The tale of a designer, a Jill-of-all-trades...and what is all this about cats?

What's a girl to do when she falls in love with typography, photography, color theory, Photoshop, and the Mac? She becomes a Jill-of-all-trades and endeavors to create beautiful graphic and web design, as well as attempting to learn as much as she can about coding, video editing, photo manipulation, layout, printing, and social media. The goal being that a designer should be as well-rounded as possible in order to serve their clients better.

When I'm not designing and writing, I'm traveling or enjoying the Reno/Lake Tahoe/N. California area. I have been to 16 countries on four continents and 14 U.S. states. I hike, bike, kayak, snorkel, practice yoga and have competed in four sprint triathlons. Cats have always been a part of my life and some people have even remembered me because of the fat, little feline on my logo. Besides, the writer in me can't resist a rhyme.

Education

Along with my formal education, I am constantly updating my skills by learning new programs and techniques.

  • Bachelor of Arts, Journalism and Graphic Design, University of Nevada, Reno, 1997
  • Graphic design, web design and multimedia classes, Truckee Meadow Community College, 1997-present
  • Design: Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator
  • Web: Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Flash
  • Office: PowerPoint, Word, Excel
  • Blog/CMS: Wordpress, Joomla
  • Social Media: Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, RSS
  • Video: Final Cut Express/Pro, iMovie
  • Coding: HTML, DHTML, Javascript, Actionscript, PHP, CSS

Awards

Over the years I have won numerous awards for my work including:

  • American Marketing Association Ace Award Winner, Best Non-Profit Campaign, 2008
  • American Marketing Association Ace Certificate, Web Marketing, 2008
  • Public Relations Society of America Silver Spike Award Award of Excellence, Electronic Communications, 2006
  • American Marketing Association Ace Award Winner, Best Non-Profit Campaign, 2005
  • American Marketing Association Ace Award Certificate of Excellence, 2004
  • California Newspaper Advertising Executives Assoc. Best Full Color and Best Restaurant Ads, 1998 and 1999
  • James Fasules Advertising Student of the Year, 1996-1997
  • Scripps Howard Institute Academic Scholarship, 1996-1997
  • A. Carlisle and Co. Academic Scholarship, 1995-1996
  • Reno Women’s Civic Club Citizenship Award, 1992
  • Kappa Tau Alpha Journalism Honors Fraternity member

Clients

I have some really great clients: