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Education

BA in Computer Information Systems Cedarville University, Cedarville, Ohio

Graphic Design Courses
Savannah College of Art and Design,
Savannah, Georgia

Software

Adobe Creative Suite
Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, Lightroom

Glyphs
Font Programming and Design Software

Wordpress CMS

Working knowledge of HTML and CSS

Microsoft Office Suite

Accolades

GfK MRI’s Consumer Ad Recall Study, March 2018

Created an ad for Paula Deen’s cookbook, At the Southern Table, which received the highest noted ad score (the percentage of readers of an issue who recalled noticing the advertisement) in the epicurean category. It scored 90%, beating out ads from Kohl’s, Dom Pérignon, KitchenAid, and more.

Professional Experience

Art Director

Paula Deen Ventures • Nashville, Tennessee | Savannah, Georgia • 2014 - Present

  • Develop brand guidelines for new & existing businesses within the organization

  • Maintain a self-created internal system of approvals for exterior partners

  • Designed layout & artwork on existing website and directed the web team during the site development

  • Lead photo & video shoots by providing visual & art direction, prop styling, and post-production photo editing for the main Paula Deen brand and restaurant & retail partners

  • Work under constantly evolving deadlines to provide brand artwork both in-house and for agency partners, prioritizing the most urgent and high-impact projects

  • Partner with Marketing Director to create twice-weekly email marketing campaigns, digital & social media content, and traditional print marketing campaigns

  • Plan and execute product packaging redesign for food, skincare, cookware, and small appliances to better align with brand identity

  • Compose advertisements and editorials for Cooking with Paula Deen magazine

  • Mentor & manage junior designers and external partners, including restaurants, retail, and jewelry, to ensure a consistent visual brand identity at each customer touchpoint

  • Design artwork and plan & optimize content for YouTube channel, growing the subscriber base from 50k to 550k

  • Create & manage annual photo & video shoot budgets

Graphic Designer

Paula Deen Ventures • Nashville, Tennessee | Savannah, Georgia • 2014 - Present

  • Designed menus, rack cards, print ad campaigns, and other marketing materials for Uncle Bubba’s Seafood & Oyster House and The Lady & Sons Restaurants

  • Maintained brand integrity across all marketing collateral

  • Photographed food & guests for use on social media and across marketing pieces

Owner • Creative Director • Graphic Designer

Ellis Design, Ltd • Nashville, Tennessee | Savannah, Georgia • 2007 - Present

  • Designs, code and produces hand-drawn font typefaces, illustrations, surface patterns, and graphic elements

  • Develop brand identities and guidelines for new and existing businesses

  • Designed over 120k apparel products on Amazon Merch on Demand with over $1.2M in lifetime revenue

Marketing Director

Camp Patmos • Kelleys Island, Ohio • 2002 - 2007

  • Led a team of media specialists in developing marketing campaigns and promotional assets to boost enrollment at the 501(c)(3) camp

  • Designed camp-branded apparel & merch

  • Managed a team of retail associates to provide customer service & manage inventory levels