Craig Kunce - CV/Resume

Summary

  • Six years management and leadership experience with up to fifteen direct reports
  • Twenty-one years experience in the graphic design and marketing field
  • Proven experience successfully integrating branding, graphic design and marketing strategies to create marketing, advertising, packaging, and merchandising materials for a variety of clients and industries
  • E-mail marketing experience—strategizing, building, delivering and measuring campaigns
  • Social Media marketing experience—Facebook Ads, Facebook, and Twitter
  • Search Engine Marketing experience—Google AdWords, and Google Analytics (web site metrics).
  • Prepress and printing experience with offset (sheet & web), decal material, pad press, hot foil stamping, and screen-printing
  • Ten years full-time college teaching experience
  • In-depth, professional experience with Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, html, css, and Dreamweaver
  • Web designer—currently design and maintain three web sites (220 total pages)
  • Practicing artist working primarily with watercolor and digital media
  • Currently license my artwork for use on retail products
  • Author and illustrator of the Children's book series Edrick the Inventor


Experience

 

Art Director / Designer / Illustrator
Craig Kunce LLC
Freelance artist providing graphic design, web design, and illustration for a variety of clients and projects including: brand identity design and maintenance, web site design, style guide development, logo design, catalogs, brochures, sales collateral, book covers, publication design, cartoon and character development, board games, apparel design, signage, menus, product development and design, product labeling, packaging and merchandising displays.

 

Author & Illustrator
Edrick the Inventor - Children's Book Series
I write and illustrate a series of children's books based on the main character, Edrick. I publish and market the books myself. Marketing strategies includes: author visits to bookstores, elementary and middle schools; direct sales during book signings at gift and craft shows, direct retail sales to book stores, gift boutiques, and retail stores; direct web site sales using my character's web site and shopping cart; Facebook Ads, Google Adwords, and direct e-mail marketing using Constant Contact; and PR strategies including press releases and newspaper and radio interviews.

 

Graphic Design Instructor
Western Technical College, La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Lead and art direct graphic design students as they design a variety of marketing and advertising material for real clients. Responsible for developing and implementing the curriculum for all classes taught including: Graphic Design and Marketing, Design Fundamentals, Basic Drawing, Illustration Concepts, and Graphic Design Portfolio. Portfolio course responsibilities include preparing students for their first job by building their portfolios and guiding them through the job search process. Full-time 2002–present, part-time 1999–2002.

 

Art Director
WinCraft, Inc., Winona, Minnesota.
Responsible for the day-to-day direction and management of a full service, 14-person, in-house creative department. Projects included design and creation of all marketing, advertising and product artwork for WinCraft and its subsidiaries, Colorés (Seattle, WA), and P&K Products, (Chicago, IL). 2001–2002.

 

Art Director/Product Manager
WinCraft, Inc., Winona, Minnesota.
As product manager I was responsible for new product development, strategic product pricing, positioning, planning, and roll-out, as well as maintaining product line profitability through internal and external research and analysis. As art director my responsibilities included creative and art direction, planning, scheduling, and direct management of a 15-person staff that included designers, illustrators, photographers and publication artists. Also commissioned freelance illustrators and photographers to assist with specialized projects. Accounts included: Warner Bros., Nickelodeon, Garfield, Peanuts, Scooby Doo, NFL, MLB, NBA, WNBA, NHL, MLB, NASCAR, WCW and the 2002 Salt Lake Olympic Games. Day-to-day responsibilities also included managing within the annual strategic market plan, financial budget and project schedule. 1995–1999.

 

Creative Director/Art Director
PinWorks, Inc., Long Lake, Minnesota.
Responsible for the day-to-day direction and management of a 3-person, in-house creative and art department. Worked directly with internal and external customers to create all marketing and manufacturing artwork. 1992–1993.


Furniture Designer & Builder
Craig William Furniture, Winona, Minnesota.
Designed and built custom designed, solid wood home and office furniture. I also marketed a stock line of solid-wood furniture under the brand The Elegant Country Collection. Designed and built approximately 150 pieces from 1998–2002.

 

Assistant Art Director/Production Art Supervisor,
WinCraft, Inc., Winona, Minnesota.
Responsible for the direction and management of a fast-paced, full-service art department. Accountable for the creativity, efficiency, accuracy and timely scheduling of a 24-person staff. 1993–1995.

 

Adjunct Instructor
Viterbo University College of Fine Art, La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Designer and Instructor for two new courses, Commercial Illustration and Graphic Design. Instructor for two existing courses, The Design of Advertising and Portfolio Development. Also designed and conducted art seminars for large groups of students prospecting the art field. 1992–1995.


Senior Graphic Artist/Keyliner
Graphic Artist, WinCraft, Inc., Winona, Minnesota.
Created illustration, design, production art and prepress film for a variety of products in the sports, advertising specialty and gift industries. 1990–1992.

 

Education

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, Winona, Minnesota
Master of Education, Teaching and Learning (Emphasis in Developing Creativity)

Completed three thesis papers/action research case studies: 1. How can creativity be developed in graphic design students, 2. How do learning activities that address multiple learning styles affect student learning in an online blended graphic design course?, and 3. How does color affect consumer response?


Viterbo University, La Crosse, Wisconsin
Bachelor of Integrated Studies, Art and Business
Senior Thesis: Does color affect consumer response, and does it affect a product’s success?


Alexandria Technical College, Alexandria, Minnesota
Two-Year Diploma, Commercial Art

 

Professional Affiliations and Activities

  • Onalaska Omni Center Management Board, Onalaska, WI. 2010–2011
  • Waterfront Branding Committee, City of Onalaska, WI. 2009–2011
  • National Association of Photoshop Professionals, (NAPP). 2005

 

Professional Training

  • Designing Inquiry-Based Lessons Utilizing the Web, Best Practices Academy, Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota. Spring, 2007.
  • Photoshop Creativity Seminar with Burt Monroy, Minneapolis Convention Center,
    Minneapolis, MN. 2005.
  • Wisconsin Technical College System’s teacher certification courses
    • Educational Psychology
    • Multiculturalism and Diversity in Education
    • Teaching Methods
    • Educational Evaluation
    • History of Vocational and Technical Adult Education
    • Curriculum Development
  • Mac Design Conference, Donald E. Stephens Convention Center, Chicago, IL. 2004
  • Point of Purchase Show (packaging and merchandising), Navy Pier, Chicago, IL. 1996
  • Digital Capture, Scanning and Photoshop Seminar, Olsen Graphics, La Crosse, WI. 1994
  • Graph Expo (prepress, printing & software), McCormick Place, Chicago, IL. 1993

 

Certifications

Wisconsin Technical College System’s five-year Teacher Certification, 2004, 2009.

 

Presentations

  • “Portrait of a Western Student,” presented during the New Faculty Institute, Western Technical College, La Crosse, Wisconsin. 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011.
  • “Current and Future Design Trends and Styles,” roundtable presentation to the publication art department at WinCraft, Inc., Winona, Minnesota. 2006.
  • “Planning, Preparing and Successfully Completing your Job Interview,” presented to the graduating students in the Marketing and Information Technologies programs at Western Technical College. 2005.
  • “Publication Design Basics,” presented to the Written Communication class at Western Technical College. 2004.

 

Software

  • Photoshop
  • Illustrator
  • InDesign
  • HTML / CSS
  • Dreamweaver
  • Flash
  • Acrobat
  • Office
  • E-mail Marketing
  • SEO
  • Google Analytics
  • Google AdWords
  • Facebook Ads
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Some WordPress and PHP

 

Interests

  • Traveling, canoeing, biking, gardening, and outdoor activities with my family.
  • Certified PADI scuba diver. Certifications include: Open Water Diver, Advanced Open Water Diver, Deep Diver Specialist, Equipment Specialist, and Rescue Diver.
  • Woodworking, furniture design and construction.
  • Landscape design and implementation