About this site

I’ll save most of the “about me” for the work and blog posts to do the talking. However, I would like to explain more of the premise for this site.

My goal with my site is to not only display design work, but to trace a story of experience. I believe that all things I have done, design-related or not, deepen my reservoir of experiences and broaden my worldview. In the end, it all becomes design related because if I am a “thinker” as a designer, it all connects to inform design decisions and the ability to think non-linearly. A New York Times article helped me confirm and articulate the value of having an array of experiences: “It’s often people who can draw from a deep reservoir of diverse experience that generate breakthrough ideas and insights…The academics identify five traits that are common to the disruptive innovators: questioning, experimenting, observing, associating and networking” (Steve Lohr). My path might be “un-traditional” but it has led to all of the five listed actions. Because I value the journey, I think it’s important to display many aspects of it, not only the physical design artifacts.

I love design and could talk design nerdiness all day. I enjoy the designing process, but through my experiences have come to find that I often enjoy more the design thinking process. Putting pretty stuff on paper is sometimes what it takes to be making “it,” meet client needs, making cool stuff, moving forward, etc. But I am finding more and more that the initial design research and creative processes are just as interesting and fun. I think this is where design has the power to be an agent of change and force in local and global markets. Typography will not save the world. But the design thinking processes and ability of designers to think non-linearly, in a solution-finding manner, is what design offers that is so important in addressing large issues. Designers must maintain minds connected to trends, current events, culture, and social shifts if we are to have minds fertile for ideas and perception.

So here’s to staying connected in continued observation and documentation towards an end of using design thinking to lead to meaningful actions…

Click here for a downloadable version of my résumé.

Résumé ::

Scholarship:

Auburn University; Auburn, Alabama, USA
B.F.A. in Graphic Design, Minor in Spanish
Graduation Date: December 2008
GPA: 3.85, Summa Cum Laude
Study Abroad: Florence University of the Arts
Florence, Italy, Summer 2007

Employment:

Sides and Associates:
Graphic Designer. Birmingham, AL. Contract designer working with FEMA’s Long-Term Community Recovery Committee.
Collaborated with other designers, city planners, and capacity building specialists to deliver a well-fashioned guide to recovery for nine towns.
October-November 2011

Cultural Ambassador:
Galicia, Spain. English teacher with a program through the Spanish Government. Allowed for time to be immersed in a different culture to fill sketchbooks with observations and documentations in order to understand trends and design in a global context. High level of Spanish now spoken.
October 2010-June 2011

Pie Lab:
Graphic Designer. Greensboro, AL. Pie Lab is a social design effort in a rural community of Alabama. Designed materials for events and the website. Product development for merchandise to sell in-store and online. Helped write and received a Design Ignites Change grant for $12,000 to work with the local chapter of the national YouthBuild Program to develop a local product, brand it, and market it nationally, while teaching at-risk youth how to do all tasks involved. Planned community events and fundraisers; conducted small business workshops.
Summer 2009; January 2010-June 2010

Healthcare Realty:
Graphic Designer. Nashville, TN. One of the nation’s top  healthcare real estate companies. Implemented the company’s new brand identity through all printed materials and web presence. Designed the official company booklet and website. Helped implement marketing strategies.
September 2009-December 2009 (hired for a temporary position and stayed on as a contracted freelancer through August 2010)

Freelance:

Faunhouse: logo design, Fall 2011
Behind the Glass: logo, tag, and bag design; Fall 2011
Forte: logo design and stationery suite; Fall 2011
Spero Soccer: logo design, apparel design; Spring 2010
Healthcare Realty: brochure designs, website designs; Spring 2010
Ethos 3: presentation designs; Fall 2009
Gradient Overlay: book layout, posters, various other print materials; Fall 2009
Master of Real Estate Development at Auburn University: website design and development; Summer 2009
Zdenko Krtic: artist’s portfolio website design and coding; Spring 2009

Involvement:

Volunteer with The Gnus Arts non-profit development team, July 2011-present

Invited to be a presenter and portfolio reviewer at Nashille AIGA’s Student  Conference, Spring 2010

Presenter at a conference organized by the David Matthews Center and the  Kettering Foundation that was structured around asking the question:   “How do we strengthen citizen engagement and community problem solving?” Member or Nashville AIGA; started a monthly book club, Aug. 2009-Dec. 2009

Member of AIGA Student chapter

Awards:

A Commended (highest award) on Senior Project, Fall 2008
Fulbright Scholarship Candidate, Fall 2008
Departmental Award for work accomplished during Spring 2008
Six pieces in juried Graphic Design student show, Auburn University, Spring 2008
Three pieces selected for Mississippi State University’s student show, Spring 2008
Four pieces in juried Graphic Design student show, Auburn University, Spring 2007
Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, inducted November 2006
Dean’s List: Spring 2005, Fall 2005, Spring 2006, Fall 2006, Fall 2007, Spring 2008, Fall 2008
License to Learn Scholarship