Bio 2010 horiz
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summary Seasoned, professional designer and art director with 21 years of print design experience and proven ability to transform concepts into effective, eye-catching print promotions. Organized and able to prioritize multiple projects to maximize productivity and meet tight deadlines in high pressure environment. Special emphasis on listening, problem-solving and great attention to detail, while working within a client’s budget and maintaining focus on their overall goals. Reliable, efficient and self-directed. Able to acquire new knowledge and abilities quickly to take on new challenges. Proficient with Quark XPress and Adobe Creative Suite. valerie raimonde I loved my high school art classes. I’d hunker down with a clump of clay and sculpt fat dancing ladies, hairless heads with balls of clay inside that would rattle after they were fired and outrageous caricatures with exaggerated faces. I decided to go to Kansas City Art Institute and major in sculpture after graduating from high school. Art school was too wild for me, and I moved back to my home town in Ohio. I got an apartment, started waiting tables and sang in clubs for the next eight years. Realizing that there was no future in managing a pizza place, I decided to enroll into college again, but this time majoring in commercial art. I did well in school, made the dean’s list and had a high GPA, but there wasn’t a lot of design work in Ohio in the mid 80’s – especially for someone without any experience. So, in 1986, my brother and I decided to move to Atlanta – a city that was really beginning to thrive. My first job in Atlanta was working for a small classified paper. I learned how to do paste up, cut rubyliths and create halftones in the darkroom. All great experience for what was about to come – I knew first-hand what cut and paste really meant. One day my boss brought in a small, tan box with a screen no bigger than 8” wide. It was this new thing called a Macintosh! I was apprehensive and wary of the layout programs, but I started fiddling with the ‘paint’ programs. I stayed after hours and eventually taught myself QuarkXpress – at the time the best program to design in. Working on the computer came very easy to me. I have always had a unique balance of creative talent and technical expertise – which has come in handy many times when the computer goes down and a hot job has just come in the door. After leaving the paper in 1989, I freelanced again. For the next six years I was an independent contractor for some of the biggest ad agencies in Atlanta at the time; Bennett Kuhn Varner, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, Grizzard Advertising and Tausche, Martin Lonsdorf. These agencies gave me an enormous amount of experience and I became proficient in the production end of print design – skills that are often underrated, but very important. I’m not above doing production work and find it can not only be rewarding, but can also be a good break from designing. In 1995 I was recommended to SunTrust Bank as a freelance artist. They had just relocated the Corporate Marketing department from Orlando, Florida, and needed to get an art department up and running. They asked me to join the staff as an independent contractor and acting Art Director until they could fill that position. I freelanced onsite exclusively for SunTrust for the next 10 years. In 2005, SunTrust reorganized and decided to no longer use contract workers onsite. I continued designing from my home studio for SunTrust, as well as for several other select clients. I freelance from my home studio, on a small farm just outside of Atlanta. I live and work here happily with my seven cats, five dairy goats, seventeen hens and one donkey. Next time you call for last minute corrections you may hear a hen in the background declaring that she’s just laid an egg! creating fresh design since 1989 678-565-3699 | 404-377-3498 | [email protected]
Transcript of Bio 2010 horiz
summarySeasoned, professional designer and
art director with 21 years of print
design experience and proven ability
to transform concepts into effective,
eye-catching print promotions.
Organized and able to prioritize
multiple projects to maximize
productivity and meet tight deadlines
in high pressure environment.
Special emphasis on listening,
problem-solving and great attention
to detail, while working within a
client’s budget and maintaining
focus on their overall goals.
Reliable, efficient and self-directed.
Able to acquire new knowledge
and abilities quickly to take on new
challenges. Proficient with Quark
XPress and Adobe Creative Suite.
valerie raimonde I loved my high school art classes. I’d hunker down with a clump of clay and sculpt fat dancing ladies, hairless heads with balls of clay inside that would rattle after they were fired and outrageous caricatures with exaggerated faces. I decided to go to Kansas City Art Institute and major in sculpture after graduating from high school. Art school was too wild for me, and I moved back to my home town in Ohio. I got an apartment, started waiting tables and sang in clubs for the next eight years. Realizing that there was no future in managing a pizza place, I decided to enroll into college again, but this time majoring in commercial art.
I did well in school, made the dean’s list and had a high GPA, but there wasn’t a lot of design work in Ohio in the mid 80’s – especially for someone without any experience. So, in 1986, my brother and I decided to move to Atlanta – a city that was really beginning to thrive.
My first job in Atlanta was working for a small classified paper. I learned how to do paste up, cut rubyliths and create halftones in the darkroom. All great experience for what was about to come – I knew first-hand what cut and paste really meant. One day my boss brought in a small, tan box with a screen no bigger than 8” wide. It was this new thing called a Macintosh! I was apprehensive and wary of the layout programs, but I started fiddling with the ‘paint’ programs. I stayed after hours and eventually taught myself QuarkXpress – at the time the best program to design in. Working on the computer came very easy to me. I have always had a unique balance of creative talent and technical expertise – which has come in handy many times when the computer goes down and a hot job has just come in the door.
After leaving the paper in 1989, I freelanced again. For the next six years I was an independent contractor for some of the biggest ad agencies in Atlanta at the time; Bennett Kuhn Varner, Ogilvy & Mather Advertising, Grizzard Advertising and Tausche, Martin Lonsdorf. These agencies gave me an enormous amount of experience and I became proficient in the production end of print design – skills that are often underrated, but very important. I’m not above doing production work and find it can not only be rewarding, but can also be a good break from designing.
In 1995 I was recommended to SunTrust Bank as a freelance artist. They had just relocated the Corporate Marketing department from Orlando, Florida, and needed to get an art department up and running. They asked me to join the staff as an independent contractor and acting Art Director until they could fill that position. I freelanced onsite exclusively for SunTrust for the next 10 years. In 2005, SunTrust reorganized and decided to no longer use contract workers onsite. I continued designing from my home studio for SunTrust, as well as for several other select clients.
I freelance from my home studio, on a small farm just outside of Atlanta. I live and work here happily with my seven cats, five dairy goats, seventeen hens and one donkey. Next time you call for last minute corrections you may hear a hen in the background declaring that she’s just laid an egg!
creating fresh design since 1989678-565-3699 | 404-377-3498 | [email protected]
