Kristen Kress
Aliso Viejo, CA
kristenkress@gmail.com

Services

Aesthetics Engineer, Brand Solutions, Creative Spacial Designer, Design Consultant

Education
Bachelors Degree in Architecture
Woodbury University,
Burbank, Ca. 2002-2007

Laguna Beach High School 1998-2002

Computers
MAC & PC, Adobe CS6 (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign and Premier Elements) Keynote, Final Cut and iMovie Rhino, Sketch Up, AutoCAD, Microsoft Office & PowerPoint, FTP Sites and HTML formatting.

Skills

Illustration
Pen & Ink, graphite, oil, Watercolor & Prisma colors, Architectural rendering, cartography, Site maping & floor plans.

Prototyping
Laser Cutter, vacuum press, router, drill press, band saw, table saw, chop saw, skill saw, oscillating and disk sander, the joiner/plainer, soldering iron, welder, steel drill press and chop saw, grinder, chisels and dremel.

Materials
Numerous hard woods, Plywood, MDF, particle board, masonite, cardboard, plexi-glass, foam, plaster, resin, concrete, steel and rebar.

Professional Art Experience

Designer, JMP Creative                                                                                  
Santa Ana, CA
December 2008 – May 2015 Graphic Designer, Illustrator & Archivist
Created concept drawings for children’s toys and animation by hand and digitally.

Complied and created graphic presentations for the following:
Storyboards                      Animation Skills                        Comics
Character Design            Toy & Product Design               Scene Design
Concept Design               Logos                                            Instructional Illustration

Created graphic illustrations as part of a team, which were compiled together for presentations to companies, such as:  Hasbro,   Mattel,   Disney,   Nickelodeon,   Cartoon Network,   Topps and many others.  Experienced in brand creation and execution.  Participated in daily brainstorms and creative discussions. Built and coded the digital and physical archive  systems still in use today.

Graphics and Editorial Assistant, Action Sports Group
San Juan Capistrano, CA
2009 Graphic Design for Canoe and Kayak Magazine
Assist in layout of the magazine pages for the monthly magazine.
Specialized Product Booklets and back stories.
Fine Art Illustrations as needed.
Maintained the magazine’s website and provided administrative and editorial assistance.

Editorial Coordinator and Graphic Designer, Fusion Publishing
Los Angeles, CA
2007 – 2008 Editor of Architecture and Design: Los Angeles (Daab)
Responsible for gathering all book material,  project text and images to complete the 240 page book layout in InDesign.
Decision making responsibilities included evaluating firms, designers and artists for the publication after viewing work.
Collaborated to gather all requested materials.  Edited and wrote content captions in addition to editing images.
Responsible for contacting and coordinating with all artists and designers involved.  Collected and compiled all copyright
confirmations and confirmed usage of copyrighted materials.

For the following publications:
1000 x Architecture of the Americas   (Verlagshaus-Braun)
Cult Masterpieces  (teNeues)
Cool Hotels USA   (teNues)
Creative USA  (Daab)

Woodshop Supervisor, Woodbury University  
Burbank, CA
2004 – 2007
While attending Woodbury University, I worked in the Architectural Department’s woodshop.  Maintained  machinery, supervised students and guests using the shop.  Educated students on shop machinery, maintenance and tool usage. Participated in the construction of temporary exhibit displays for students and professors at the University’s Wedge Gallery including the off campus gallery on Hollywood Boulevard.

Paid Intern, Blair Ballard Architect
Laguna Beach, CA
2004
Used both hand drawing and AutoCAD to draft floor plans, sections and elevations for residential projects.  Experienced field work at job sites, coordinating with city’s Planning Department.