I have over ten years of Art Direction, marketing development, print / web design, color theory, color science, color psychology, prepress and desktop/server level IT in web and mail technologies. I’ve designed for household names such as William Sonoma, the GAP, Nike Town, Harley Davidson, Snap-on, the Smithsonian, ComEd, Verizon, AT&T, Pixar and PG&E.
Brief Biography
Son of an accomplished sailor and a psychiatric nurse, I’ve spent my years traveling throughout the continental United States— settling for most of my adult life in the Chicagoland area where I worked as a Senior Designer and a Political Editor. I escaped the dramatic weather of the midwest, for the dramatic lifestyle of San Francisco in 2001.
While managing my own small but successful freelance business during The Burst, I cold-called 300+ design and production houses to introduce myself and meet associates. I'm currently the Art & IT Director for Bently Holdings and their sister companies, Bently Reserve & Bently Nob Hill
I’m lucky to be supported by a genius crew filled with sincere talents such as Graphic Designer & IT Assistant Eugene Santos, Senior Designer Scott Shearer, IT Administrator Russ Jang, IT Administrator Sam O’Neal, as well as Owner and Mac guru of MacCentric Solutions Noam Birnbaum. I call the founders of these companies, Chris Bently and Amber Marie Bently, teachers in business and close friends.
When not busy with my own designs, I can be found enjoying theoccasional comic, or eating fantastic food with the love of my life. Often times I’m reading at home, playing the piano, or flipping between Discovery Channel, History Channel, and Comedy Central. I’m also training and plotting my adventures.
Resume
Art & IT Director Bently Holdings San Francisco, CA 5/2005 to present
Bently Holdings is a private asset holding and management company overseeing real property investments and various businesses in retail, machinery, consultation, biofuels, event management, day spa, jewelry design and other various interests of the Bently Family. The parent company, Bently Enterprises has over 12 businesses world wide, all which I interact with on an Executive basis.
- My responsibilities include:
- Senior Design & Direct all Marketing, Advertising, Social Media, PR, Print Design, Web Design & Web Development of Kamalaspa, Amber Marie Bently Jewelry, Bently Reserve, Bently Holdings, Bently Nob Hill, Spider Ball, & A Common Green with a staff 6 professionals and various freelance consultants.
- Provide Executive Decision based on forecasting, budget management, company direction, personnel requirements, inter-department management, and long term business direction.
- Direct IT related technology for all Bently Family companies: including Security Department Systems, Engineering Systems, Mail/Calendar/Contact Servers, Web Servers, File Sharing Servers, Desktop Systems, Phone Systems (Cell, PBX, PRI & VoIP) and all else in between.
- Provide high level staff training on Print Production, Design/Typography/Color Theory, HTML/CSS/Standards Coding, PHP & Open Source Web Development, Usability Design, Project & Time Management Principles, Marketing/Advertising Strategies, and High Level IT Administration (from Command Line to Advanced Routing to Apache) of Linux/Mac/Unix Systems.
- Senior Design & Direct all Software Development
- Design, Direct & Lead all capital expenditure projects related to technology and aesthetics.
- Provide company guidance on design & technology trends, as well as forecasting future growth.
- My accomplishments include:
- Rebrand, remarket, redesign, and redevelop the print & web images of Kamalaspa, and Bently Holdings.
- Brand, market, design and develop the print & web images of Bently Nob Hill, Amber Marie Bently Jewelry, Bently Reserve, Spider Ball, & A Common Green, Pursuit of Equality and various other side projects.
- Translate existing 12 websites into standards driven sites with efficient, and modern CMS systems.
- Oversee the Art Direction, Usability Design, high level coding & Server management of 72 web based applications ranging from online stores, content management systems, security management applications, engineering applications, newsletter engines, press management systems, and electronic media solutions.
- Overhaul all Server related technology to streamlined, efficient, and modern Linux/Mac technology
- Direct, Design & Development of all Property Management related Department applications.
- Design, Direct & Lead the advanced technology buildouts of Bently Holdings, Bently Nob Hill, & the 2nd Floor Conference Center, Banking Hall and facilities rebuild of the complete Bently Reserve
- Created a new policy for annual employee review, complete with concise, individually catered employee goals that allow for greater accountability and growth potential for all Bently staff.
- Created standardized procedures for all Design, Marketing, Advertising, PR, Social Media and Technology related projects.
Digital Manager Academy Studios Novato, CA 1/2004 to 5/2005
Academy Studios is the premier museum exhibit design and fabrication firm on the west coast, with exclusive, award winning productions from clients such as the Smithsonian, Santa Barbara Sea Center, Monterey Bay, Brooker Creek, Henry Ford, and many others. Originally my position was that of a contract consultant to improve their web/kiosk designs for accessibility while utilizing standard design/coding practices and to streamline their print from both a design and a production outlook with an emphasis on long-term problem solving. However, the need for advanced techniques in these areas, including their need for Mac Desktop specialist, kept me on as a full-time employee past the 2 month contract agreement.
- My responsibilities included:
- Manage and lead all design/coding of internal and external web design & development projects.
- Color calibrate & profile all hardware devices for both print and web production
- Bridge the head Creative & Project Management Departments on best industry practices and methods for design, print, and web production.
- Develop internal solutions (software and business management practices) to improve communication and productivity throughout company departments.
- Fire-fight all Mac and Linux IT issues desktop and server issues, as well as ongoing maintenance
- My accomplishments include:
- Migration of Coldfusion website into a simpler PHP/SQL option; standards based, completely new design.
- Improved design methods to follow accessibility guidelines for both print (Roland Hi-F FJ 500) and web production.
- Cut production/design time over 40% by introducing modern techniques for print design and print production.
- Calibrated internal color tests to within 99.9% spot color accuracy on the fly.
- Unified all software (not to mention licensing) and desktop builds to ensure hassle free design environment.
Graphic Designer William Frick Libertyville, IL 2/2000 - 1/2003
Focused on design for the manufacturing, utilities, and distribution industry, William Frick & Company produces everything from labels to product commercials. Many of their companies are household names: ComEd, PG&E, AT&T, Ameritech, SBC, Comcast, Verizon, Snap-on Tools, and Harley Davidson. William Frick is the company that molded me into a quality designer, with exceptional real world understanding of time/budget restraints and client needs.
- My responsibilities included:
- Taking cues from the Art director, and Senior Designer; create high-end posters, marketing brochures and catalogs, advertisements, client websites.
- Handle advanced production art as needed: reworking engineering schematics, adjusting mathematical errors in cad files, create plates/dies and final print ready files.
- Oversee print production for Foil Gerber Edge II, Roland CammJett, and vendor production.
- My accomplishments include:
- Implemented order tracking and quality control of 3rd party vendors.
- Steamlined website design by standardizing internal coding practices.
- Developed monitor to production internal color calibration methods.
Production Artist American Outfitters Waukegan, IL 2/1997 - 2/2000
American Outfitters introduced me into the industry of print and web design; initially training me in the arts of screen and digital printing, they expanded my training to prepress and entry design methods. Bent on quick turn-around, and a consistent, fast paced environment, I originally began as a production artist, and would eventually coordinate the print department in 2 years.
- My responsibilities included:
- Preflight and prepress all advanced files for film (agfa imagesetter, Cal Comp) and digital output (Roland Pro).
- Supervised, and maintained a team of two entry-level Production Artists including one embroidery digitizer.
- Scheduled and maintained initial and ongoing on the job training for all production artists.
- Performed quality reports and forecasts for the departments budget, employee ranking, and production level.
- Color Managed/profiled Media and equipment for Digital Output via Roland Pro, and various Vinyl Cut/Plotters.
- Various low-end designs for clients; everything from t-shirt caricatures, to the 'Walter Payton Memorial Patch' for the Chicago Bears.
- My accomplishments include:
- Converted the department onto a paperless schedule/job tracking system, utilizing PHP/MySQL.
- Developed internal screenprint + digital print profiling to ensure color consistency.
- Installation, training, and calibration of their new digital production department.
Columbia College Chicago, IL
Major: Psychology (focus on forensics)
Long Ridge Writers Group West Redding, CT
Relinquished Writing College Requirements, emphasis on technical and creative writing
Zion-Benton Township High School Zion, IL
General Education with a focus on Advanced Placement