• Senior Graphic Designer • Marketing Director • Creative Manager •
<cat2west@adelphia.net> <http://www.cat-west.com>
Macintosh Based graphic skills which include: QuarkXPress, Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat,
MS Office Suite, GoLive, Quickbase, Quicken and more. Trouble shooting-no trouble.
Also, a quick study of new programs if you need one that doesn’t appear in the list.
Marketing Consultant-Graphic Designer
Cat West Designs 2005-Current
Started my own business in 2005 after many months of looking for full-time employment and only finding small businesses that couldn't afford to hire me full time but needed my temporary help. Working from my home initally, I built up a small clientelle. After a short time, I rented a little office in North Hollywood and have begun to build my marketing business one client at a time. Working with so many small businesses, I find that with a simple, cost efficient advertising strategy, I am able to successfully boost business and local traffic. I work with each individual business owner and create a campaign that works for them. I research the demographic target and estimate costs and responses. This allows the small business owner the most flexibility in costs and campaign timing. Advertising is a proven way to increase traffic and raise sales. I can take the existing advertising budget and increase it's results through strategic placement, agressive graphic design and marketing strategy.
Marketing Director-Health Club Chain
Bodies in Motion: 2003-2005
Established the marketing department for a chain of 6 health clubs. My duties included marketing strategy, planning, budget estimates, designing, producing and fulfilling advertising projects for a $40,000 dollar monthly budget. Produced a television commercial campaign that ran daily on 6 networks and 6 cable providers,designed weekly newspaper ads, monthly magazine ads, billboards, banners, posters, video and still photo shoots. Had overall creative input on the look and content of the website. <www.bodiesinmotion.com>. Issuing weekly reports on multiple projects and all advertising related expenses. Responsible for creating original art in Quark, Photoshop and Illustrator. Negotiated all rates and cable and network stations, contracts with newspapers, magazines and suppliers for every advertising project big and small.
Advertising Director-Retail Furniture Showrooms
Linder’s Furniture: 2001-2003
Established the advertising department for a chain of 6 furniture stores. My duties included marketing, planning, budget estimates, designing and fulfilling advertising products for a 1.5 million dollar annual budget. Weekly newspaper ads, magazine ads, truck graphics, billboards, banners, showroom displays, credit card applications, photo shoots and the website. <www.lindersfurniture.com>. Issuing monthly reports on multiple projects and all advertising related expenses. Responsible for photo retouching, original art in Quark, Photoshop and Illustrator. Negotiated all rates and contracts with newspapers, magazines and suppliers for all advertising projects.
Art Director-Trade Magazines
Creative Age Publications: 2000-2001
Art Director for Nailpro Europe magazine, a 150 page trade publication catering to nail salons and the beauty industry. Responsible for all art production pre-press and corrections for editorial pages. Also placed ads into templates for reproduction. Responsible for direction on photo shoots and web site updates and content. <www.nailpro.com> Often creating original art openers for stories and features. Graphic Designer-Entertainment Graphics
FilmRoos Entertainment: 1998-2000
A historical documentary production company. Designed and produced a 32 page company profile and annual report. Also designed posters, postcard promotions and video boxes for television specials produced for A&E, Lifetime and the Discovery Channel. Graphic Designer-Entertainment Graphics
Nickelodeon Television: 1997-1998
Freelance graphic designer for the Burbank Nicktoons office. The projects varied from recruitment brochures and postcards to full page color ads in Animation Magazine and other trade publications. Designed and produced projects including key art design and production of posters, presentations, CD/DVD jackets and video boxes, t-shirts and more.
Direct Mail Catalogs
Creative Computers: 1995-1997
Art Director for MacMall and PCMall direct mail catalogs. I managed the art department,directing 5 artists, creating section templates and special promotions. Designed magazine ads for Macworld Magazine and created special art bits and logos. Performed pre-press and color key approvals. Publishing a hundred plus pages every month of computer hardware and software promotions.
Director of Catalog Production
Stor: 1988-1992
As Senior art director in charge of catalog production for “STOR” my duties included catalog design, photo direction, set design, budgets, layouts and paste-ups of the annual 150, 48 and 16 page catalogs. (IKEA purchased STOR in 1992 and I began the steep learning curve of learning computer graphics)
BA Degree Photography Art Center Pasadena