SUMMARY

Dynamic, creative and seasoned graphic designer and art director,  who specializes in branding, logos, signage, packaging, advertising and marketing materials. Portfolio is filled with projects for clients from most major business sectors, including food services, business-to-business, consumer package goods, advertising agencies, design studios, entertainment and healthcare.   

A self-motivated team player, has as passion for solving problems, improving his skills and sharing knowledge and experience. Enthusiastic, positive attitude is an inspiration to other team members.

SKILLS

• Computer literate on both Macintosh OSX and PC Windows
• Adobe CS5.5 (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat and Dreamweaver)
• Microsoft Office (Word, PowerPoint and Excel)
• QuarkXpress
• WordPress
• Understanding of HTML and CSS
• Traditional hand skills

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Araki Studio, Los Angeles, CA                                                                       01/97– Present
Senior Art Director/Designer

• New business and client meetings.
• Strategic brainstorming and campaign development.
• Multiple forms of design, including outdoor, print, logo, digital, promotional, ads and posters.
• Supervision of freelancers, photography, illustration and printing.

Achievements:

• Award-winning Kawasaki point-of-sale campaigns.
• Award-winning Imperial Bancorp annual report, designed to project a solid and stable image.
• Applied Taco Bell corporate branding to the Taco Bell Express modular units and image guide to insure consistency among the franchisees.
• Mandaloun Restaurant branding applied to business cards, menus, dishes, signage, awnings and lighting.
• Promotional materials for Argentine tango shows at La Casona, resulting in sold out audiences.

Partial List of Clients:

• 4 Today Daily Supplements
• Acapulco Restaurants (Yuguchi & Krogstad)
• American Express (Ogilvy & Mather)
• Centinela Hospital
• Dole (Huerta Quorum [HQ])
• Fosters Freeze (Yuguchi & Krogstad)
• Hawkeye Enterprises
• The Identity Group
• Kawasaki Motors (Yuguchi & Krogstad)
• Kix Restaurant
• La Casona Restaurant
• Mandaloun Restaurant
• Neighbors Acting Together Helping All (NATHA)
• Taco Bell Express (Yuguchi & Krogstad)

The Aerospace Corporation (Chipton-Ross), El Segundo, CA                                    05/10 – 05/12
Senior Graphic Designer

• Strategic brainstorming and campaign development.
• Designed/produced brochures, flyers, icons, signage, photo retouching/montages and illustration.
• Mentored and shared skills and ideas.

Achievements

• Improved the department work-flow and archiving with better job tracking system.
• Refined the Aerospace conference material templates for uniformity and consistency.
• Improved skills in PowerPoint and Web media (WordPress, HTML and CSS).

Nestlé USA (Aquent), Glendale, CA                                                                            07/04 – 05/09
Lead Graphic Designer

• Lead designer responsible for quality control on final files before printing.
• Strategic brainstorming and campaign development.
• Design and produce final artwork and comps for Nestlé packaging and sales materials.
• Managed corporate and brand logos, archives and other assets on Nestlé intranet servers.

Achievements

• Award-winning brochures, invitations, posters, PowerPoint, etc. for Nestlé Board of Directors Tour.
• Designed, wrote and produced Nestlé Design Group Style Guide, to improve efficiency and workflow.
• Adapted new Nescafé branding to display on all coffee machine models for a uniform look.

Nostrum Advertising, Long Beach, CA                                                                      00/00 – 00/02
Senior Graphic Designer

• Strategic brainstorming and campaign development.
• Multiple forms of design, including outdoor, print, logo, digital, promotional, ads and posters.
• Supervision of staff, freelancers, production, photography, illustration and printing.

Achievements

• Created Toshiba launch that positioned their black and white multipurpose printers as “The Office Workhorse”
• Developed memorable personality for Toshiba by featuring colorful butterflies emphasize their capabilities

EDUCATION

• California State University Long Beach, BA in Graphic Design
• University of California Los Angeles, Major: Engineering, Zoology, and Design
• The Aerospace Institute, Beginning and Intermediate WordPress classes
• Lynda.com, Various courses to brush up and enhance my computer skills
• Advertising Concepts, Instructor: Bob Matsumoto