FALL 2019 | etv news promotional flier design
At the beginning of the Fall 2019 semester, I was contacted by Eastern’s student-run television news program to create a flier design promoting their General Interest Meeting to potential new members. By capturing student’s attention and providing the necessary information in a visually engaging manner, these designs helped facilitate a great turn out!
FALL 2019 | Willimantic Food Co-op Anniversary Campaign
During the Fall 2019 semester, the Eastern Design Group challenged individual students to create a promotional campaign to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the Willimantic Food Co-op. This campaign would include a design that could be used in posters, fliers, invitations and 2 billboards. The campaign also includes a T-shirt design to be given out and worn by employees on the day of the celebration. I decided to significantly simplify my design to better fit screen-printing limitations. In this way, I was able to successfully maintain a sense of excitement and celebration while optimizing for the intended format.
Fall 2019 | WILLIMANTIC RIVER ALLIANCE SITE REDESIGN & programming
Each of the students in my Web Design class were tasked with redesigning the official website for the Willimantic River Alliance. Although not specified as a requirement of the project, I knew I wanted to re-imagine their logo to better fit the new site design. I simplified and modernized it to better contrast against the background images. The final product is much more eye-catching, intuitive, and on-trend. I will be coding this website’s HTML utilizing Adobe Dreamweaver. This project is ongoing.
original:
REDESIGN:
FREELANCE - Custom portrait ILLUSTRATIONS
In 2019, I decided to make custom portrait illustration a feature service of my freelance business. Since embarking on this venture I’ve been able to experiment with different character, lineart, rendering, background, type and framing styles. I’ve learned how to professionally consult and communicate with clients to ensure the product I deliver is exactly what they envision. I find that providing such a special and personalized service can really put a smile on someone’s face, and I can’t wait to share more of those smiles in the future!
SUMMER 2019 | Eastern magazine cover illustration
I was hired by the head of Eastern Connecticut State University’s Director of University Relations to create a cover illustration for the Summer 2019 issue of Eastern Magazine. The issue commemorated the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 Moon landing, and highlighted how generations of Eastern alumni have been active participants in science and space exploration. My task was to create a visual representation of this relationship. The client awarded me quite a bit of artistic freedom, and I knew I wanted the illustration to be a call back to retro-futurism. This type of art typically depicts a 60’s perspective on the future (think The Jetsons), which I found tied in perfectly with the prompt.
Throughout the process of creating the illustration, I made sure the client was on board with my creative and aesthetic decisions (composition, graphical elements, color). We traded ideas and made adjustments along the way. This communication helped ensure the client was satisfied with the end result, and we’re currently collaborating on a couple more illustrations for the Fall 2019 issue of Eastern Magazine!
Check out the issue here!
Spring 2019 Freelance | Paragon salon logo
In Spring 2019, I was hired by the owner of Paragon Salon & Spa LLC. to design a logo to coincide with the opening of their business. She provided a color scheme and a prompt to create something warm, welcoming, relaxing, clean, legible, unisex, and relevant yet unpretentious.
I started off brainstorming potential concepts in a Procreate document. I settled on one that was simple yet eye-catching, which included a typographic “P” resembling a lock of hair. I created a polished vector image, placed it into a solid-colored circle for a modern edge, and then set to work experimenting with font pairings. I sent over a first draft for edits and the owner loved it but requested I also make a horizontal version for use on signage and business cards. I sent her a mockup of potential horizontal compositions and we were able to find the perfect fit for her business! I made sure to provide her with several variations of both the circular and horizontal logo, including transparent and solid colored backgrounds in black and white. I sent .PNG as well as Adobe Illustrator files, and let the owner know what fair-use fonts had been used along with links to download them.
FALL 2018 | WIllimantic salvation army illustrative map
I and the rest of my Graphic Design 3 class were given the opportunity to meet with and design for a real client: the Willimantic Salvation Army! We traveled to the branch’s new location and were told that they wanted an illustrative map which highlighted charitable services and organizations in the Willimantic downtown area. Each student would design and present their own respective map to the client, who would then choose which map to display within the branch office and on informational brochures.
The design process required careful planning, as we were provided a list of specific locations to feature, and were restricted by their position in relation to the town layout. Willimantic is a post-industrial mill town and therefore lacks many modern additions, so I decided to not only highlight the area’s rich history, but showcase the potential beauty of the area through my illustration style and use of color. After giving our final map pitches, I was lucky enough to have my illustration chosen by the client!
There is a time-lapse of this illustration available under my videos.
FALL 2017 - PRESENT | ECSU Fine Arts Events Design Work
One of my roles as a Student Worker for the Fine Arts Events Office at Eastern Connecticut State University is to design and format content for the promotion of music and theater events across campus and social media. I use university-approved logos and other digital assets to create cohesive marketing materials including posters, fliers, yearly event calendars, and more! I am tasked with formatting these and the designs of my Supervisor for ad postings, banners, local event calendars, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and more! The design process involves communicating with Music and Theater Directors to ensure my designs sufficiently convey the theme of the events, as well as provide the necessary information in a clear and engaging manner.
Spring 2017 | Children’s book illustration “recuerdos”
I, along with another student taking Graphic Design 2, created a children’s book in collaboration with two students from an ESL Storytelling class. The finished product would include both English and Spanish text. As part of the Young Authors and Illustrators Program, we would go on to visit and present our completed story to children at local elementary schools.
The writers provided us with an initial draft and we set off to bring their characters and ideas to life. As the illustrator of the book, I started with some rough character designs. I originally took inspiration from Disney’s “Coco” for Marcos’ clothing design! After refining each design and getting the go ahead from the authors, I got to work on thumbnail images to help map out what would be the composition of each page or spread. Once the graphic designer and I had agreed upon compositions that played well with the text blocks, I got to work on sketches. Finally, I added color, texture, and other finishing touches. My graphic designer pulled illustrations from the interior pages along with my hand-written title to create the final cover design.
