Graphic Design
I started out as a graphic designer, and I’m an Adobe Certified Expert in InDesign. I’ve done a wide range of print work, from CD covers to corporate identity materials. My Web design work runs from banners, interactive ads, and site design including custom CMS themes and templates. I have experience in branding and maintaining style guidelines, project management, and social media marketing.
Instructor
Currently I teach at the college level. Classes I’ve taught include:
- Web Design / Responsive Design: Instruction in web page design, including mark-up languages, wireframes, web sites, and browsers, using HTML5, CSS3, and Bootstrap.
- Digital Imaging I: using Photoshop layers, masks, layer styles, type effects, and filters, and also covering resolution, file formats, output devices, and color systems, for both print and web output.
- Digital Publishing I: focus on Adobe InDesign, typography, page layout, graphic terminology and pre-press production.
- Digital Publishing II: coordinating InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop, and Acrobat together, using advanced features for print layout and interactive design; emphasis on pre-press, 2- and 4-color separation, and dealing with industry vendors.
- Interactive Digital Media I: using Adobe Flash Professional for animation and interactive design—yes, Flash is dead now, but this was a really fun class that I very much enjoyed teaching.
- Pre-Certification for Graphic Arts (Capstone): guiding students in demonstrating their knowledge and expertise, and in résumé and portfolio development.
I’ve also done workshop trainings, which are a lot of fun because no grading is involved.
Instructional Design
I formally studied teaching and training at Texas State, including educational technology and instructional design using the ADDIE model. I am certified in Quality Matters APPQMR. In my role at my college, I’ve revamped course designs, updated old projects (a constant theme in design and tech), and created new projects, all while keeping in mind the student learning outcomes and ensuring that students are gaining needed workforce skills.
New Academic Models
In the classic academic tradition, students are given one chance at a project. They receive a grade, for which there is usually no redemption. Then they must move on to the next module, building on skills they should have learned whether they’ve truly mastered them or not. This is not how things go in the workforce. If I made mistakes in a real-world work project, my boss didn’t say, “Well, you get a C for this project, but forget that now and move onto the next.” No, I had to fix that project first.
So, I’ve built that concept into my curriculum. When grading, I give students feedback. They take that, revise their work, and send it back to me. I’ve found that students who take advantage of this revision system more fully master the material. They make fewer errors going forward, and by the end of the semester, they work at a higher level.
I regularly pitch this model to other instructors. Some of them are resistant. “But that encourages them to not try hard!” No, it actually doesn’t. That thought process assumes students are naturally lazy and don’t care about doing good work. I don’t find that to be true at all. Students want to do well, and they aren’t stupid; they realize these revisions can be costly in terms of time. In fact, some students will never take advantage of this revision system. This model rewards extra work and care. And if some are genuinely lazy (a point of which I’m not convinced), they won’t benefit because they simply won’t put in the effort.
It isn’t good enough to keep doing things in the same way simply because that’s how it’s always been done. If our real goal in academia is to give students the skills they need to achieve, then we need to rethink our methods.