Graphic Designer
Creative Director
Craftswoman
Capabilities
Capabilities
Recent Work
Experience
I come from a long line of talented classical artists whose eye for art has passed down to me – and into the digital age. While I enjoy painting, photography, and crafting Halloween costumes for fun, I absolutely love being able to create graphic art as a career. I get a sense of satisfaction when the art finally comes together at the ah-ha moment and I truly enjoy it.
My first job in the design industry was at Headline Graphics, a mom 'n' pop print shop located in Cardiff-by-the-Sea, CA. There, I learned all there is to know about pre-press, short and long-run printing, multi-page documents, proofreading, layout, direct mail, binding, and large format. This job was a wonderful place to start and it built the foundation for all my design knowledge. I am always eager to learn and I absorb new information quickly.
In more recent years I have had the privilege of managing a commercial print & mail house where we outputted over 40,000 pieces of variable-data mail per week.
Career History
Nest Egg Digital Marketing
2022 - Present
Currently, I am part of a women-run marketing company that offers full website creation, marketing, blog posts, graphic design and SEO to companies nation-wide. My role is to write content for websites, blog posts and graphic design. Most of my design work is updating old logos, creating cohesive branding collateral and even T-shirt design. I enjoy all of it!
Trusty Real Estate Photography
Owner
2014-2019
Trusty Real Estate Photography happened more or less by accident. I have always enjoyed browsing the MLS and I quickly noticed the good photos, compared to the bad ones - yikes! After doing a little research on what it took to create a quality architectural photo, I was hooked.
I attended 8 hours of online tutorials by Mike Kelley, then called up my Realtor and offered to photograph her next listing free of charge... the photos hit the web and she had a couple of full-price offers within 2 days. I was hired!
Word of mouth spread and soon I was shooting homes for most of the top Realtors in the area with a high level of customer service and satisfaction.
SockGuy
Art Director
2006 - 2016
I called SockGuy home for almost 10 years. During that time I was able to watch and help the company grow, change, expand, and just plain dominate. We went from a tiny little custom sock shop to a powerhouse in the cycling, mountain biking, and outdoor arena.
When I entered the scene I sat in a tiny, shared, green office and began learning sock design, or as I call it, "graphic design on a microscopic level." Each pixel represents a stitch!
Within a few years, SockGuy grew from having about 20 retail designs to over 300! Our custom sock business was on fire and we became a serious competitor to large companies like WigWam and DeFeet. Constant email marketing, efficient print ads, and unique sock designs gave SockGuy the winning edge.
SockGuy remains my largest body of work simply due to the length of employment and the wide variety of work I completed. From tiny hang tags to web design to large format tradeshow graphics, I did it all. I worked remotely from Ridgefield, WA for 5 years until leaving to pursue photography.
SockGuy is still going strong in sunny San Diego www.SockGuy.com
Surf's up Dog!
Inventor / Owner
2005 - 2015
Surf's Up Dog! is something I'm pretty proud of. I invented, developed, sourced and sold a new style of dog leash.
Living in San Diego at the time came in very handy; I had a plethora of surf industry companies at my fingertips. I began researching, designing, and developing leashes with a local surf leash manufacturer. By using a fun image, persistent marketing, and sales techniques I soon had products on the shelves at many local pet shops and online sales. Street fairs were very common and became a great outlet for sales because people could test drive the product while admiring the quality, comfort, and ease of use. Cha-ching! I even took the show on the road and attended three consecutive Las Vegas trade shows at SuperZoo.
I had so much fun learning all the ins-and-outs of starting, running, growing, and eventually selling a business from the ground up.
The legacy lives on at https://rufflifegear.com/
Education
2019
2005
Associates Degree: Art Institute of San Diego -
Graphic Design, with Honors.
Real Estate Broker's License: Windermere Real Estate
2002
1997
Bachelor’s Degree: San Diego State University - Geography/Environmental Policy; Minor: Anthropology
Foreign Exchange Student: Rotary Club -
Necochea, Argentina - Hablo Español.