Art Director and Owner of Samaru Designs, Birmingham, AL. 2005 - present
Freelance graphic design specializing in editorial layout - magazines, brochures, posters, informational pieces, and ads - lots and lots of ads. I’m happiest with printed pieces. I like the way they feel, the way you can take them with you, give them away, interact with them. I have done more than a few web sites as well but strictly on the design side. This is my own company and has been my full-time bread and butter for the past 5 years.

Art Director - Birmingham Parent Magazine, Birmingham, AL. 6/08 - present
As Art Director for this monthly magazine, I design many of the ads and layout all the editorial. I also act as Production Manager, troubleshooting problematic camera-ready ads and prepping the issue for the printer. My publisher generously gives me free reign as far as design goes and in my two years as Art Director, the magazine has won 12 design awards from the Parenting Publications of America. A full PDF version of each magazine is available online at www.birminghamparent.com.

Art Director - Out Front Magazine, Pensacola, FL. 1/06 - 04/10
My first glossy magazine to work with and I had a wonderful time. I was Art Director and Production Manager for this bi-monthly, national publication. I created the page plan, designed ads and did all editorial layout. This magazine featured music and book reviews, social and political commentary, recipes, health info and pieces by local writers geared towards the African-American community. I also designed, and currently upkeep, the Out Front web site www.outfrontmagazine.net.

Graphic Design Instructor - Virginia College, Birmingham, AL. 10/07 - 05/08
Taught night classes in Web Design Theory and Illustrator to students ages 18-60. I know I learned as much from them and their varied life experiences as they did from me. We explored the history of design, basic art and web design theory concepts and applied them to pieces they could use in their portfolios. Although we met in a classroom setting, the entire class was also available online at www.samaru.org/VirginiaCollege/WebTheory/index.html.

Production Manager, Web Lackey - Independent News, Pensacola, FL. 7/04 - 11/05
At the Independent News I was responsible for laying out the paper every week from a production standpoint. I designed the page plan, kept the art and editorial departments on schedule, and made sure everything was wrapped up and to the printer on time. I also did a lot of technical troubleshooting with camera ready ads. The other part of my job was to publish the online version of the paper (www.inweekly.net) and to update and maintain the site daily.

Graphic Artist, Pre-Press Manager - Gambit Communications, New Orleans, LA. 12/99 - 09/02
As a graphic artist, I was responsible for the weekly production of ads and editorial layout for a fast-paced, award-winning, independent newspaper. As pre-press manager, I was responsible for the page plan and weekly production management of Gambit Weekly, Best of New Orleans, and HomeSmart magazines. I focused on publication layout, technical troubleshooting, processing of camera-ready art and sending the paper via ftp to press.

Apprentice Painting Restorer - New Orleans Conservation Guild, New Orleans, LA. 8/99 - 12/99
A passion of mine I decided to explore a bit more. After studying painting restoration in Florence, Italy, I worked on restoring ceiling murals in the crypt of Canterbury Cathedral with an on-site team and decided to see what easel painting restoration was about. I learned how to fill areas of paint loss, to tone the fill to match existing colors and textures and how to take digital photos of art work before, during and after restoration. I was honored to work on some amazing pieces of art.

Art and Spanish Teacher - Mortimer-Jordan High School, Birmingham, AL. 08/98 - 5/99
Taught Art 1-4 and Spanish 1 in a close-knit, rural high school. My art classes focused on learning how to observe with an open mind and to visually express the experience of being human. I combined a great deal of art history with a wide range of 2-dimensional and 3-dimensional works in every media we could get our hands on. In Spanish we worked on getting comfortable with basic conversation and all the fun grammatical aspects of learning a second language - I also spent time on the art and art history of Spanish-speaking countries.

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