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Craig Kunce - Curriculum Vitae

Summary

  • Nineteen years experience in the graphic design, illustration and art field
  • Six years management experience with up to fifteen direct reports
  • Seven years full-time, plus three years part-time, college teaching experience
  • Proven experience successfully integrating marketing strategies, graphic design and art to create marketing, advertising, packaging, and merchandising materials for a variety of clients and industries
  • Strong illustration skills with watercolor, acrylic, colored pencil, pencil, ink and digital media
  • Experienced with all aspects of prepress and printing for offset (sheet & web) and silkscreening
  • In-depth, professional experience with Photoshop, Illustrator, Quark, InDesign and Dreamweaver
  • Gaining proficiency with Flash
  • Practicing fine artist working primarily in acrylic paint
  • Practicing artist working primarily with drawing, watercolor and digital media
  • Currently license my artwork for use on retail products

Education

Saint Mary’s University of Minnesota, Winona, Minnesota
Master of Education, Teaching and Learning

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

Employment History

Graphic Design Instructor, Western Technical College, La Crosse, Wisconsin.
Instructor with the Graphic Design Department. Responsible for developing and implementing the curriculum for all classes taught including: Basic Drawing, Illustration Concepts, Design Fundamentals, Graphic Design, Designing with Type, Desktop Publishing/QuarkXPress, Graphic Design and Marketing, and Graphic Design Portfolio. 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.

Designer/Illustrator, Craig Kunce Design and Illustration, Winona, Minnesota.
Freelance artist providing graphic design and illustration for a variety of projects including: logo design, identity and brand creation, style guide development, catalogs, brochures, sales collateral, book covers, publication design, cartoon and character creation, board games, apparel design, signage, menus, Web site design, product development and design, product labeling, packaging and merchandising displays. 1988–present.

Furniture Designer, 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.

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.

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.

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.

Adjunct Instructor, Viterbo 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.

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 t0 the New Faculty Institute, Western Technical College, La Crosse, Wisconsin. 2005, 2006, 2008, 2009.
  • “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
  • QuarkXPress
  • Dreamweaver
  • Flash
  • Fireworks
  • Acrobat
  • Excel
  • Word
  • PowerPoint

Professional Affiliations

National Association of Photoshop Professionals, (NAPP). 2005.

Interests

  • Vacationing, traveling, camping, gardening, and 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. Winona County Dive Rescue Team member, 1994–1998.
  • Woodworking, furniture design and construction.
  • Landscape design and implementation

 

Click here to download a PDF of my CV: craig_kunce_cv.pdf (196K)

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