Work History and Educational background of Graphic Designer and Marketing professional James D. Johns

All your design and marketing needs without the design firm prices.

Today's economy forces careful use of resources and requires us to make efficient use of these resources at all times. Those resources need to maintain a superior level of quality and be completely reliable at all times. That's where I come in.

During the last twelve years I have worked in fast-paced marketing/advertising environments where I have obtained the practical experience and tools to help clients meet their needs. My experience has always been based around Photoshop and high quality work, which has led me into design work for logos, brochures, direct mail, complete branding packages, multimedia and, of course, the web. I have put this website together to let you browse through my education and experience and to provide work samples.

I possess a wide range of knowledge and experience in design, the printing process, websites, photography, scanning, color correction, pre-press, film imaging, calibration, client management and more. I have extensive knowledge of Photoshop, Illustrator, Dreamweaver, Flash, InDesign, Imageready, After Effects and Premiere. I also regularly use Microsofft Office and other applications or utilities.

I graduated from college with a degree in Art, and adapted from fine arts to computer arts, particularly Photoshop, with a passion. In a short time, I was known as "the Photoshop guy" at Dark Horse Comics, and over the next seven years I spent most of my time working at a high level in Photoshop doing color correction, photo manipulation and compositing for a variety of clients.

The key elements to being successful in marketing are; knowing your clients, knowing your market and being competitive to both. I can help get you focused into these areas and take some of the day to day design/marketing worries out of your hands.

WORK HISTORY

Precise Flight, Inc.
August 2007 - Sept. 2009
As the Marketing Coordinator I plan not only the marketing packages, but design all ads, web graphics, proposals and show materials (dvds, catalogs, data sheets, banner and booth materials). I have focused the marketing plans by moving from a blanket-marketing approach to more specific target markets using direct mail and email. By doing so, we have been able to more effeciently track our successes, and also important, our failures.

AdWeb Communications
May 19, 2003 - Aug. 2007
Working in this 2 person office provides a fast-paced production atmosphere and good client management skills.

Microcomp Creative
September 1998 - April 25, 2003
My daily duties focused on building and maintaining websites for several clients. I used a strong knowledge of HTML and experience with CSS to edit websites developed in ASP or PHP.
In addition, I was the single soul responsible for quick color corrections, scans, photographs, clipping paths, manipulations and optimization for all work produced. In the year before my departure I researched and implemented a digital photo studio where I was the main photographer.

Meier & Frank
June 1998 - September 1998
I was hired at Meier & Frank as a member of their premier team for an in-house color department. Originally hired to do scanning and color correction work, the job soon turned into development of workflow and processes, since the technology was new to them. The job required quick turnaround of a large volume of scans, color corrections, clipping paths and adjustments. Color profiling was used to account for all equipment and printing presses. My time there was short lived due to Microcomp Creative courting me soon after I was hired.

Dark Horse Comics
1992 - June 1998
Dark Horse was my first job out of college and one that I enjoyed very much. Originally hired as a color seperator for the interior comic book pages, I soon became the supervisor of my shift. This is where my love of Photoshop intensified and developed over the next five years, and how I became known as the "Photoshop guy." Dark Horse also gave me my first experience with the world of freelance. Employees that had left and artists that Dark Horse had hired would call me on a regular basis to do Photoshop manipulations or painting.

EDUCATION

Oregon State University
1991 - Graduate
Received my Bachelor of Science in Art, while focusing on Illustration and Psychology.

Milwaukie High School
1986 - Graduate
My high school years contained academic activities as well as athletic achievements.

Call me today so we can talk about who your clients are, what your budget is and how we can make more of both!