Career background

Before I embarked on a long career in visual journalism, I sold retail display advertisement at the Tracy Press, the local newspaper in my hometown in Northern California. I had success in that job primarily because I was able to close advertising pitches by drawing my ads either before a sales pitch or on the spot. However, I was more intrigued by the work being done by a talented colleague who designed news pages and I soon left the paper and started freelancing as a graphic artist/designer for a few years.

After that experience I returned to a news organization but this time as a marketing graphic artist. I created the advertising campaigns that sold the newspaper. That was very exciting work. Then one week I got called into the editorial side of the news operation to fill in for an editorial artist on vacation. During that week, the first mass shooting in the nation occurred at a local elementary school. It was Cleveland Elementary School in Stockton, California. For that tragedy, I had to create a graphic explaining what happened. Breaking news explainer graphics are the hardest type of graphic anyone can create at any news organization. I had never created one to boot. Though my first experience was rather stressful, I was hooked: I wanted to work in a newsroom but as an editorial graphic artist and page designer.

That news event led me on a journey to some pretty awesome news organizations around the US. It included roles as a graphic artist, infographic artist, graphic artist/designer, designer, design-graphic editor, news graphic editor, graphic editor, visual journalist, and digital visual journalist.

I understood from my Stockton days that my role was to tell stories visually and to explain complex information simply. That was not always easy to do especially if you depended on someone else to do the reporting and writing for you. Initially, I did. However, I set out on a mission early on to do my own reporting and writing on the work that I did. That task soon became easy, routine, but never boring.

I am out of the news industry these days but have not stopped telling stories visually. Though I really miss the breaking news aspect of journalism — I have come full circle: Creative content marketing like my first design job at the Stockton Record.

These days, helping clients create cohesive visual branding strategies to effectively communicate their message across multiple platforms is as much of an adrenaline rush for me as breaking news journalism. The objective of my design work in marketing is the same as in journalism: To increase a client’s reach and grow an audience in print, online, mobile, or broadcast channels. It’s amazing how these two industries are both different and quite similar.

Enjoy viewing the iIDEA portfolios and touring my Studio. If you like something you see, connect with me, and hire me to complete one of your projects or to help execute your marketing vision.

Professional development

Career highlights

• Experienced at originating unique content in a dynamic, competitive media environment.
• Highly organized, analytical, very effective at problem solving in high-pressure, tight deadline, and changing situations.
• Editor, manager of award-winning newsroom infographic and design teams at two regional newspapers.
• Over 30 years of career experience at creating high-caliber infographics, visuals, and page design and at facilitating others to do the same.

Awards and recognition

technical skills

Adobe Creative Suite: Illustrator, Photoshop, AfterEffects, InDesign, Acrobat Pro

Microsoft: Excel, PowerPoint, Word

Apple: Keynote, Numbers, Pages

Coding: Basics of HTML, CSS, JQuery, Javascript

Modeling: SketchUp, Cinema 4D

Other: Skilled in time-honored techniques like water-colors, oils, sketching, colored pencils, guache, charcoal, and pastels.

Education

California State University, Sacramento

Major: Business Administration; Emphasis: Marketing

Minor: Political Science