Portfolio
How could I
distill the whole of me
into simple colors
and shapes?
TALK: The Card Deck
A beautiful deck of cards to inspire good questions between kids and caregivers.
A custom deck of cards developed for Prevent Child Abuse Iowa. Part of the intentional shift toward “useful objects” that are inherently valuable, but subtly spark real conversation with important interactions creating stronger connections.
Contribution(s): Art direction, all artwork for each card, all words, and packaging. Direct work with printer.
What About You? / ¿Y tú?
A children’s board book promoting good parenting practices
This children’s board book was developed in-house for Prevent Child Abuse Iowa. I worked in collaboration with with other staff on the core concepts presented to ensure they adhered to current research. Content centered on simplified protective factors and ultimate layout and design was for broad appeal and to spur good parenting practices early without being didactic.
Contribution(s): Art direction, all artwork (except two small contributions by actual children). Direct work with printer and translator.
Reporting the Good
Annual reports don’t have to be boring. Sometimes they can be comic books.
Click either image to read through each report. I promise they’re fun.
2023’s annual report began the process of changing how the organization talked about itself. From an art direction standpoint it was more playful, fun, and vibrant. On the content side I worked to help the organization define itself beyond the grants they managed but by the work & impact they have on the state.
For 2024’s annual report I created a comic book given a shout out by the national organization (Prevent Child Abuse America) that focused on the people doing the important work on the ground.
Contribution(s): Art direction, copy, all artwork & design. Direct work with printer.
Healthy Relationships Campaign (Wood Block Towers)
Part of a series of social media awareness videos created in Blender and in conjunction with a designed educational activity delivered by providers in classrooms across the state related to exploring the components of healthy relationships and the importance of strong foundations.
Contribution(s): Art direction & all artwork. Final version of collaborative copy. Social posts and collaborative internal communications to the partners on the ground delivering the training.
A Quirky Adventure
An excuse to spend quality time together somewhere new
The team wanted to create an excuse to go out and explore with your children again following the changes brought on by the pandemic. Perhaps my favorite part was the p5.js code-up for a portable, clickable bird on mobile (so you didn’t have to print to play along).
Contribution(s): Art direction & all artwork and copy. Website, social posts, and newsletter. For the printed version, direct work with printer.
Puzzles for Prevention
Competitive Puzzling with Power-ups
Ever try to put together a puzzle with your friends quickly? How about while wearing oven mitts or singing children’s songs? How much would you donate to hear another team sing a children’s song or try to assemble the puzzle with oven mitts? How much would you pay to not have to do that? Fun game, great success, and playful card-game aesthetic and superhero copy.
Contribution(s): Art direction, all artwork, including cards and associated table-forms during the event. All copy.
Designing a Playbook
How Storytelling in Pitch Decks and Testimonials lead to success
A high-level re-telling of the creative decisions in art design and shifts in storytelling through website design, copy, and user testimonial videos
Contribution(s): Art direction, all artwork, visual material, and design/layout on 3-person team. Direct collaboration on all copy and direction of video editing for storytelling style. Co-creation of website.
More than just signaling virtue
Clearly defining, educating, integrating, and implementing a set of company values into all aspects of the organization.
Even 8+ years later the work was still firmly integrated into all of areas and it continued to be highlighted in external reviews as a source of inspiration and organizational pride.
Contribution(s): Collaborative material, training, and content development and delivery. Art direction.
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The Hidden Cost
Using Design to boost nonprofit fundraising with boring spreadsheet data.
Sometimes researchers labor for years, painstakingly collecting information to do an analysis so vast and important and costly that it can’t easily be repeated.
Contribution(s): Art direction, design. Collaboration with respect to structure and verbiage.
Other items
Frequently Asked Questions
What is all of this?
It’s a smattering of visual-based work I’ve done over many years as an artist and always-learning learner. Most of the time there’s a good amount of work that goes into anything I’m doing beforehand. Some of the links above go into more detail about the rationale and process behind some of this work. This is not nearly everything I’ve done. Even for each item presented there are entire categories of additional work put into areas such as distributing and sharing it in different mediums.
What else do you do?
You can direct yourself to my work with me page to learn more about some non-visual aspects of the work that I do. Even that is a bit out-of-date. In my defense I’ve been busy doing the work instead of meticulously documenting it. I do, however, have a record of much of my recent work’s development from whiteboard (I literally draw on them) to completed project. I’m planning on putting together a post about that but haven’t gotten to it yet. Best way to learn more will be to reach out and talk with me directly.
Are you a self-taught artist?
I made a joke about being a self-taught artist in a talk I gave at PyOhio a few years ago. You can watch that here and/or read the original talk proposal here. The answer is unambiguously “no.” I have a PhD in Fine Arts, MA in Theatre, and an undergraduate degree in Theater & Business. (And yes, those spellings of theater/theatre are different per the conventions of each school).
At the same time, formal education is not the only way to learn things, and with the advent of less traditional forms of learning spurred by the internet I can confidently say that many of the tools I use confidently now were not ever formally taught to me, but I have many online teachers who are wonderful people sharing what they do online in videos and documentation and bug reports.
What’s your favorite drink?
Tea.
