My Portfolio

Alaska Tribal Spectrum – Various Project Types

Long-term position as Marketing and Communications Manager (4+ years)

Skills used: WordPress, web development, web design, php, css, html, custom templates, Adobe Illustrator, illustration, presentation design, print design, html emails, email campaigns, digital marketing, Zapier, Mailchimp, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, copywriting, proofreading, graphic design, branding, logo design, custom post types, spreadsheet databases, video editing, Adobe Premiere, voice acting, presenting, communication design, turning boss’ back-of-napkin scrawls into usable infographics

Alaska Tribal Spectrum is a nonprofit company working to bring broadband internet access to remote parts of Alaska via federal grants. I created absolutely everything visual for this company – from the website, to marketing, to graphics, to email campaigns, to presentations.

Working with ATS widely expanded my knowledge and experience in areas such as grant-based work, grant applications, telecommunications, satellite technologies, and more.

ATS Website

Features custom wordpress themes, branding and color palette, member lookup tool, responsive design, and more. I kept my work within the branding/color scheme, and made updates frequently after the initial site build.

ATS Graphic and Print Design

Working with technology, and needing to be able to explain it to pretty much anyone, means a need for easy-to-understand graphic representations. It was an essential part of ATS’ communication strategies. I quickly developed a friendly, vibrant visual style for these graphics, reproducing the same style as needed for subsequent projects. I have included a few instances here from this set of visuals.

My direction for these graphics ranged from receiving a list of things to include, to a rough back-of-napkin idea. I’m happy to say I successfully deciphered every pen scribble and elevated them to these finished products.

I also handled any and all other visual/graphical needs for ATS – from flyers advertising new installations for individual communities, to banners and signs for conferences and conventions.

This is a small sampling of all of these.

ATS Presentation Example

This presentation was made for a meeting with a group in Bering Strait, Alaska. It was made using Prezi, with tons of custom elements – both raster and vector. It was also set up to allow for the presenter to be visible at the beginning and end. The presentation was also able to be used via Zoom, without sharing a screen (it acts as its own “camera”).

The presentation went smoothly, helped explain complex grant and tech topics to the audience, and kept in line with ATS branding/color palettes. The video below is a demonstration of the presentation visuals – not a recording of the presentation itself. There is no audio.

ATS Email Campaigns

Mass communications were a constant need at ATS. We handled grants for over 100 communities – and needed to reach out to them with updates and new opportunities often.

I kept a meticulous MailChimp database, linked to spreadsheets through Zapier, to maintain a filterable list of over 400 contacts. The segments we needed to reach out to changed often, and every project had quickly approaching deadlines, as grant work often does. I was able to add and remove custom filtering as needed, such as “part of X grant, not part of Y grant, responded to Z email” using automation and custom merge tags – which would update as other parts of the ATS team made changes to core informational spreadsheets.

In addition to complex filtering behind the scenes, I maintained a consistent campaign style, and also helped increase scannability of content (how often do YOU read every word of a wall of text in an email?)

Here’s a sampling of some email communications.

Xtreme Habitats

Freelance Contract

Skills used: WordPress, web development, web design, child theme, Adobe Photoshop, graphic design, large scale print design, Adobe Illustrator, branding, logo design

Xtreme Habitats is a company working to research housing and structures for extreme environments – currently, their research and testing is based in State College, PA and Nome, Alaska. Their goal with these extreme environments is to eventually find what works best for VERY extreme environments – on another planet!

The general idea the client provided during our initial call was to mix Alaska with Mars. He wanted a logo that evoked other worlds, and incorporated the X if possible.

I delivered a large set of options for him to choose from, from which he chose the one you see below. I’ve done some minor projects for this client since, including a massive outdoor banner (it’s in Alaska, I keep asking for a photo!) and some presentations.

For the site, he provided a large amount of copy and sent me off to the races without much to work with visually. He needed a web presence, quickly, for an upcoming meeting at a conference. So, with a crazy deadline, I delivered what he needed.

Andy’s Friends Cat Rescue and Adoption

Volunteer Work

Skills used: graphic design, print design, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Social Media marketing, event planning, advertising, digital marketing, print marketing

I worked with Andy’s Friends for about 15 years in many different capacities, and still help when needed. AF does great work to help cats in need in the area, from finding forever homes, to placing “working” cats at barns as mousers. They help save cats in medical need, and help owners keep their pets in times of financial trouble by assisting with food and vet costs.

My current cat, and my last 2 cats, have all been from Andy’s Friends. They’re an awesome organization, and I still meet with the owner for lunch a few times a year!

Through my time at Andy’s Friends, I worked on everything from cat care (for about 8 years), to social media presence, to photographing and advertising adoptable cats, to facilitating adoptions, to planning fundraiser events, to creating outreach materials, to managing event shifts and more.

Most recently, I put together a funding appeal letter in late 2024. The owner reported that it was a great success, and she received enough funding to continue helping the cats!

EWMI

Project during my time at T-Minus 1 Creative

Skills used: web development, web design, WordPress, custom templates, php, custom shortcodes, css, html, javascript, graphic design, UI customization

EWMI (Environmental Waste Management Inc) needed a website overhaul. I was given this project while working for a creative agency. The client provided some images, some copy, and their logo – and off I went! After some initial planning work, I realized I had some serious customization work on my hands.

Through working on this project, I learned a TON about WordPress custom templates. The client needed a whole section for their case studies that would separate them by categories. Each category would show the relevant case studies, with title, information, description, and an image gallery carousel.

Most important of all, these case studies had to be easy to add to – the client needed a straightforward way to add a case study as time went on, without having any knowledge of wordpress (other than logging in to the admin area). I built a custom php query loop using a custom post type that did exactly what was required. I then set up a login for the client that restricted what they could access – making it easy to add their new case studies. A user would just log in, click “add case study”, fill in the required information, add whatever images they would like, select a category, and click publish. No fussing with anything complicated. This was one of my early experiences creating a customized WordPress back-end, and further proved to me how powerful PHP can be!

Additional Professional Work

Various project types

Skills used: WordPress, graphic design, web design, web development, branding, logo design, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, html, css, php, child themes

This is a collection that samples more of my work. It has mainly logo offerings and web pages, for companies such as OptimERA, Advantage Alaska, and Knik Energy. Descriptions of the work and images are below.

All of these are Alaska-based companies. OptimERA is in the telecommunications space, Advantage Alaska deals with government contracts, and Knik Energy is in the green energy industry.

OptimERA

For OptimERA, I was asked to re-do their entire site after someone else had not made any progress in months. I looked at what he had, and scrapped it, as he hadn’t done much yet. I built their site in quick order, and made sure to give careful instruction on how to make edits (as the owner had requested the ability to do so himself). I was still asked to make a few more edits and blog posts after handoff. No problem! I was also glad to see a nice set of photos when the project started – that always improves the development experience.

Knik Energy

For Knik Energy, in addition to a logo and branding colors, the client just wanted a quick, super simple web presence, with a way to be contacted. This one was another rush project, completed in under a week from WP install to delivery – including providing an email address for the domain, and holding review meeting with changes after. The logo was roughly 2 days including client decisionmaking.

Advantage Alaska

Finally, for Advantage Alaska, the client wanted a logo that evoked the Alaska state flag. I used the star pattern and similar coloring, along with a mountain range shape that moves upward to the right – as any good report chart should! The client would like a website eventually – but for now, he only wanted a “coming soon” with a contact form, which I did provide. I’m not linking it here, as it isn’t much to look at until he moves forward.

Older Work (Pre-2017)

Mostly Web Development and Design

Skills used: web development, web design, CSS, SASS, WordPress, html, graphic design, billboard design, responsive design

This is a selection of work I completed prior to 2017. Most of this is from my time at the American College of Physicians, a junior web developer contract that ended in late 2016.

Hobby Works

When I’m not working, I’m working on my hobbies. I love making fan art and exploring new mediums.

For example, during COVID (and a while after), I got into bodypainting and cosplay makeup, particularly proud of my version of Mystique! I also had the pleasure of participating in a crazy scavenger hunt called GISHWHES several times, for which I made the coin painting below. I have many more weird artworks from GISHWHES.

Here’s a small selection of my personal work – including traditional artwork, digital paintings, and makeup/bodypainting.

If you’d like to know more about me, my career history, and more, check out my about me page.