My passion for design actually began in 2008 as a member of my high school yearbook staff. For my senior year I was actually the design editor and co-editor in chief, taking a large role in creating page templates, developing character styles, and proofreading all pages for design errors. I loved the feeling I got knowing that the work I put into that book was going to preserve the stories for everyone inside it, and then I knew I wanted to pursue graphic design as a career.
College
I attended Tidewater Community College to study graphic design. Arts programming for the school has been relocated to the Norfolk campus, but formerly classes were held at the Visual Arts Center located in Old Towne Portsmouth.
Students who take the Communication Design II course during the spring semester get to work on the student art magazine, 340 High Street, and I was thrilled to have another opportunity to learn about page design and print production, as well as to have some of my schoolwork printed inside.
Internship
Right after graduating in 2014, I began as a part-time graphic design intern at The Colonial Williamsburg Foundation in Williamsburg, VA. I worked the update and create print marketing materials for Colonial Williamsburg, assemble prototypes for folded print mailers, mount designs for the Creative Director to use in marketing presentations, and more. Lunch hours were almost always spent walking down Duke of Gloucester or perusing the art museum. What started as a 6-month internship was extended twice until I ended up staying a full year, and I still greatly value the time I had there.
Work Experience
2015
Immediately after ending my internship in 2015 I began working full-time as a graphic designer for Organization Management Group, Inc located in Chesapeake, VA. The range of projects I got to work on at OMG varied greatly and I got to experience working on projects for multiple clients. While my internship was primarily print-based, I got to delve into more digital work at OMG by coding and updating websites, working in WordPress, creating images for Facebook ads, and designing and sending emails for clients.
There was still a lot of print work to be done with making directories, conference materials and signage, flyers, quarterly magazines, and more. The range of work here was refreshing and I felt like I was always learning something new, such as how to work with printing companies. Truly what I enjoyed the most was having 4PM teatime with the other designers in the creative department.
2018
In October 2018 I moved away from Virginia to relocate to Chicago, where I currently live. In November 2018 I got my current job working for MMi as a digital designer. What I do now is predominantly digital, a departure from my previous experiences being very print-heavy. I always want to learn something new when I start a job, and I’ve definitely learned a lot about digital marketing and email design and best practices. I’ve also gotten to delve more heavily into website design and wireframing, which is something I’ve always wanted to do.