-Animation Pipelines – Storyboard Creation –Creative Direction – Costume Design -
Insightful and Creative Leader with extensive experience in overseeing design projects from conceptualization to completion and coordinating with teams for producing high-quality designs. Proficient in completing illustrations by digitally creating images and upgrading and enforcing visual style guides for product teams and partners. Adept at designing graphic content, illustrations, and infographics to attract more customers. Skilled in ensuring design concept using wide range of colors/graphics and touchpoints throughout various marketing projects to create a cohesive consistent brand identity and unified experience for existing and potential customers. Instrumental in delivering exceptional services to various brands, including American Greetings, Bravo TV, Nike, AirBnB, Baron Davis, Star Wars, Lawless Brewing Co., and Sesame Street. 


Education

Master of Fine Arts, 2D Animation, Academy of Art, University of San Francisco Bachelor of Arts, Columbus College of Art and Design Technical Proficiencies Include: Mac OS | Adobe Photoshop | Adobe Illustrator | After Effects | Adobe InDesign | Adobe Animate | Toon Boom HarmonyDrinking Up Podcast---Graphics and illustration of all branding imagery, producer and host

 

Professional Experience

Freelance Graphic Designer 2023 to Present Lawless Brewing Co., North Hollywood 

Involvement in managing designs of the company, including proposals, charts, tables, graphs, and infographics. Create and execute design strategies to sell concepts and ensure the satisfaction of client expectations. Showed true commitment to creating a strong business image, products, and services while adhering to goals.

Illustrator 2013 to Present Freelance, Los Angeles, CA

 Formulate and pitch character model sheets, background layouts, and different prop designs in Illustrator to Executive Producers. Utilize traditional and digital mediums to craft beautiful illustrations for print and web that engage audiences and provide a seamless user experience. Adopted best editing skills to manipulate and edit existing photos and compose new artwork from raw images. 

Designer 2008 to Present Kelly Mark Designs, Los Angeles, CA 

Led costume fabrication and vintage wardrobe research to design clothing and accessories for all characters on stage, film, and television. Showcase attention to detail skills to execute various photo retouching software intending to ensure correct resolution and composition, which enhance image quality. Directed multiple administrative activities by supervising pattern-making and prop restoration processes. 

CEO 2007 to Present New Vintage Lady, North Hollywood 

Perform overall management operations of the company, such as overseeing the sewing process and directing historical costume restoration and reproduction. Leveraged effective interpersonal skills to maintain strong and positive communication with Costumers, Pattern Makers, Illustrators, Graphic Designers, and Marketing/Social Media Representatives. 

Children’s Book Illustration 2023 to 2023 The Last Bone’, Los Angeles, CA 

Administered press runs, attended regular press proofs, and oversaw all aspects of color quality for press runs. Analyzed content and presentations, managed to approve/reject ideas, and delivered feedback to the team. Gained advantage from creative thinking mindset for crafting and illustrating children’s books for Kitten Creations. 

Creative Director 2022 to 2023 In KidZ, Los Angeles, CA 

Worked with creative team members to design infrastructure in compliance with a defined budget and time. Collected all essential information to create a script for briefing narrative while serving as head of the team. Supported students in creative writing by preparing and delivering diverse educational content. Developed various educational materials based on Illustrations, world-building, concepts, character design, and book layout.

Visual Director 2020 to 2022 UWish, Los Angeles, CA 

Examined visual intellectual properties to create stories for children’s books and animation. Directed and motivated teams of Art Directors, Illustrators, and Copywriters to assist in animation, character designs, and story building. Provided creative design strategy to various groups and fostered consensus across all stakeholders. 

Character Designer 2020 to 2021 The Black Santa Company, Los Angeles, CA 

Directed concept and design of characters and creatures to enhance creativity. Liaised with Art Director, Designers, Animators, and Programmers to compose content creation guidelines for texture and Photoshop documents. Promoted ‘Black Santa and CeCe save Christmas’ Illustrated by Shelley Johnson ISBN: 979-8-9854099-2-5. 

After Effects Animator 2015 to 2016 Fulcrum Labs, Hollywood, CA 

Carried out overall activities of after-effects animator, such as analyzing visual storytelling, managing asset, proposing alteration solutions, and evaluating animation. Collaborated with Producers for managing narrative, exporting, and sound-syncing procedures. Showcased sound understanding of animation, motion graphics, and illustration expertise to ensure completion of the daily working process. 

Animation Director 2011 to 2013 Viva Cards, Los Angeles, CA 

Leveraged leadership expertise to train the team in storyboarding and integrating a series of animated training videos based on the n dental profession. Ensured a smooth working process by instructing and supervising a team of 5 Animators, creating scripts, and developing weekly task sheets. Prepared storyboards to facilitate teams in completing assigned assignments while confirming successful ventures by polishing the skills of team members. 

 

 Additional Experience

Illustrator, Drinking Up Podcast || Led graphics, branding, and illustration of all branding Producers.

 Illustrator, aCartel || Managed various operations regarding concept art, graphics content, branding imagery, sample sewing, and small production runs of branded soft goods. 

Illustrator, 300 Entertainment || Developed Young Thug promotional character and doll design. 

Costume Producer, Anovos || Acted as Fabric Producer and Sample Maker for branded costume reproduction of Star Wars Livened products. 

Flash Animator, American Greetings || Showed active involvement in working on Flash Animations of site kiwee.com, including storyboards, concept designs, and character development. 

Graphics & Display Designer, First & Main || Maintained product mock-up, catalog illustration/layout, and store display mockups. 

Animator, Toolofna || Carried out flash animation for Airbnb - After Effects Animations. 

Mac Specialist, Apple Computers || Performed inventory, sales, tech support, and customer service duties. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can follow progress on my many projects on my blog. You can also find my comic Vintageville on Tapas, as well as my sewing adventures on my NewVintageLady blog.

Interviews and articles about me:

PDF Download Art Sampler 
 
Download Resume