Graphic Design Experience

Growing up I always wanted to be a famous oil-painter. Because I loved painting so much, I was provided private art instruction for thirteen years. Oils, acrylics, watercolor, oil pastels, and pretty much every other paint and drawing medium was presented to me. The catch was, I just can't draw! I can copy, but drawing is not my fortŽ. Out of this I gained a good sense of balance and design and exposure to the wide variety of schools of art--techniques and the individual painter's styles.

I started out in college in Architecture. You use a ruler to draw, but found it wasn't my passion. After many indecisive semesters, I succumbed to family pressures and received a teaching degree from Texas Tech University.

Prior to 1991, I served first as a classroom teacher (grades 6-12--I love the kids but not their parents!) and then as an administrative assistant. My first computer experience was on a 286 PC running DOS using PageMaker 1.0! (Give it a command, go get a cup of coffee, return and it would almost be finished with the command!)

From 1991 to 1996, I worked in a traditional type house. They typeset textbooks, ad copy, and newsletters. Type houses, in general, were in a state of transition in 1991-1992 and Dayton Typographic was no different. It became DTS Imaging, a modern pre-press house complete with a Scitex scanner and 4/c process film-based imagesetter. As my then-husband was the president of the company, it fell on me to be the resident "techie." So I learned, fast, under fire! It was here I realized that on a PC I spent my day figuring out HOW to get work done while on the Mac, I actually GOT work done! I've been a convert ever since (although I am still "bi-lingual").

The good part about DTS was I learned the basics of the true art and craft of typesetting. It is something I have used every day since. Pam, Tammy, Grace, and Amy dragged me into their world and held me to their standards. Thanks ladies! Charlie and Chuck taught me the fine art of stripping (film not clothes!) and color separations. Thanks guys!

Then I mastered QuarkXPress, FreeHand, Photoshop, and Illustrator, in that order. (I never quite accomplished mastery with Corel or MS Word, nor do I actually care to!). But what the company needed was someone who could take the troublesome files and fix them while everyone else churned out the work. So now I know just about everything that can go wrong with a file! Because of my PC experience. I became the chief repair tech for the DOS-based imagesetter and processor. Oh, how many nights I was on my back on the floor under those machines with a screwdriver pointing up, all the while in a business suit, panty hose, and heels?

And how about the Israeli repair tech whose accent was so thick no one could understand him until I found out he spoke spanish--I became a translator as well! Since the equipment actually worked some, and because I have a particularly accurate color-eye, I trained under Scitex's tuteledge to be a color scanner operator (both drum and high-end flat bed). Many times I've sworn in a previous time I would have been in heaven working for a color separator doing color correction! Now, it just requires a flick of the mouse...

From 1997 to 1999 I worked with just about every size and kind of printing press there is--from mouse pads to posters to offset to flexiography (packaging). Today, printers Love my files because I know their limitations and set up my files accordingly. That saves my clients time and money because their jobs go through the print shop with ease. Plus, I know whether something I design is actually printable. (Something can look awesome on screen and be impossible to execute on paper.)

Since 1999, I have worked in the design-end of the printing industry. From designing packaging for over 400 different types/styles of padlocks to training manuals for gemologist, I love working on the design side. I get to learn so much about so many different industries and I work with a wide variety of people. My printing expertise has been invaluable in directing my clients to their best solutions. The jobs I do may be simple--typesetting a manuscript or editing a training manual. Or they may be more involved--creating a logo and setting up standards for stationery, printed materials, and branding. Most jobs fall somewhere in between. Take a look through my samples gallery. If you don't find a sample of what you're looking for, just ask me, it may be around here somewhere!