My new responsibilities are to help develop facilitation exercises for external partnerships with start-ups to enterprise-level software internal with clients.
Creating connective experiences classes and for the new Project Management, Design Thinking and Data Analytics program (PDA) Bachelor of Science program at UNT's New College in Frisco. This program is centered around creating cohorts of students that take classes together for the entire 3 years of their program. Project Partners come into the classroom fostering an immersive work-like environment on both intensive business and not-for-profit projects.
Part of my focus was to develop portfolio standards for the program that enabled students to concisely demonstate a high level of competency in their proejcts and chosen field of exploration.
My responsibilities include building classes in the Canvas CMS, creating Mural boards for asynchronous facilitation and assignment reviews, updating and communicating with students through the Slack channel and daily interaction with students. I also help with weekly coordination for the clients in the Hands-On Design Thinking Workshops.
As lead instructor, I enjoy the creation/facilitation of design-thinking assignments in the classroom to introduce students to new ways of viewing ideas, brainstorm new solutions and find conceptual nuggets in ideation thumbnails. I create UI/UX assignments that start with directed design research to guide the creation of new products and features through strategic conception and finally through front-end development and prototyping to final portfolio projects. By designing SMART weekly project workflows and facilitating group reviews of assignments I’m able to raise the benchmarks of projects. You can see those results at my website, www.profward.com.
My desire to learn is demonstrated by adding new skills, particularly in the web and prototyping areas to constantly challenge the speed of change in our industry. I research and create the new portfolio requirements for the advancement our program as well as the professional development of students, coaching them to maturity in their craft and as professionals.
Taught both sections of the Advanced Electronic Media class with a focus on managing the creative process, workflow and organization, strengthen composition skills and stress correct print production in large InDesign projects. Created materials and found videos for instruction as there was no book assigned for class.
I taught the Typography III class with an emphasis on the ability to use typography in a visually expressive, communicative and decorative and manner.
This job required a dynamic split between teaching three senior-level classes and the responsibilities of an entry-level academic director for three programs with a population of 140 students between all programs. These include curriculum development, class schedules and interviewing/recruitment of faculty members. Job duties also include student advising, persistence and registration. Quality control of the design program is maintained through consistent management of exit portfolio classes. Student learning outcomes in the design programs are measured through quarterly SACS assessments for our school’s independent accreditation.
Perhaps the biggest challenge for this job was that many of the upper-level classes of the graphic design curriculum were changing as I was promoted to head the department. Much of the material from the previous curriculum was phased out so I was truly creating a new final portfolio look for this new school. I pulled many of these new assignments from my experiences in the field from trade shows to new client pitch proposals. I was proud to have had some of the first graduates at our school with over a dozen Associates and Bachelors graduate from the Graphic Design program at Houston-North.
This position started with defining and communicating MAi’s unique selling propositions to its customers through advertising.
Success in that work resulted in approval for a complete rebranding of the company’s advertising, identity, collateral and web experiences. Estimates for literature not only redesign
but streamlining the number of catalogs and saved the company 32% in annual printing costs with the consolidation.
The website experience called for a close working relationship with the vendor,
creating specific assets and the UX that helped resellers and homeowners learn about our products. In creating the advertising I managed the ad schedules, their placement and their yearly budgets.
My responsibilities entailed presenting the new creative and marketing strategies at the yearly management and sales meetings. I reorganized the image and informational database of the marketing department.
As a member of the national Frito-Lay group I produced a variety of solutions from marketing, advertising, tradeshow graphics to new package concepts. Worked closely with marketing managers I produced targeted sales brochures and created innovative sales experiences to change the way their sales force communicated with their B2C customers.
Avreafoster’s niche was B2B and responsibilities included preparing pitches for new client Office Depot. I led creative on national accounts with clients that included a complete rebranding and corresponding tradeshow design for Alcatel. Jenkens & Gilchrist (law firm) needed new advertising concepts, a web redesign and collateral materials. Mercer was year-long project to promote their new healthcare options that included dozens of employee-facing elements like ads, brochures, posters, table tents to excite and inform them of all of their new choices.
Presentations to Pepsi’s chief marketing managers in New York were prepared for the new Star Wars roll-out as well as new package and logo ideas, tradeshow graphics and ads. I also worked for the Pepsi flavors initiatives (including New Products, Sports, Flavors and the Field Divisions). Work for Harrah’s Casinos, NFL and Pizza Hut were volunteer efforts to help with ideas and creation of the final pitch concepts and presentations.
Development of P.O.P., packaging, direct mail and collateral material for a client base as diverse as American Airlines, Catholic Charities, County Seat, the Jeanstore, The Galleria in Dallas, Southland Corporation (7-Eleven), State Bank & Trust, Tiex, and The Uptown Association.