Hennepin Technical College

Graphic Design Adjunct Instructor (1995-Present)  Since Spring of 1995, equipped with a part-time teaching license with the State of Minnesota, I have developed curriculum and taught classes for the Graphic Design department. Instructing classes at HTC has always been a great way to keep up on the latest versions of graphics software, and it also allows me to give back to the industry, as well as my alma mater.

Classes I have had the privilege of teaching include:
• Intermediate Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe Acrobat
• QuarkXPress
• Introduction to the Macintosh,
• Digital Design Essentials
• Adobe Acrobat

brand synchrony / Realtime-Solutions /
Cool School Cafe / Cool U Cafe

Graphic Artist and Production Specialist (2008-2009)  I designed and produced the day-to-day graphic materials needed for the internal and client needs of these companies and their programs.

Work included catalogs, collateral, presentation and web graphics, web site updates and rework, email communications (email blasts), as well as some animation/video work for trade shows. There were many photos of premium items and products that had to be retouched and optimized for use in all work.

Infinity Direct

Graphic Artist and Production Specialist (2005-2008)  Primary responsibilities in Production Art of client work in Direct Marketing materials, ranging from small mailing inserts to mail campaign work complete with outer and inner envelopes, mail brochures, business reply cards and sales collateral, much of it set up with variable data capabilities.

On some days, I was given the opportunity to do some design, samples of some you will see below.

One recurring project I took command of was the creation and revision of financial card carriers for one client. Soon I had the process of exporting final formats of the layouts to the client’s proprietary system down to a clear set of procedures, aided with AppleScripts that automated many steps.

Some clients serviced by my work at Infinity Direct included: US Bank, Wells Fargo, Target Corp., Warner Tool Company, CAT, and Ecolab.

 

Gopher Sport

Graphic Artist (2004-2005)   Design and production of catalog pages and collateral, web site content production, press checks, hardware, software and workflow troubleshooting and solutions.

Every day I had dozens of images to fix, retouch, color correct, and outline. The catalog production process was smartly tied in with the product source database, each element (such as headline, prod. desc.) was then tagged with style sheets in the catalog layout.

I developed AppleScript automation that expedited the export of proofs and press-ready PDF files. I also helped to develop a more robust method for the comment and markup of catalog page PDFs during editing sessions prior to new edition production, utillizing custom stamps.

 

Momentum (Minneapolis office)

Graphic Production and Prepress Artist (2002-2004)  Executed art production of approved layouts to full-resolution prepress-ready and web-ready internet files. Executed job requirements and problem-solving of issues discussed with Account Executives, Production Managers, Creative Directors, Clients and Vendors.

Special skills included Photoshop retouching and compositing, and color correction. Ability to make a proper dieline for any conceivable job. Quick designing of small elements within a larger project. Able to quickly turn around any layout file to flawless production art.

Campbell Mithun

Production Specialist (1996-2001)  Aided Art Directors in design of layouts and visuals; evaluated and executed production files from Comp Studio to vendor-ready prepress files; developed in-house color calibration of printers, monitors and scanners; b/w press-ready scanning; AppleScript automation workflow.

Freelance and Miscellaneous Work

(1991-Present)  Actually, my work with freelance Graphic Design started out while I was still in my Electronic Publishing program at Hennepin Technical College. I cut my teeth creating a brochure and published ad for my brother-in-law’s handmade furniture business, learning the first version of Adobe Photoshop—before ever taking that class—in the process.

Since that time, I have always been open to taking on a project freelance when the opportunity arises. Some I have gotten paid for; others I did just for the experience.

Further Experience:

Management Graphics, Inc. (1994 - 1995)  Technical Support Specialist responsible for customer benchmarks, graphics trouble shooting, research and color calibration. Photographic digital imaging to film recorders, large format plotters and four-color copiers, via proprietary and 3rd party RIP systems and software.

Atlas Loose Leaf (1993 - 1994) Prepress Department Manager/Designer Designed and prepared screen printing positives, typeset index tabs and output to Onyx plates. Managed files, archives, templates and fonts. Camera work on Agfa RPS 2024 Superautomatic. Maintained film and Onyx plate processors, supply inventories for department.

Typehouse-Duragraph (1993) Prepress Technician Computer Prepress operations, preflight, production art, photo retouching; film and IRIS proof output.

Graphics Unlimited (1993) Production Art Internship on a Macintosh network for a temporary project. Use of proprietary database software and QuarkXPress.