Bio

Leah Riley was born in Alabama, but lived most of her pre-college days in Hurley, Mississippi. She graduated from the University of Mississippi in 2002 with a B.F.A. in Printmaking, and has spent seven years working as a professional graphic designer.

She lives in a split-level house in Cary, North Carolina, with her husband Will, and Perdita, their cat. Now she does freelance design work, paints, draws comics (like Willrad), and writes manga reviews for Hobotaku. She is an avid reader and frequents her local libraries.



Resume

Work Experience

    Web Design, User Interface, and Usability
  • Designed projects, web sites, main pages, landing pages, UIs, flowcharts, including logos, icons, online ads, banners (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Omnigraffle)
  • Collaborated with programmers, photographers, coders, writers, editors, marketing executives, customer service operators and other professionals
  • Structured templates and layouts and developed guidelines and processes
  • Designed user interface experience and flowcharts based on feedback from target audience usability tests and surveys
  • Planned, coordinated, and oversaw usability testing activities

    Print
  • Oversaw account management, project budgets, art direction, and vendor contact for all corporate promotional materials, including shirts, bags, buttons, stickers, mugs, etc.
  • Designed projects in print, including brochures, logos, trade show booth, flyers, magazine ads (Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Acrobat)
  • Collaborated with artists, writers, and other professionals to coordinate production of promotional books for targeted audience - doubling the activity of that market each year
  • Designed over 200 book covers on an on-demand basis for individual creators
  • Managed (two) designer freelancers (hiring, discipline, mentoring, task assignments)

    Events Management & Coordination
  • Developed and oversaw account management, project budgets, and art direction for target market events attendance and coordination
  • Managed (five) part-time events staff and (one) freelancer in event attendance and company representation at events (discipline, mentoring, and freelancer hiring)
  • Collaborated throughout the company to develop target market identification guidelines and marketing plans
  • Coordinated with events organizers, PR, and marketing to write press releases and develop specific news notification lists for events
  • Prepared presentations for small and large audiences using PowerPoint

Technical Expertise (skills)
  • Adobe Illustrator
  • Adobe Photoshop
  • Adobe Acrobat
  • Microsoft Word
  • Microsoft Excel
  • Quark Xpress
  • Omnigraffle
  • Dreamweaver

Employment History

Graphic Designer / Events Manager & Coordinator
Lulu Enterprises, Inc. (Lulu.com), Morrisville, NC
Web Design, Web Development, UI, Usability Testing, Graphic Design, Print, Advertising, Project Management, Art Direction, Event Attendance, Booth Design
5/2002 - 1/2007



Graphic Designer
SAIR Linux, GNU (SAIR), Oxford, MS
Web Design, Graphic Design, Print, Advertising, Art Direction
2/2001 - 12/2001



Education

Bachelors of Fine Arts (B.F.A.)
Emphasis in Printmaking
University of Mississippi - University, MS (May, 2002)


If you are interested in contacting me about design work, drop me a line.