Although I have a breadth of skills in design work, my life has taken me on a journey through a few different career paths. My initial skills and experiences are rooted in the biological and physical sciences as well as language. This led me to continue my studies in education, and eventually teach in outdoor education specifically. While teaching I pursued illustration classes, and found a deep love for the time I could sit with nature and delve into the details. This inspired me to go back to school for web and graphic design which brings us up to date. I have extensive experience with the Adobe Creative Suite, especially InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop. I'm well versed in HTML and CSS, and have proficiency with Javascript and jQuery, to create websites with front end capabilities. My illustration experience started with botanicals and continued with a fundamentals of art and general drawing courses. My analytical and detailed nature drew me to the elements of art and principles of design. It's incredibly engaging that utilizing the science behind art and design can create eye-catching, stimulating, and functional works that are able to bring joy and value to the viewer.
I value creating designs that bring the vision of my clients to life. If there are opportunities to make any design more sustainable I take those avenues. The devil is in the details, so I'll always spend the extra time to make sure every aspect feels refined. Science and nature have been a part of my interests, education, and experiences for as long as I can remember. They create a great jumping off point for inspiration to help inform and begin my designing process. When I begin any project there are fundamentals to creating that build the foundations for a great design, that I deeply value following, to have the capacity to create something impactful.
Brainstorm
I find working with others and sharing ideas to be invaluable to the design process. This is where road blocks and challenges may come to the surface. It's also where new, creative and unique ideas often come to light.
Research
This stage is one of exploration; keeping a very open mind within the given constraints and deliverables. This stage includes finding inspiration and mood boarding, as well as writing down intentions and ideas.
Thumbnails & Sketches
Once discovery is done it's time to get out the sketch books and create thumbnails / wireframes to get a quick view of how some different ideas may start to come to fruition.
Refinement
After creating at least 10 sketched ideas. I like to narrow the ideas down to the 2 best and elaborate on those with more detailed sketches.
Finalize
Lastly it's time to select the best option to move forward. At this point I often detail out the sketch a bit more, and start on the creation of what will be the final design.
Outside of my passion for design I am a lover of solving puzzles and staying curious. Rock climbing is a favorite hobby of mine for that reason. Much of rock climbing is problem solving the best way to get to the top of the wall. I especially enjoy the process of puzzling this out with friends, and other climbers. When it comes time to wind down and relax I enjoy cooking, listening to music, sketching, and reading. I have a sweet baby boy named Cian, who is a great companion for my brainstorming walks to the park or coffeeshop.