Charles Whelon

Cell: 415.516.4612

chuck@whelon.com

http://www.whelon.com/

 

 

 

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS:

- Art Director with over fifteen years professional experience designing, illustrating and animating print and web graphics for a diverse range of clients.

- Strong web production skills developed building complex interactive web banners, landing pages and emails in HTML or Flash using actionScript.

- Advanced print production skills developed building complex press-ready mechanicals for leading high-end clients.

- Editorial and copywriting experience.

 

SOFTWARE:

Adobe: Photoshop, Illustrator, ImageReady, InDesign, GoLive, After Effects, PageMaker, Premier, Streamline

Macromedia: Dreamweaver, Flash, Fireworks, FreeHand, Director

Microsoft: Word, Excel, PowerPoint

QuarkXPress, HTML, JavaScript, BBedit, ActionScript

 

 

 

EMPLOYMENT:

 

OgilvyOne Worldwide, San Francisco, CA

http://www.ogilvy.com/

Jan 2005- Present

Art Director

Art directed and built Flash web-banners for clients including Yahoo!, Ford, Barclays iShares, Mattel, and Cisco, according to strict time & k-size limits. Created and implemented designs, maintained styles and brand guidelines over a multitude of concepts and sizes. Wrote actionscript code for interactivity, including advanced use of adTween and other classes. Art directed & concepted print pieces for Yahoo!, Barclays iShares, and Cisco. Built HTML emails & web pages using ImageReady, Dreamweaver and BBEdit. Illustrated graphics for use in online and print ads and storyboards in Adobe Illustrator, Flash and by hand. Drew storyboards for ad concepts. Also animated artwork provided by external illustrators. Researched photos for ad concepts. Managed daily workflow in Lotus Notes. Oversaw all agency print mechanical creation in Adobe InDesign & print  job procedures. Developed job sheets and build job slugs to track job progress. Responsible for managing art studio and maintaining/ordering art supplies. Provided vacation coverage for Production manager, overseeing studio workflow and job allocation etc. Supervised the collection of assets for Flash development at photoshoots, directing actors and photographers and coordinating with videography.

 

Freelance and Contract Work

Jan 2000 – Dec 2004

 

Charles Schwab, San Francisco, CA

http://www.schwab.com/

Assisted in all areas of production of graphic communications, as a studio team-member in the large in-house design agency within this international S&P 500 brokerage firm. Delivered highly detail-oriented work to rigid brand standards, and following current quarterly campaign styles. Managed many types of digital files across different platforms within a large and complex archive structure. Built and released print-ready mechanicals in Adobe InDesign CS for all types of promotional and informational materials. Released files to printer in PDF-X1a format, used custom AppleScripts to complete channel deployment procedures. Built fillable versions of application forms in Adobe Acrobat. Created static and animated web banners for national advertising campaigns in Flash and ImageReady from layouts provided by art directors. Web banner concepts needed to be implemented across a wide range of dimensions and formats, within strict file-size limitations. Contributed animated infographics, menus and other sequences to large-scale Flash presentations and CD-Rom projects. Created Flash animations for in-store plasma screen displays and PC Screen Savers. Built HTML emails and web pages for Schwab.com website in BBedit.

 

New York Public Library, New York, NY

http://www.nypl.org/

Created character illustrations and other elements in Adobe Illustrator/Macromedia Freehand format use in web-based e-learning tutorial built in Macromedia Flash.

 

Carus Publishing, Peru, IL

http://www.cricketmag.com/

Drew illustrations and cartoons for childrenÕs educational magazines including Cobblestone (History), Odyssey (science) and DIG (archeology), Faces (International Travel). Regularly featured illustrator for humorous ÔDid You Know?Õ cartoon spots.

 

Williams Sonoma, San Francisco, CA

Worked in brand packaging division to design and implement print-ready packaging mechanicals in Illustrator for seasonal products under tight deadlines. Produced illustrations for packaging.

 

Rottingwood Design, Villa Grande, CA

http://www.rottingwood.com

Manipulated photographic illustrations in Adobe Photoshop for invitations to the Breast Cancer Funds's annual fund-raising event.

 

Loomis Group, San Francisco, CA

http://www.loomisgroup.com/

Illustrated a trio of superhero characters in Adobe Illustrator for client Informatica. Each character represented one of the clientÕs flagship software products. Created a series of carton characters in Adobe Photoshop for a direct mail piece for client WebEx. Produced cartoon illustrations of historical figures and events in Adobe Illustrator for use in Macromedia Flash animation for client WebEx. Designed and illustrated a series of game characters for use in direct mail piece.

 

Wrecking Ball Design, San Francisco, CA

http://www.wreckingball.net

Created print-ready mechanicals for ads and promotional products for client Network Associates (McAfee). Draw cartoon illustration for the agencyÕs annual Christmas card.

 

Damore Johann Design, San Francisco, CA

http://www.damorejohann.com/

Completely illustrated three books of 24 color spreads each for the LeapFrog 'SuperLeapPad' within a timeframe of only 3 months. Created print-ready packaging mechanicals in QuarkXPress, Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop for the  'American Greetings CreataCard', 'PrintMaster' and 'LearnToSpeak' series of software, published by Broderbund. Created print-ready retail product packaging mechanicals in Adobe Illustrator & Photoshop for LeapFrog toys early learning and grade school product families ('Hug & Learn Baby Tad', 'Phonics Bus', 'Twist & Shout', 'Learning Drum'). Maintained consistency of brand across diverse and unusually shaped boxes and dielines. Compiled, co-wrote and laid out the 300 page 'Leapfrog Corporate Design Style Guide' outlining the implementation of company's brand message in QuarkXPress. Created searchable, indexed PDF version of catalog in Adobe Acrobat. Developed and implemented JavaScript rollovers in agency's website using Dreamweaver and hand-coding JavaScript.

 

Sperling Sampson & West, San Francisco, CA

Ad agency specializing in medical and biotech clients.  Worked closely with art director and senior designers to create comps in Photoshop for print ads. Built mechanicals for tradeshow booths for clients including Genentech and Gilead. Assisted in the creation of annual reports for leading biotech companies.

 

Banana Republic, San Francisco, CA

Designed and implemented promotional materials for Customer Experience division. Created mechanicals in QuarkXPress and managed image output for seasonal product books.

 

Dark Furies Publishing, El Cajon, CA

Drew spot illustrations for role-playing game modules.

 

Discovery Channel Stores, Berkeley, CA

Built mechanicals in QuarkXPress for seasonal product display guides. Manipulated and clipped images in Adobe Photoshop. Assisted with photography of merchandise display set-ups.

 

Decodence, San Francisco, CA

Designed, built and illustrated website using Dreamweaver, Photoshop, ImageReady, Illustrator and Fireworks. Website contains company information and online store offering a wide selection of the original Art Deco and other 20th Century furniture and accessories available in the company's physical store. Worked closely with owners to achieve an elegant design solution that communicates the distinctive style of the physical store. Performed compatibility testing for cross platform issues. Maintenance duties include updating store inventory by retouching, scaling and cropping digital photographs of merchandise.

 

Charyn Asset Management Group, San Francisco, CA

Designed, developed and implemented website using Dreamweaver, Photoshop, ImageReady, Illustrator and Fireworks. Website contains auction house's corporate information, details on upcoming auctions and links to online auctions. Met with owners to determine requirements. Presented several design solutions to achieve a robust, functional design that conveys a simple message of professionalism, trustworthiness and reliability to the user. Worked with C.U.S. Systems, provider of Charyn's auction management software, to integrate this with back-end of website so that information is automatically logged into Charyn's central database. Implemented email opt-in builder to collect data from buyers interested in being notified of upcoming auctions. Performed compatibility testing for cross platform issues. Implemented basic CGI form functionality. Maintenance responsibilities include updating information on current auctions, and working closely with PR consultant to time the release and availability of information on high profile auctions to the media, e.g. WebVan.

 

Mr. Potz, San Francisco, CA

Acted as creative consultant for this small startup company. Developed cartoon characters and designed associated materials, including website, marketing collateral, product packaging and teachers' resource materials, for an innovative new line of educational products designed for children.

 

Goodman Games, Atlanta, GA

Painted spot and cover illustrations for 'Dungeon Crawl Classics' line of role-playing game modules. Illustrated 2 decks of cards for 'Geek Wars' collectible card game, also illustrated box packaging and did all logo and graphic design for the game.

 

John Walker & Company, San Francisco, CA

Designed and built original company website, using Adobe GoLive, Photoshop.

Designed labels for company's own brand wine labels.

 

IdeaDollar.com, San Francisco, CA

Worked with company founder and CEO to develop "Ideas Eddie" character for website. Designed illustrated and animated character.

 

Kisso.com, San Francisco, CA

Created cartoon characters to promote this small importer's product lines.

 

Communications West, San Francisco, CA

Drew storyboards for advertising campaign proposals submitted to clients (P&O Nedlloyd Shipping and CFMovesU.com). Storyboards drawn to briefs supplied by company CEO.

 

BBC Worldwide Ltd., London, England

Illustrated 'Everyday Science' and 'Down to Earth' coursebooks. Illustrated 'Ace Lightning' comic strip as a tie-in for kids TV series of the same name.

 

 

 

 

Woods+Woods Design Communications, San Francisco, CA

http://www.woodswoods.com/

As Contractor: 01.99 - 12.99

Full Time: 01.00 - 01.01

Interactive Designer

Developed, built and implemented client websites. Assisted in design, illustration and the production of complex print-ready mechanicals for retail product packaging. Implemented and maintained company websites in HTML and Flash using Adobe GoLive and Macromedia Dreamweaver through several design changes. Maintained database of Woods+Woods 'portfolio cards.' Retouched and output portfolio images for use on print and web including creation of photo-realistic 3D box images from flat mechanicals.

 

Clients included:

Intuit: Created mechanicals in QuarkXPress, Illustrator and Photoshop for retail software products Quicken, Quicken Deluxe, Quicken Home & Business, Quicken Suite, TurboTax, Turbo Tax Deluxe, TurboTax Home & Business, MacInTax (1999 and 2000). Worked with key marketing personnel to manage variations in similar copy across different products in simultaneous production and to implement findings of focus group testing conducted at each major phase of design.

The Learning Company/Broderbund: Built mechanicals in QuarkXPress, Illustrator and Photoshop. Assisted in design and produced illustration comps of retail software products for 'Learning Buddies' and 'Creative Wonders' lines, 'Reader Rabbit' series. Products featured licensed characters 'Arthur,' 'The Cat in the Hat' and other Dr. Suess properties, 'Dragon Tails', Maurice Sendak's 'Little Bear'. Worked closely with copywriter and brand manager to ensure consistent brand messaging across product lines.

Genealogy.com/Broderbund: Built mechanicals in QuarkXPress, Illustrator and Photoshop for #1 selling retail genealogy software product family, 'Family Tree Maker'. Retouched scanned images in Photoshop.

Network Associates/McAfee: Illustrated software packages for McAfee 'Firewall', 'VirusScan Handheld' and 'Student Survival Kit' using Illustrator and Photoshop. Produced illustration comps, submitted design proposals and assisted in mechanical creation in QuarkXPress for other products in McAfee's line including 'QuickClean' and 'Toolkit'.

McAfee.com: Submitted design comps for product package design, illustrated product package in Illustrator and Photoshop, built package mechanical in QuarkXPress.

MedePass.com: Assisted in website design using Illustrator, Photoshop and ImageReady. Met with client executives and website engineers to develop front-end of website and ensure integration with back-end functionality.

Palo Alto Software: Built Mechanicals using Quark, Illustrator and Photoshop for 'Business Plan Pro' software.

Pocket Express: Worked with CEO to develop, build an implement company website using GoLive, Photoshop, ImageReady and Illustrator. Oversaw and assisted in front-end design of website. Illustrated 'Pocket Express Entertainment Pack' retail product package in Photoshop.

 

 

 

 

 

 

MacPeople, Oakland, CA

09.97 - 12.99

Production Artist

Performed high-end graphic production work for leading advertising agencies, retail product packaging firms and design studios throughout San Francisco Bay Area.

Clients included:

Butler Shine & Stern: Worked under production manager to build mechanicals for nationally run print advertising campaigns for clients including Borders Books, 989 Studios, Round Table and Millers' Outpost in Quark.

Electronic Arts: Worked in production department to create retail product packaging mechanicals and print ads for products Shogun, Fleet Commander and NHL 99 using QuarkXPress and Photoshop.

Goldberg Moser O'Neill: Produced mechanicals for print ads using Quark. Clients included Dell Computers.

Axion Design: Created mechanicals in Adobe Illustrator for retail product packaging for Hewlett Packard and Blue Bunny food products.

Monster Cable: Worked with design director and copywriters to assist in all aspects of product and collateral design and production at in-house creative department. Worked within rigid company design guidelines. Built mechanicals, created technical illustrations and diagrams and retouched scanned images for brochures, manuals, web, point of purchase displays, trade show booths, retail product packaging and blister packs.

Zoo Advertising: Assisted creative director in design, layout and copywriting of print ads for Fresh Choice.

PowerFoods, Inc.: In-house design department. Retouched photo images and assisted in layout of product packaging, collateral and print advertising for Power Bar, Power Bar Harvest and other proprietary brands

IDEO: Built Interactive presentation in Macromedia Director for a client pitch.

Foote Cone & Belding: Worked with production manager and designers to lay out and create mechanicals for print ads and promotional collateral for clients including Levis' Dockers and 3Com. Assembled comps and mounted displays for client presentations.

Deloitte Consulting: In-house design department. Produced corporate collateral and pitch material using Windows, Freehand, Quark and PowerPoint. Worked overnight shifts at short notice to complete important company presentations.

String Letter Publishing: Designed and laid out pages in QuarkXPress for consumer titles Strings Magazine & Acoustic Guitar Magazine.

 

 

Creative Copies (The Copy Shoppe), San Francisco, CA

09.95 - 09.97

Graphic Designer

Responsible for all digital design and output in busy downtown service bureau.

Created original camera-ready artwork and mechanicals on the Power Mac. Designed, typeset and created layouts for newsletters, business cards, resumes, brochures, menus, invitations and flyers. Provided final pre-press preparation and troubleshooting of customer documents for imagesetting and printing, including trapping artwork and color matching. Converted client documents to appropriate formats for print output. Oversaw and managed output of client documents in various formats through Fiery.

Clients included:

San Francisco 49ers: Designed Season ticket holder handbook, Season tickets, Luxury Suite passes and parking passes for 1997 season.

Combs & Greenly/ALTR-NET: Worked with marketing director to design stationery, print ads and marketing collateral for litigation technology firm using QuarkXPress, Photoshop and Illustrator.

MC International: Worked with marketing director to design and layout company's quarterly newsletter using QuarkXPress, Photoshop and Illustrator.

Golden Gate University: Designed and laid out quarterly 'Faculty News' using Quark, Photoshop and Illustrator.

 

 

AMR Ltd., Basingstoke, England

10.92 - 5.95

Illustrator & Editorial Assistant

Worked on award winning, internationally distributed language coursebooks and other educational products, produced for clients including Heinemann Educational, Macmillan ELT, BBC English.

Illustrated text, Comic strips, board games, puzzles, showcards and storybooks. Also assisted in production, editing and proofreading.

Supervised recording sessions of audio material for Addison-Wesley/Longman book series.

ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE:

 

The Haight-Ashbury Free Press, San Francisco, CA       

04.95 - 01.00  

Webmaster, illustrator, copy editor and writer    

PageMaker, Dreamweaver, GoLive, PageMill, SiteMill         

 

Pewfell, Online Comic Strip

http://www.pewfell.com/

01.01 - Present

Writer, artist, animator & webmaster

Strip is published online by ModernTales - http://www.moderntales.com, and in print by Wingnut Games: http://www.wingnutgames.com

For several years the strip was produced on a daily basis. Currently it is updated once per week using: Dreamweaver, GoLive, Flash, Photoshop, ImageReady, BBEdit

 

 

EDUCATION:

 

Academy of Art College, San Francisco, CA. 09.97 - 12.97

Graduate Study: Figure Drawing (A), Computer Arts (A)

 

City University, London, England. 09.88 - 06.91

BSc. (Honors) Degree in Business Studies

 

Wellington College, Berkshire, England. 01.83 - 06.87

'A' levels: Mathematics (A), Physics (B), Chemistry (C), Art (C). 'O' Levels: Mathematics (A), Advanced Mathematics (A), Physics (A), Biology (A), Chemistry (A), History (B), General Classics (A), French (B), Advanced French (C), English Literature (A), English Language (B), Art (A)