Passionate and highly motivated creative professional with over 15 years of experience in advertising/marketing. Highly experienced in several areas including graphic/web design, photography, photo art direction, marketing and more. 

I am detail-oriented, easy to work with and meet tight deadlines and high stress with calm resolution and a sense of humor. Always willing to think outside the box, I find creative solutions while keeping project goals as priority.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

May 2012 - Present
Web Designer
Frontgate | Grandin Road

Web designer responsible for web design and maintenance of Frontgate and Grandin Road websites including interface and user experience design. Work with developers and creative print team to improve customer usability, maintain branding and increase sales. Lead designer in maintaining corporate branding for Frontgate website.

May 2008 - May 2012
Creative Art Director
FreshGames

Creative Director for all print, web and game media for Columbus, OH based gaming company. Responsibilities include branding and marketing/advertising for company and video game products.

Associate Producer for mobile app on iPhone and iPad through al aspects of game development (concept to release and marketing).

Social Media Manager in charge of Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and more.

2006 - Present
Owner / Creative Director
Vicki Dixon Creative

Award-winning freelance graphic design business offering creative print, web + photography services.

2005 - 2008
Senior Art Director / Manager
Retail Ventures Inc.

Supervised six graphic designers and copywriters, including freelance designers. Successfully designed and developed store brand identity campaign and lead various departments in creative implementation strategies [Visual Merchandising, Marketing, Outside Vendors, and Corporate Internet].

Team project leader on several highly successful advertising promotions, increasing sales in one area by 200% over the previous year. Achieved through market research strategies and targeted, innovative design and photography.

Chosen as project leader on market test campaign to support new store philosophy. Results showed an outstanding increase in sales for test markets and customer interviews showed advertising campaign highly effective in reaching goals.

1995 - 2005
Senior Art Director
The May Department Stores Company

Managed department in Creative Director's absence, supervising four graphic designers. Created graphic and visual in-store promotional displays for 400+ stores including design, printing, photography, budget management, vendor negotiations, visual merchandising displays, and overseeing store implementation. Worked closely with other departments to provide graphics for advertising, broadcast, human resources, and corporate communications.

Worked with outside vendors/talent in Los Angeles, Miami, New York, Dallas, Chicago and St. Louis.

Successful, innovative print and interactive designs for several corporate graphic programs. Led a design team responsible for creating award-winning annual reports.

Worked directly with CEO on corporate event and party planning. Chosen by President of the company to oversee personal projects including fine art and private events.

1995 - 1999
Senior Graphic Coordinator
May Department Stores

Recognized by senior management as a trustworthy person for special projects, successfully overseeing all project development through to completion. 

Recommended strategic changes to save department expenses by bringing the Foundation Annual Report design in-house. Concepts and designs were recognized for being innovative and highly effective, resulting in clients requesting design work for other outside projects. 

Partnered with outside design agency to create and produce award-winning annual reports and design collateral. Chosen to lead and maintain in-house digital photography studio.

1989 - 1995
Graphic Design Supervisor
Gateway Apparel Inc.

Supervised five junior graphic designers. Lead designer on projects for in-house advertising department including circulars, broadcast media, direct mail, brochures, signage, newspaper ads and more. Coordinated all photography [hiring talent, scouting locations, budget management, photo retouching and printing].

Highly involved in design and implementation for visual merchandising store displays.

Worked with outside print vendors in Chicago and St. Louis.

1987 - 1989
Production Artist
Butler Design Service

Hired as a production artist and illustrator for a contract design service. Clients included McDonnell Douglas, Boeing, and Southwestern Bell. Well respected by owner of the company and job responsibilities were expanded to include Executive Assistant.

EDUCATION
Bachelor of Arts (Commercial Art)
ORU - Oklahoma

SKILLS / TRAINING
- Management Experience
- Expert concept and design skills
- Web development including Scene 7 and Websphere
- Highly motivated to succeed
- Works well individually or with a team
- Strong work ethic
- Detail oriented
- Adobe Creative Suite CS6 (+earlier versions)
- Microsoft Office
- Experience in a Mac and PC environment
- HTML
- Expert in Photo Art Direction
- Client Negotiations
- Skilled and Effective presentations
- Budget Development and Management
- Package Design
- High Resolution Photo Retouching
- Business Process Development
- Market/Trend Research
- Digital Photography
- Fashion Styling
- Building Recognizable Brand Identity for Target Audiences
- Marketing / Advertising
- Freelance Fitness & Figure Model