2013-PRESENT TUCKYHUT LLC (INDEPENDENT), MINNEAPOLIS, MN

Independent Retoucher, Graphic Designer & Production Artist
I’ve built my second act as a full-time independent creative on partnerships with creative & design agencies and design-savvy brand owners. My agency roster includes KNOCK, Latitude, Ultra Creative and CBX. These clients are serviced from my home office, with on-site availability when it makes sense. Pairing deep technical know-how with aesthetic sensibility and a disciplined work style, expect me to get up to speed quickly with minimal hand-holding, figure out ambitious (and realistic) schedules for each project and stick to them. Some typical assignments include Photo Retouching & Photocomposition, Packaging Design & Adaptation, Production Design, Graphic Design & Social Media Assets.

2006-2013 SOUTHERN GRAPHIC SYSTEMS, BROOKLYN PARK, MN

Graphic Designer
After my first five years of independence, it became clear something had to give. The work was getting stale, the clients didn’t sustainably value our partnership, and if I wanted to “make the work a better way, I had to take a look at myself and then make a change” (thanks, M.J.). Therefore, I sought full-time work in Consumer Product Packaging, the kind of work I had first done years earlier with Partners & Hunt. Southern Graphic Systems (now SGS&CO) offered collaboration with Fortune 500 companies, major players in the packaging business. SGS is a vertically integrated solution provider, offering branding, art, photography, design, adaptive design, prepress, plating & quality management services. I soaked up so much professional creative experience working with the bright and talented individuals at SGS. I left SGS early in 2013 to pursue Freelance full-time.

2001-2006 INDEPENDENT, MINNEAPOLIS, MN

Independent Graphic Designer & Photographer
A new job ended disastrously with the company (Graf/X) going under just a few short months into the job. Calling on prior customers, I found steady freelance work with Northwest Athletic Club, which Lifetime Fitness has since absorbed. Taking the opportunity to educate myself, I focused on learning the art of photography and the code of Web Design. I shot editorial photography for various local media and cultivated a stable of small to medium-sized business customers who appreciated my versatility and cross-disciplinary skillset. The relationships I began building with local design agencies would serve me well in a few years.

1999-2001 PARTNERS + HUNT, MINNEAPOLIS, MN

Production Artist
P+H supports creatives across multiple disciplines. Here I learned the nuts and bolts of executing a creative concept for real-world production. I made mockups using large format prints or high-end proofs that were used in photo shoots, product prototyping & color proofing. I built professional creative experience with National Brands and wrapped my mind around world-class branding systems.

1996-1998 GRAPHIC DESIGN, HASTINGS, MN

Graphic Designer
Graphic Design Inc is an offset printer with an in-house Graphic Design studio. It was here that I first learned the unique needs of small business owners.

Book Learn’ns

A learner by doing, my education has been chiefly taught in the school of hard knocks that is the Minneapolis, MN Graphic Design Industry. That, and a few credits at a technical college, mostly Photography & Printing classes.

I learned to draw while still young enough to sit on my artist grandfather’s lap. Later, I encountered a Mac computer with MacPaint at a neighbor’s house, and I put these skills together. In other words, my childhood experiences set my career trajectory before junior high.

See, I’ve done stuff.