reflect Cargill’s new business strategy. Applied the new mark to a global stationery system, signage, packaging, advertising and literature systems. Helped Cargill define and simplify their brand architecture in order to apply a master brand strategy to their portfolio of products and services. Designed and wrote design standards of online standards manual.MacPhail Center for Music — As the project leader, I conducted a visual audit, designed a new brand mark, secondary branding elements, detailed visual identity system and guidelines. Created and produced materials to celebrate the organization’s 100th year and grand opening of facilities in a new building, and to reintroduce MacPhail as a place that transforms lives and communities through exceptional music learning. Collaborated with architects in the creation and placement of exterior and interior signage. Since implementation of the new brand, the organization has added four locations, programing has grown from 8,200 to 16,000 students, and increased financial aid for students from $300,000 to $1.2 million.Mosaic — Conducted competitive audit and designed corporate brand mark to communicate brand attributes and position the company as a global leader in the fertilizer industry when Cargill’s Crop Nutrition merged with IMC Global.Additional projects were for: 3M Company, 3M ESPE, 3M Fire Barrier, AIGA Minnesota, Children’s Cancer Research Fund, Hestia Heating Products, Minnesota Dental Association, Lutheran Brotherhood, Syngenta

Pederson Gesk was a Minneapolis design agency focused on branding and packaging design for food and grocery brands. While there, I was responsible for conceptualizing and developing brands and packaging, providing photography direction, and client presentations for a variety of national and local clients including:Healthy Choice — Developed and applied new identity to packaging concepts to elevate and strengthen the brand for healthy frozen entrees, soups, breakfast cereal and deli meats. Special focus was put towards providing customers with approachable and informational back panel nutrition tips and facts. I created and wrote a comprehensive standards manual for the new identity and packaging.Spice Islands — Revised logo and redesigned spice, extract and sauce mix packaging to reflect the brand’s heritage.Schwan’s - Designed and presented packaging concepts for Red Baron Pizza, Tony’s Pizza and Larry’s Potato Side Dish brands. Wrote and created the standards manual for the new logo of the Larry’s brand. Additional clients included: Foster Farms and Best Yet Brand

I was responsible for managing, designing and producing corporate identities, packaging and collateral materials for prominent clients in a rapidly growing food-focused graphic design firm in San Francisco, CA. I conferred with clients and leveraged the work of printers, illustrators and photographers. Performed in-house illustration, custom lettering, photo and illustration editing, as well as copy writing and food styling for photography. Adeptly managed several projects simultaneously in all phases of design and production. Clients included: Fantastic Foods, Lightlife, Mervyn’s, Ghirardelli, Golden Temple and Robert Mondavi Winery.Clients included: Fantastic Foods, Lightlife, Mervyn’s, Ghirardelli, Golden Temple and Robert Mondavi Winery.

Offered long-term freelance design services to design firms including: Pentagram, SBG, Colonna FarrellProjects included annual reports, packaging, literature and collateral design.

Designed a wide variety of packaging and collateral materials for Bay Area clients including Electronic Arts, The Yosemite Association, Balzer/Shopes Press and the San Francisco Opera. Leveraged the talents of top San Francisco photographers, illustrators and printers.

Designed and produced wine labels, packaging, menus, interior design, signage systems and advertisements for a small, boutique design firm. Clients included: The Apple Farm, Martin Brothers Winery, Adelaida Cellars, Dagwood’s Restaurant, and The Mozart Festival.