Portrait, event, product
Currently on its second volume, Third Floor Press is a small, free publication that aims to amplify artists’ work.
Role: layout designer
With help from a grant from the federal government, the Instructional Design and Training Team at the Department of Human Services created new and innovative trainings and training materials to help reduce the SNAP error rate across the state of Minnesota.
Utilizing an existing brand, I was tasked with creating 6 sets of conversation cards that make up a larger deck. These were 3 of my proposals.
As part of my coursework for my PhD in Design at the University of Minnesota, a core class titled “Representation in Visual Communication” required my team of 5 to create a campaign and document that process in this book.
Role: layout designer, editor, writer, logo designer
The Minnesota Financial Worker and Case Aide Association holds a conference every year for workers across the state. The Department of Human Services Instructional Design and Training Team presents and serves as vendors. This year, our team decided to create buttons to hand out during sessions to encourage engagement.
The evolution shown here depicts the original concepts, to the polished mockups, to the final buttons (made in house (my kitchen)).
One of my major teaching tenets is that creativity needs to be exercised. A way I have my students do that is to utilize a design prompt generator to stretch their brains and allow them to work on something without the constraints of a traditional assignment. Here is one of my examples:
A table-top, card-driven game as part of a Grand Challenge Curriculum at the University of Minnesota.
A hybridization of checkers and monster card-battling games, Frog Fights aims to raise awareness about humanity’s influence on frogs across the globe.
Along with acting, singing, and playing a few instruments, I also volunteered my design skills with the Iowa City Community Theatre.
As part of the creative component for my master’s degree at Iowa State University, I took what I learned teaching Introduction to Digital Publishing - i.e. design textbooks aren’t geared towards undergraduate journalism students - and created my own handbook for beginners.
A small assortment of my favorite illustrations made in Blender.
In my graduate science communication class, I had the option to chose my final project: a research proposal or a creative work. I chose to write, illustrate, and print a book about space.
Here are a few of my favorite spreads:
