I specialize in:

• Ad Design
• Mixed Media Illustration
• Zesty ad copy
• Snappy headers
• Written rhetoric on the fly
• Off the cuff ideas
• Exceeding a clients expectations

I have lots of tricks up my sleeves. While I specialize in ad design though, I've also done brochures, postcards, mailers, newsletters, re-designs, menus, website bits, logos, letterheads, envelopes, forms, etc. I have done very dull design, and very creative design. Contrary to popular belief, I have never been bored, and have no preference for the type of work. I love all of it. I have been enthusiastic about every item I've ever worked on because doing design work on the computer thrills me to the bone. Plus, I do so much art and writing outside work, I get all my creative ya-yas out either way.


Special Talents:

• Sculpture and the ability to build interesting things
• Photography
• A knack for foreign languages
• Very well read, receptacle of odd information
• Gourmet chef of delicious treats
• Jill of most trades and handy in a pinch
• Amazing improv
• Remembering details other people have forgotten
• Special touch with clients to make sure they get personal attention

Like my mother, another amazing artist and designer, I have a knack for knowing how to do a lot of different things that never cease to amaze everyone. They say, "How do you know how to do that?!" and I just shrug a little french shrug, smile a little and say, "I have no idea. I forget! I picked it up somewhere..."


Why you should snap me up:

• Ten fabulous years of well -rounded experience
that covers newspapers (both daily and weekly),
magazine ads, catalog work, agency work,
real estate work, and managing my own freelance,
all in color and black and white
• Multi-talented with more talent in my pinky than most
• My personal set of experiences, accumulated knowledge
and brain database of information make me a truly unique designer
• I can do everything from Concept
all the way to Pre-Press and just about
everything in between
• I have done amazing edits of photos
and resurrected copy from the dead
• I'm a walking talking idea fountain
• While I'm proud of my excellent and creative work,
I'm no design prima donna and I never throw hissy fits
or coffee cups (you know the designers who do this)

Experience should definitely count for something, and I have that in abundance. Maybe I'm not so hot with HTML or any kind of web application, but a lot of designers don't have half the well-rounded skill I have, and most of them still don't know web work either.

When I was looking at candidates to replace me at the last newspaper I worked at, I was shocked at how poorly prepared the people were who interviewed. Some of them were fresh out of school and while they had nice looking work, it was quickly apparent that they had no speed and had probably taken weeks on each piece in their portfolio. In reality, they had barely learned the basic application programs, knew absolutely no pre-press, and had extremely sloppy design skills. Most of them didn't know how to make a PDF, or do any kind of troubleshooting to fix computer problems. I even encountered people who had been out in the field for several years who were just not very good candidates. I recommended that they all hit the books hard, take some more classes, and if they could stomach it, try a newspaper job eventually because it was like hardcore design boot camp. I scared the bejeezus out of all of them because they didn't need a candy-coated version of what the job would really be like. Finally I selected a tough little girl fresh out of school I knew would be able to stand up to the Sales Reps and give them the what for, and a lovely part timer who had a nice eye for design and just needed some polishing up.



Strengths:

• Sheer speed
• Raw creativity
• Unlimited ideas
• Non-linear thinking
• Subtle re-designs
• Circular leaps of logic
• Noticing trends
• Proofing
• Attention to detail
• What-ifs

The fact that I work like greased lightning is inconsequential. In some jobs it has been a plus, and others a minus. Agencies for some reason tend not to find this a good thing, maybe because speed does not equal large billable hours. All of my freelance clients love it. And I work fast in a crunch. An enormous strength is bountiful raw creativity. I don't know where it comes from, but it wears me out. I have unusual problem solving skills. I even once worked out some complex issues with an imaging program and some postcard designs in my dreams, which was fabulous. I'm excellent with noticing patterns and trends in lots of things, and I am occasionally an odd container of interesting and useful cultural trivia and facts which has proven instrumental in careful ad design and sensitive copy writing.


Weaknesses:

• HTML anything

I don't pretend to know anything about it. I have a scattered knowledge, and I admit freely that I use templates.


Delights:

• Re-designing for the best
• Pleasing a client beyond their expectations
• Tweaking tracking and leading
• Making a design tight without too much compromise


Dislikes in editing:

• Hyphenated paragraphs
• Gross overuse of cheap words
• Copy that doesn't make sense
• Sloppy misspellings
• Weird indentations
• Inefficiency of the proofing process


Desires:

• To be some art director's assistant art director slave
• To do more design for a greater cause
• To have my own drawing pad and stylus
• To have unbridled access to hi-res digital stock art
• To use some fun fonts for a change (and to have ALL the fonts...)
• To never have to endure kumbaya at a staff retreat until my brain bleeds


As a designer and co-worker I am:

• Patient and easygoing
• Positive and optimistic
• An enthusiastic team player in every job
• Surprising and consistent
• Nurturing and supportive
• Someone you can always get an honest opinion from about a design or plan
• Straight-up, and straight forward, with very few gray areas
• But also the one who won't cut anyone any slack, ever
• Not candy-coated at all– more like a lemon drop

Most people tend to appreciate these things about me because it's nice to know where you stand with a person.