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Michael Howland Curriculum Vitae Education 1993 - 1997 Colorado State University in Fort Collins, CO - BFA with a concentration in Graphic Design Programs Photoshop Illustrator Indesign Dreamweaver Quark Microsoft Visual Interdev Microsoft Office Suite Relevant Work Experience Freelance Illustrator 1990 - current (All over the place) As a freelance Graphic Designer/Illustrator I help a wide variety of diverse clients successfully bring countless creative projects to life. Whether the client comes to me with just a purpose and a rough idea or if they already have a finalized concept within strict brand guidelines I work with them to produce a final product that meets deadlines and exceeds expectations. Projects range from brand creation and implementation across print and web to illustration and design of album covers, posters, fliers, murals, wall scrolls, figurines, event invitations, t-shirts, custom promotional items and more. Paint Instructor 2015 - 2021 Pinot's Palette (San Diego, CA), Painting With A Twist (Honolulu, HI) While instructing at Pinot’s Palette and Painting With A Twist I was responsible for teaching painting classes as both a painter and an entertainer. I welcomed the customers, served drinks and collected payment before walking the students through the painting step by step, making sure everyone followed along and was enjoying themselves. To prepare for class I prepainted the selected art to ensure I was teaching it in the most effective and fun manner. The classes were from 1 to 3 hours long and for 1 to 44 students aged 7 to 100+. Along with teaching and bartending I was also responsible for light computer work and ensuring the studio was kept clean and inviting. Web Production Specialist 2006 - 2015 Commonwealth Financial Network (Boston, San Diego, Los Angeles) At Commonwealth I was a member of the EasySite Team and responsible for helping their associated Financial Advisors with all aspects of their web presence. I worked with their advisors on a daily basis and helped them develop an online strategy from the ground up. Duties included helping with:
Web Designer (contract) 02/06 – 06/06 EF Education (Boston, MA) During my time with EF Education I developed design solutions with a focus on expanding their current sites' usability and branding. Along with this I updated their sites' rotating assets and designed email campaigns and search engine landing pages. I was responsible for optimizing all web assets and maintaining integrity of Print to Web materials. All design work was done in Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark and PowerPoint with coding done in Microsoft Visual Interdev. Notes: This was a fantastic jumping off point for my career in Boston and the office really had a great, fun atmosphere. It was just a short contract, but it helped me settle in to the Boston scene and they seemed to spend a lot of money on beer for their company parties, which made them alright in my book. Web/Print Designer 2001 – 2003 Bear Claw Software (Danbury, CT) My duties at Bearclaw included the design, creation, and upkeep of websites, designing promotional postcards, and creating in-house business assets such as fax sheets and press kits. I worked closely with clients to refine desired designs before optimizing them for the web and created the sites in Microsoft Visual Interdev. Flash, Java Script and Cascading Style Sheets were all used as needed. Notes: My first Web Design job. I still remember learning HTML here and receiving a pretty key bit of advice that I really took to heart. Basically, it amounted to "If it looks like it took a long time, it probably did." Also the company was run by my best friend's brother, so that was pretty awesome. |
Irrelevent Work Experience and Travels While I'm no Johnny Cash (in case the officers in Reno were wondering) I have been almost everywhere and over the years I've wracked up a fair amount of job experience and adventures. Since you asked, let me detail them for you here: Paperboy New Milford, Ct New Milford Times  My first job! Defintely better than working in the mines though the early morning hours were sort of rough. High point: finding a watch that transformed into a robot. Low point: riding my bike on the far side of the street from any gutters after reading Stephen King's It. Shipping and Warehouse Manager New Milford, Ct Triple M Marketing I was still in High School with this one and the title is a touch misleading. It was my real title, but I was the only one there so the "managing" portion was pretty minimal. On one occasion I took a nap in a giant box of packing peanuts and it was glorious. Line Service/Dish washer/Salad Prep Fort Collins, Co Colorado State University, Ingersoll Hall Cafeteria This one is up there with my time on the farm for the grossest of my jobs. Still it paid the bills (sort of) and the dish washing experience has certainly helped with married life. Phone-Based Market Researcher Fort Collins, Co Phone-Based Market Research Yes, I called people and asked them random questions. No, I'm not proud of it and I certainly apologize if I called you during dinner. On the plus side, the cute blonde next to me had a great southern accent. Sandwich Artist New Milford, Ct Subway I should probably put this on the other side, as I was indeed an artiste. Subway has since moved on from the classic U-cut for it's sandwiches, so if you want a proper sandwich, you'll have to come to me directly, now. Computer Board Line Worker Fort Collins, Co Computer Board Factory I basically dressed up like I was searching for an ebola cure and stood at one end of a waist high conveyor belt while feeding plastic computer boards through what could only be described as chemical hell. If something had gone wrong, I probably would have ended up horribly scarred and with super-villain powers. You win some, you lose some. Shepard Auchengrey, Scotland Auchengrey Farm I've worked hard my whole life, but nothing like what people do on a farm all day every day. This was a fantastic experience and really gave me a much better appreciation for where our food comes from. Also an appreciation for jobs where I wasn't in close contact with manure. Side note: Lambs, despite their cute exterior, are actually evil. Garden Center Associate New Milford, Ct K-Mart This was better than expected! It was just for the summer, and I made a surprising amount of tips helping people carry lawnmowers to their cars. I looked quite fetching in the little red vest, too. Tissue Line Worker New Milford, Ct Kimberly Clark I alternately worked 1st, 2nd and 3rd shift here and that was an experience in itelf. The job had me and three others on one side of a conveyor belt, taking boxes full of smaller boxes of tissues and dumping them in a machine which sorted them out. I spent most of the time recreating the movie Aliens in my head, scene by scene, while my hands did the required work. Tiling Crew Lead Denver, Co Tiling and Construction There's very little I've found as satisfying as a finished construction project at the end of the day. Well, the cold beer after you finish comes pretty close, but doesn't last nearly as long. I still judge the tile work everywhere I go; if you see me looking in some random tiled corner and slowly shaking my head and tutting, it's most likely because of shoddy grout work or poorly cut tiles. Aerial Tramway Operator Beaver Creek, Co Beaver Creek Ski Area Aerial Tramway Operator sort of oversells the job of a Ski Lift Dude, but that's what it said on my W-2, so there you go. The free lift ticket was the main reason for this particular job and it was completely worth the hideously early hours, low pay and constant cold. At least until I broke my collarbone... sigh... Shipping and Warehouse Manager Philadelphia, PA Tower Records Here I rekindled my love affair with warehouses. I actually had quite a few people to manage at this one, so the title was significantly more appropriate. Thanks to a generous employee discount my music, comic and VHS Kung fu movie collections all grew prodigously during my time here. I even got Employee of the Month, wooooo! Store Manager Albuquerque, NM Blockbuster Video Break-ins, drunks sleeping in front of the door, arguements about late fees, this job had it all. Reading the back of every movie sleeve in the place has provided me with at least a cursory knowledge of a pretty vast array of movies. 3rd Shift Tool Crib Attendant Wilton, Ct Silicon Valley Group Dressed up in what appeared to be a couple of white garbage bags, I handed out tools to the folks who make the machines that make computers. It was a dust free facility, so I had a special dust free notebook which I doodled in during the wee hours of the morning. I worked with a pretty diverse group and I wouldn't be particularly surpised if one of them turned out to be a vampire. Bartender Danbury, Ct Hat City Alehouse What fun! Definitely one of my favorite jobs and responsible for more than it's fair share of my stories. It was a smallish bar with a great selection of beers and a good crew of regulars. I actually did a web comic dealing with some of my adventures there, imaginatively named Hat City Comics. English Teacher Uji, Japan GEOS English School Ever since my dad introduced me to the original Godzilla movie, I had always wanted to go to Japan. As the first web bubble burst and the company I was working for dwindled down to me, the Vice-President and President, I thought it might be just the time to give it a shot. I spoke no Japanese and had never taught, but apparantly those things aren't as important as you might think if you want to be an English teacher in Japan. Adventures and octopus doughnuts followed and I ended up staying two years. It was an absolutely incredible experience even if my shuriken skills never progressed to the point where my master looked at me with anything but disdain. |
