DONALD C CONLEY
188 Summit Drive, York , PA 17403  P: 703-400-0202  E: don.conley@comcsat.net

 

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Freelance Illustration/Presentation Layout
Spencer Hall Branding Strategies | Cincinnati, OH
(March 2016 – Present)

Developed visual branding concepts, packaging mockups, and decks for numerous commercial products. The majority of work involved mocking up package illustrations based on newly proposed product ideas that did not yet exist, often showing them in use. Major photo compositing was involved using generic package images combined with simulated contents and branding applied to labels and containers. Supporting elements, such as a hand using an item, were often added to the compositions.
Clients include: Dawn Dishwashing Liquid, Old Spice Swagger, Keurig and Green Mountain Coffee, Arm & Hammer Toothcare Products, CLR Cleaning Products, Sargento Cheese Products, Charbroil/Oklahoma Joe Grills.

Owner/Operator/Art Director
The StrikeZone Baseball & Softball Academy llc
Alexandria, VA
(7/05 – 9/20)

Aside from performing management and operational duties for an indoor baseball facility, I also design and develop all of the marketing and promotional materials for the operation, as well as internal documents, such as signage, forms and diagrams. This includes online materials such as the design and build-out of the company website–including daily updates, email marketing design/production, and ads for Facebook and Twitter. Promotional Materials include print ads, brochures, flyers, cards, and other collateral such as custom gift certificates and hats and t-shirts. I designed the initial identity for the StrikeZone as well, including the logo, color scheme, and overall look and feel of all related materials.

Accomplishments:

• Designed the entire company identity, including logo, advertising, internal documents as well as print collateral and promotional materials. This now includes facebook and twitter ads.
• Designed, built and continue to update the company website, including all graphics and online advertisements included in the site.
• Designed and distributed numerous promotional email ads, including a bi-monthly email newsletter providing promotions and updates to company events.

Art Director
studiographX, llc
Alexandria, VA
(4/02 –4/12)

Was overseer of creative direction, design, illustration, and production for print and web projects. The variety of clients ranged from large and small corporations such as CB Richard Ellis, MCI, and Global Prospects, to non-profit entities such as American Diabetes Association, Georgetown University, International Reading Association and World Presidents' Organization. I acted not only as the Art Director, but also the Account Executive, handling all project phases from ­initial client discovery (detailing, context and scope), to proposal ­generation. I provided creative concepts which supported the common goals of the project and addressed the target audience. I facilitated client pitch meetings and oversaw the project to final production. Projects included: B2B/B2C collateral, brochures, packaging, advertising, branding, identity/logo design, web site design and html page production, and flash animation. I also acted as a mentor to the design staff by encouraging creativity and efficient production habits.

Accomplishments:

• Redesigned and launched the company website, which implemented Flash animation and actionscripting, and introduced an interactive portfolio resulting in a 10% traffic increase. In addition, the site was featured in CoolHomePages site of the day.
• Instituted procedures for quality control and created accountability timelines for both client and staff.
• Produced, and contributed to the strategic creation of a number of cross-media branding campaigns consisting of websites with supporting print collateral resulting in recognition and increased revenue for the client.
• Saved the company thousands of dollars in illustration commissions, by creating illustrations in-house.

Art Director/Sr. Graphic-Multimedia Designer
Carter Cosgrove + Co.
Alexandria, VA
(10/99 – 4/02)

At Carter Cosgrove, I provided design, and illustration for print and web projects for a variety of multi-million dollar corporate clients including Deltek, Fannie Mae Foundation, GE Information Systems and Watson Wyatt WorldWide. I handled project phases from initial proposal, to ­concept, to final production. I collaborated with the principals on client pitch meetings, and was sought out for technical expertise on multimedia projects. Projects included ­collateral, brochures, advertising, logo design, web site design, information architecture and graphic production.

Accomplishments:

• Redesigned and provided IA and wireframes for the EconEdlink website, a MarcoPolo Foundation sponsor. Introduced a database driven system which allowed the client to easily update the site content resulting in increased business and revenue from additional Foundation sponsors.
• Acted as account manager and art director for the WorldCom Foundation, which was a self-originating account with billing over $120K annually. Projects included the design of print collateral, production and website projects.

Sr. Graphic Designer/System Administrator
MCI Telecommunications
Washington DC/Arlington, VA
(8/88 – 9/99)

As Sr. Designer for MCI, I worked on a variety of projects including brochures, posters, newsletters and identity campaigns for a wide range of clients ranging from company-wide department Managers, to the central Corporate Communications group, to various internal marketing groups. In addition, I provided assistance as needed to colleagues with layout, design and technical expertise for various software programs. I handled projects from inception to final production, and worked closely with external vendors such as printers and service bureaus.

My system administration duties included: troubleshooting software and hardware ­issues, budgeting, researching and advising MCI management on future software/hardware upgrades and purchases for a Macintosh ­network consisting of 14 workstations. Additional tasks included training and ­assisting other artists with digital production issues, configuring workstations via hardware and software installation, ­developing and implementing a color ­management strategy, and ­setting up and maintaining a fileserver, webserver and backup system.

EDUCATION

Carnegie-Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA

Bachelor of Arts in Art ‑ Major: Illustration/Painting (1982 – 1986)

SKILLS

InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Quark Xpress, Painter, Acrobat, DreamWeaver, MS Office,
HTML/CSS, Javascript, Mac OSX, Digital Photography

Traditional Media: Oil, WaterColor, Graphite, Collage, Airbrush

Portfolio available upon request, in person or via pdf file