Having spent my formative years in Michigan and currently residing in Massachusetts, my enduring passion for art has been a constant. During my time in head start, I consistently opted for indoor painting over outdoor activities with my peers.
I completed a two-year tenure at the Kent Career Technical Center during high school. In my initial year, I focused on desktop publishing, followed by a subsequent year dedicated 3D animation and game design. Notably, our class achieved a top-10 national ranking in the Samsung Solve for Tomorrow competition. This recognition was attributed to our creation of a VR game/experience tailored for children with autism, aiming to enhance their understanding of social cues.
In my photography course at Grand Rapids Community College, select pieces of my work earned publication in the college’s Display magazine. Subsequently, during the following summer, additional photographs were chosen for the Grand Rapids Festival of the Arts. Following the completion of my associate degree in Applied Arts and Sciences (specializing in Graphic Design), I pursued a Bachelor of Graphic Design at Kendall College of Art and Design.
In response to a family tragedy in 2021, I made the decision to initiate a significant life change. This led me to relocate to Massachusetts and enroll at Southern New Hampshire University, where I finished pursuing my Bachelor degree.
Skills/ experience with Adobe InDesign, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Lightroom, Figma, User Experience (UX), User Interface (UI), Project Management, Attention to Detail, Prototyping, Layout Design, User Research, Color Theory, Branding, Typography, Organization, Flexibility, Storyboarding, Logo Design, Aesthetics, WordPress, CMS, HTML, CSS, Sales, and Customer Service.
Personal Goals: I am passionate about producing designs that enhance accessibility and inclusivity. Many existing products pose challenges for some of my family members with autism due to the lack of accessibility options or overwhelming content.
Recognizing that improving accessibility not only enhances the experience for these users but benefits everyone (Satpathy, 2020), I am committed to contributing to projects that empower users to customize their experience to better suit their needs.
WORKS CITED
- Samsung.com. 10 Schools Named Finalists in the $2 Million* Samsung Solve for Tomorrow Contest for Using STEAM to Improve Their Communities. 1 March 2018. <https://news.samsung.com/us/10-finalists-2018-samsung-solve-for-tomorrow-contest-steam/>.
- Satpathy, Lalatendu. Why designs to accommodate people with autism are better for everyone. 28 August 2020. <https://uxdesign.cc/why-designs-that-accommodate-the-needs-of-autistic-people-are-better-for-everyone-dc5fb2144b15>.