My passion for art and design started at Hillsboro High School, I and was inspired by my Art Teacher. As I grew, my passion did as well. My senior year I was Art Club president and after High School I pursued Graphic Design Technology. I attended Minnesota State and Community and Technical College where I graduated with Honors. I have 14 years of experience in Graphic Design, Photography, Marketing and Art Direction. Most currently, I have worked as the Art Director for JL Beers of America, located in Fargo, ND. This company owns over 20 businesses, mostly bars and restaurants located in the Midwest. Through weekly marketing meetings, I have produced and presented creative ideas to a team of owners and managers. These ideas have turned into campaigns that I have used for the companies to increase the customer experience and revenue. I have seen these concepts all the way through the conception, to the development process, creating the art needed, and communicating with all of our General Managers to make sure the follow through is done correctly. Here are a couple examples of businesses I have branded from the very beginning to what they are today: JL Beers started in downtown Fargo, North Dakota and they now have 11 locations, in multiple states. Vinyl Taco started in downtown Fargo, North Dakota and has now expanded to include 3 locations, in multiple states. I am highly proficient in Adobe Creative Suite, including InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop, to name a few. My deep passion in this industry is to serve great clients. I enjoy making their ideas come to life. I believe that with my 14 years of experience, along with my interest to learn, I would be a valuable asset to your team. I would love the opportunity to work together.
• Adobe Creative Suite • Microsoft Office • Coral Draw
• FreeHand • Photographer • Firefighter • Comedian
Education:
Minnesota State Community and Technical College Moorhead, MN
• Graduate of Graphic Design Technology Program (May 2006)
• GPA 3.68
• Earned Honor Student Status: Fall 2004, Spring 2005, Fall 2005
and Spring 2006 Semesters
• Qualified for Dean’s List
Minnesota State Community and Technical College Moorhead, MN
• Graduation for Fire Service Preparation Certificate (Dec. 2006)
• GPA 3.60
• Earned Honor Student Status: Fall 2006
• Qualified for Deans List
Job Experience:
Shirt Shop • Fargo, ND • 2005 - 2011
• Opened and closed business and ran beginning and ending balances on the till.
• Executed sales, inventory and worked with the program Coral Draw.
• Designed and printed on a variety of items upon customer’s request, maintaining deadlines.
Absolute Marketing Group • Fargo, ND • Intern
May - Aug. 2006
• Worked closely with team members on a variety of projects including graphic design work in advertising, layouts, newsletters, brochures, concepts, brand development and TV commercials.
UPS • Fargo, ND
June 2006 - Jan. 2007
• Unloaded trucks, moved a variety of packages efficiently to maintain warehouse operations.
• Worked in a fast paced and physically demanding team environment.
Idea Benders • Fargo, ND
2006 - Current
• Owner, Graphic Designer, Photographer specializing in wedding photography, family portraits and head shots.
• Work closely with clients on design projects including flyers, posters, brochures, stationary, large format signs, logo development and branding.
• Provided guidance for Bailey’s PDR on branding & created a Brand Guide for the company.
• Process all invoices, payments and accounting for the year-end accounts for tax purposes.
CI Sport • Fargo, ND
Jan. 2007 - Jan. 2011
• Completed graphic design work, including the design of athletic clothing lines.
• Worked in a team environment on marketing, concepts, advertising and branding.
• Photography of clothing lines for colleges featuring CI Sport apparel.
• Efficiently worked in Photoshop and FreeHand meeting deadlines.
JL Beers of America/Global Development
Feb. 2011 - Oct. 2020
*My position was eliminated due to Covid-19.
• Promoted to Art Director where I maintain brand of all the businesses with the company including Borrowed Bucks,
The Old Broadway, NoBull Smokehouse, Vinyl Taco and JL Beers
• Graphic Design work on newsletters, packaging material, tap handles, menus, calendars, advertisements, flyers, logos and larger format signing such as billboards and bus wraps.
• Writing scripts and acting in JL Beers videos produced.
• Weekly marketing meetings for all clubs and maintain organized data on billing reports.
• Provided guidance to general managers of each club to execute social media effectively.
• Photography of people, food items, drinks, location and artistic photos displayed on the walls in all of the JL Beers locations.
• Branded Vinyl Taco, NoBull Smokehouse and created brand guide for JL Beers.
Stand Up Comedian • Fargo-Moorhead
Dec. 2007 - Present
• Preform stand-up comedy in front of audiences.
• Creative writing, reading audiences and networking
Volunteer:
Hillsboro Fire Department • Hillsboro, ND • June 2003 - December 2009
• Firefighter, worked in a team environment to accomplish the goal at hand efficiently.
Warren Ackley
Owner • Global Development, CI Sport, JL Beers of America
(701) 371-8939 • Supervisor
Lance Thorson
Owner • JL Beers, Vinyl Taco
(701) 388-7000 • Supervisor
Matt Mastrud
Art Department Manager • CI Sport
(701) 552-2779 • Manager