* i am a dreamer * i am a listener * i am swedish * i am an animal lover *
* i am a college graduate * i am an avid reader * i am a friend * i am curious *
* i am a daughter * i am organized * i am a talker * i am a designer *

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Maybe some of the items listed above matter to a prospective client, maybe they don’t. I can only guess that you want to know how I became a designer and what it is I am capable of doing. If I am correct, you are in the right place. If there are questions I have left unanswered, or if you would like clarification on anything I discuss on this site, please feel free to contact me.

I wanted to be an architect. That’s what I loved – the precision of executing with being creative. I excelled in my high school classes and was accepted to UNCC’s architecture program as a freshman. Turns out, moms are right, and architecture isn’t what I wanted so I left the program a few months into my second semester. I transferred into the communications department and graduated with a degree in Public Relations. I found I could still apply my creative talents through different projects – designing logos, letterhead, creative press releases.

My first job was with 600 Racing, Inc. (now known as US Legends Cars International). As Magazine Director, I collected and prepared all the information needed for each issue and worked with the printer on the layout. As time passed, I became more involved with the process than my predecessor. I had lots of suggestions that translated to, “Move this there … how about {insert font here} instead … let’s rotate that photo counter-clockwise …” Pretty soon Shannon, the girl I worked with, and I became close friends. It wasn’t long before I was working on the magazine layout on my own with only a few phone calls and emails to her when I would get stuck. After hours I was researching the programs, completing tutorials, taking continuing education credits … whatever I could to learn more about layout and design. I loved it!

With my next job at National Speed Sport News, I had two weeks to learn their processes. Not a lot of time considering they’re a weekly publication. AND they’re on a Mac platform. I hadn’t touched a Mac since the architecture program almost 10 years earlier. Lucky for me, it was like riding a bike. Sure there were some hurdles along the way but nothing a little practice and research couldn’t fix. I even purchased a MacBook Pro for personal use so that I could learn more on my own without having to stay at the office after hours. Books, tutorials, blogs … almost every link supplied by Google I checked out.

Then my dear friend and coworker Liz came to me with an idea for a non-profit. Within weeks, Petey’s Promise was born. What does every new business need these days? A website of course! Sure I could do that. We “cheated” at first: bought a template, customized it in Photoshop, uploaded it and voilà! We were online. The backend was a pain, we wanted it to look different … it was very similar to that old boyfriend mantra: He isn’t Mr. Right, he’s Mr. Right Now. The fix? I would build a custom site from scratch. I had CS4 on my laptop so Dreamweaver was there, I just had to learn how to use it. I went online, bought the classroom book and spent a few days going chapter by chapter. When I was done, I started with a blank document and went crazy. Two nights later, at around 3:30am, the new and improved Petey’s Promise site was live.

To this day, I am still intrigued with new applications, learning why things need to be done a certain way and then learning how to execute. It’s a happy blend for me: knowing the why and how and then using that knowledge to produce pieces for my clients.