Professional Experience

IBM Research, Cambridge, MA
Graduate Co-op Design Intern, Collaborative User Experience, 05/08–08/08
Exploratory research, concept generation, and interface prototypes for projects focusing on the use of avatars in online meetings, the sharing of employee profiles outside the enterprise, and the online coordination of business travel.

Estée Lauder Companies, Paris, France
Designer, Corporate Merchandising & Design Innovation, 10/05–07/07
Research, design and specification of permanent and seasonal merchandising
materials for Estée Lauder, Clinique, Bobbi Brown, and Origins.

Estée Lauder, New York, NY
Designer, Global Visual Merchandising, 07/03–10/05
Design, copy writing, and production of merchandising guidelines and training materials.
Designer, Global Product Design, 07/02–07/03
Layout, pre-press and proofreading of product packaging.

Oscar Blandi, Inc., New York, NY
Freelance Designer, 07/03–10/05
Art direction, design, copy writing, and production of product packaging, training materials, and branding concepts for a line of high-end haircare products.

JM Marketing and Advertising, New York, NY
Junior Designer, 12/01–07/02
Layout and pre-press of product packaging, writing and design of style guides for Toys R Us, Linens N Things, Waverly, and Laurie Gates.

Donna Karan Company, New York, NY
Graphic Design Intern, 11/01–04/02
Design of graphics for apparel, design and hand-made construction of a look book.

Plural, New York, NY
Web Design Intern, 05/00–8/00
Design and production of web pages for financial companies.

American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY
Product Design Intern, 05/00–08/00
Assistance with product concepts, design, copy writing, and photoshoots.


Teaching Experience

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Instructor, Communication Design Fundamentals, 08/08–present
Formation of projects, lectures, and demonstrations for a one-semester course that introduces non-majors to the field of communication design.

Teaching Assistant, Senior Interaction Design Studio II, 01/08–05/08
Assistance in class critiques and administration.


Education

Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Master of Design, Interaction Design, 2007–present
A two-year human-centered design program exploring the interactions between things, people, and environments through an intensive curriculum of theory, practice, and production.

Washington University, St. Louis, MO
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Magna Cum Laude, 1997–2001
Major in Visual Communications
Minors in Art History and Business
Annual scholarship winner for excellence in academics and fine art
Golden Key National Honor Society Member

Santa Reparata Graphic Arts Centre, Florence, Italy
Black and White Photography Course, 06/99–07/99
Selected student participant and scholarship recipient


Awards & Honors

Carnegie Mellon Tepper Mini Business Plan Competition
Third place, member of the winning student design team, 01/09
Annual Carnegie Mellon Tepper School of Business competition for new business ideas sponsored by the Idea Foundry. (view project)

Carnegie Mellon Graduate Student Small Project Award
Member of the winning student design team, 01/09
GuSH funds are awarded on a competitive basis to enable Carnegie Mellon graduate students to reach their full potential in their degree-related work. In this case funds were awarded in support of Eco-Lux: An exploration in sustainability, luxury, and interaction design. (view project)

Microsoft Research Design Expo
First place, member of the winning student design team, 07/08
The Design Expo is a Microsoft Research forum where the top graduate design institutions from around the world showcase and present their prototype interaction design ideas. (view project)

Adobe Design Achievement Awards
Semi-Finalist in the category of print communications, 05/08
Annual design comepetition honoring the most talented and promising student graphic designers, photographers, illustrators, animators, digital filmmakers, developers and computer artists from the world's top institutions of higher education. (view project)


Skills

Design Methods
Project definition, Conceptual models, Surveys, User interviewing, Participatory design, Persona development, Scenario development, Concept Evaluation, Prototyping, Production specifications

Business
Entrepreneurship, Brand strategy, Project management, Team-building, Negotiations, Client relations, Presentation design, Public speaking

Production
Pre-press & print production, Bookbinding & letterpress, Drawing & illustration, Flash animation, Digital photography, Video sketches

Computer
Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, AfterEffects, Flash, ActionScript, Processing, Dreamweaver, Microsoft Office, Acrobat Pro

Language
French: Advanced
Spanish and Italian: Basic


Activities
Professional Associations
International Institute for Information Design (IIID)
American Institute of Graphic Arts (AIGA)

Conferences & Workshops
AIGA Gain Conference, New York, NY, 10/08
Carnegie Mellon Emergence Conference, Pittsburgh, PA, 09/07
Journée du Sensoriel, Tours, France, 03/07
IIID/AIGA Information Design Summer Academy, Bolzano, Italy, 07/05
IIID Conference on Financial Communications, Boston, MA, 04/05
Figure Drawing Course, The Cooper Union, New York, NY, 09/03–12/03
Digital Photography Course, Pratt Institute, New York, NY, 09/02–12/02

Other
Trend watching
International travel
Competitive soccer