The Artist's Eye Studio
The Artist's Eye Studio
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    • Art Direction: Hunter 1
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    • Home
    • Design
      • Art Direction: Hunter 1
      • Art Direction: Hunter 2
      • Branding
      • Art Direction
      • Art Direction: UPS Store
      • Artist Resource
      • Case Study: Jewish.com
      • Design Philosophy
    • Instruction
      • Teaching and Learning
      • Curriculum
      • Students' Reviews
      • Sample Syllabus
      • Tutorials
    • Illustration and Art
      • AI Raster Illustration
      • —Tips on Training AI
      • — Build Mermaids with AI
      • AI Vector Illustration
      • —Document Layout
      • Axumsit
      • Digital Painting
      • Digital Drawing
      • Large Paintings
      • Small Paintings
      • The Flying Lion
      • Collages
      • Sketchbook
      • Editorial
      • Artist's Statement
      • Artist's Resume
    • Stories
      • Another Summer
      • An Artist's Notebook
    • Jewelry
      • Binary Byzantine
      • Martian Chronicles
      • The Elements
    • About
      • Resume
      • Recommendations
      • Contact
      • Bio-Short
      • Long Bio

  • Home
  • Design
    • Art Direction: Hunter 1
    • Art Direction: Hunter 2
    • Branding
    • Art Direction
    • Art Direction: UPS Store
    • Artist Resource
    • Case Study: Jewish.com
    • Design Philosophy
  • Instruction
    • Teaching and Learning
    • Curriculum
    • Students' Reviews
    • Sample Syllabus
    • Tutorials
  • Illustration and Art
    • AI Raster Illustration
    • —Tips on Training AI
    • — Build Mermaids with AI
    • AI Vector Illustration
    • —Document Layout
    • Axumsit
    • Digital Painting
    • Digital Drawing
    • Large Paintings
    • Small Paintings
    • The Flying Lion
    • Collages
    • Sketchbook
    • Editorial
    • Artist's Statement
    • Artist's Resume
  • Stories
    • Another Summer
    • An Artist's Notebook
  • Jewelry
    • Binary Byzantine
    • Martian Chronicles
    • The Elements
  • About
    • Resume
    • Recommendations
    • Contact
    • Bio-Short
    • Long Bio

Seeking Freelance Design and Illustration and Adjunct Teaching

Seeking Freelance Design and Illustration and Adjunct Teaching

Seeking Freelance Design and Illustration and Adjunct Teaching

Seeking Freelance Design and Illustration and Adjunct Teaching

Seeking Freelance Design and Illustration and Adjunct Teaching

Seeking Freelance Design and Illustration and Adjunct Teaching

About Me

I’ve been an expert digital designer, illustrator, and educator for over 30 years. I have deep experience in creating imaginative illustrations in traditional and digital media, and designing promotional communications and multichannel campaigns for email, digital displays, and websites in WordPress and content management systems, as well as printed material. I’m also experienced in prepress and commercial printing, from books to billboards to branded merchandise. I enjoy brainstorming solutions to visual storytelling challenges, and understand the importance of taking a user-centered approach: crafting consistent images and messages that engage the target audience. For more on this topic, please see my design philosophy.

Summary of skills

Art Direction

Concept development, visual communication and storytelling, typography, publication design and navigation; directories, signage, maps and wayfinding; branding and identity design, project management, client relations

Digital Design Instruction

I teach hands-on courses that meet real-world objectives, help students to find a starting point for inspiration, try alternative creative solutions, learn from feedback, and succeed.

Publication Design for Print and Web

  • Design complex documents for both print and web, using Adobe InDesign and Illustrator, QuarkXPress, Adobe Acrobat, MS Word, font management, color management
  • Use AI-assisted design tools to create exciting content and review existing content
  • Prepare document files for commercial printing (pre-press) and accessibility online
  • Build and maintain web sites, using WordPress, CMS, HTML, BBEdit, Fetch, FTP 
  • Design and edit emails and e-newsletters in HTML and a CRM
  • Create engaging PowerPoint and PDF tutorials for in-person and web presentation

Image Creation

Digital and traditional illustration; logo and icon design, photo correction, compositing and re-touching; accurate color management across channels; image preparation for web, print, or digital display. Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop, mixed media, paint, pencil, gouache, and acrylic

Collaboration

Basecamp, Wrike! Dropbox, OneDrive, Google Docs, Zoom, MS Teams, Scype, FaceTime

Editing and Database

MS Word and Excel, TablePress, FileMaker Pro

Software and OS

Mac/Win cross-platform, application installation and troubleshooting, font and file management, file sharing, system maintenance and upgrades, basic virus protection, basic networking 

Employment

Chair, UX/UI and Interaction Design, and Deputy Chair, Digital Multimedia Design

Touro University, Graduate School of Technology

New York, NY . . . 2025-present


Curriculum Development: Evaluate and revise degree maps for the graduate and undergraduate programs. Evaluate and recruit faculty. Create an AI Design course that requires students to consider the ethics of using synthesized content, and introduces the major industry image-generators such as Dall-E, Stable Diffusion and MidJourney, as well as text generators such as Co-Pilot and ChatGPT. Introduce the use of AI-assisted design tools in intermediate courses. 

Marketing and Enrollment: Provide content for promotional and marketing communications for digital displays, email publications, web sites, and printed materials. Coordinate branding and consistent messaging throughout communications and the program web pages. 


Senior Graphic Designer

Hunter College Office of Student Communication 

New York, NY . . . 2010-2024 


Designed promotional and marketing communications for digital displays, email publications, web sites, and printed materials such as posters and signage. Created illustrations. Provided art direction for multi-channel campaigns. Edited and produced biweekly e-newsletters for distribution to 23,000 students. Coordinated branding and consistent messaging throughout communications for 22 internal client offices and programs. Managed up to 500 project requests per year. Built multiple websites in WordPress and within a content management system. Researched hardware and software and created proposals. Worked closely with clients and commercial printers to produce booklets, banners, signage, and branded merchandise. Designed digital displays for commencement at Radio City and Madison Square Garden. Mentored teams of 2-5 design assistants for 16 semesters. 


See design projects for this employer

Read about my experience at Hunter

Digital Design Instructor / Curriculum Developer

Hunter College Continuing Education Programs 

New York, NY. . . 2011-2018


Built and taught visual design and typography, branding and identity, digital illustration and image editing, information design, publication design and prepress, career planning and portfolio development.

Marketing Director

Ganesh 43 LLC dba the UPS Store 

New York, NY . . . 2003-2007


Designed an effective, low-cost marketing plan, including high-touch street promotion, which immediately tripled new inquiries for this new business located in the Chrysler Building, in Manhattan. Produced all related promotional materials, including the website; brochures and collateral; online and print advertising; billboards, posters and signage. Trained and supervised 12 employees in accurately estimating production costs and managing complex digital printing, binding, and fulfillment projects.


Prospected and engaged corporate clients for design services, including identity, annual reports, presentations, and marketing materials. Worked with clients and vendors during all phases of design, production, and fulfillment, providing timelines, drafts, estimates, proofs, invoices. Negotiated favorable contracts with vendors and printers. Helped grow the business from zero to $500,000 in three years. 


Trained the metro area franchise network in document design, digital printing, and fulfillment. Represented the New York area franchise network on CNN Financial, ABC, and CBS, because of my proven abilities as a public speaker and corporate trainer. 


See design projects for this employer

Digital Design Instructor / Curriculum Developer

Touro University, New York School of Career and Applied Studies 

New York, NY . . . 2003–2012


Assisted in developing the curriculum for the BS in Digital and Multimedia Design program. Helped formulate program goals and constructed a degree map. In addition, I advocated for typography and information design as important topics for students entering careers where they have to design information for publication online as well as in print. Reviewed the degree program for Middle States, conducting interviews and making detailed recommendations.


I taught every course in the program, from Introduction to Visual design to Portfolio Development. Subjects included typography, branding and identity, digital illustration and image editing, information design, publication design and pre-press, career planning and portfolios for designers. 


See a sample syllabus

Digital Design Instructor

The Graduate School, Center for Applied Technology 

Washington, DC . . . 2001–2010


Consulted on curriculum for Desktop/Electronic Publishing, Tracks I and II, and wrote curriculum for Track III. Each track was an intensive 40-hour course that ran back-to-back. I taught digital design, document layout, spot-color and 4-color design, pre-press and commercial printing. Tools included QuarkXPress, Illustrator, Photoshop, web browsers and digital printers.

Founder, Executive Director

Artist Resource  

Northern California . . . 1996–2006


Built, designed, and promoted this non-profit, online art community and publication for the San Francisco Bay Area and much of Northern California. Created grass-roots outreach, offered awards, and wrote grant applications. Served over one million unique visitors—artists, designers, students, teachers, and patrons—every year. Recruited, trained, and managed a volunteer staff of up to 25 artists and web designers. Operated under the umbrella of California Lawyers for the Arts. Mentioned in local press and The Wall Street Journal as a valuable arts resource for artists and art educators.

Digital Design Instructor

The Cooper Union School of Art 

New York, NY . . . 2003–2004


Designed and taught courses in digital design and illustration in QuarkXPress and Illustrator, and image acquisition and editing in Photoshop, with review of copyright.

Program Chair, Print Design

Center for Electronic Art 

San Francisco . . . 1993-2002 


Program Chair: I built a successful, full-time six-month digital design program, from course map to curriculum to classroom experience, which became the model for our Web Design and Animation programs. As the Dean, I hired and supervised 30 industry-expert instructors, and coordinated academic strategy with the web and animation program chairs and the director. Established school-wide policies and procedures for faculty and students. Supervised student portfolio development. 


Digital Design Instructor: Taught visual design, typography, project planning, publication design, branding, advertising, digital illustration, digital image acquisition and editing, prepress, career planning, portfolio development. Applications included Aldus PageMaker, QuarkXPress, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop


High Voltage: Every three months, I directed 20-30 students, faculty and staff in designing and producing 22 course catalogs (10,000 each printing) and 12 corresponding websites. I guided both teams from client interview and concept development, through design prototyping and production, to user-testing, press check and deployment. We completed both projects in three weeks at full burn. This was the culminating course and final project for the design, web and animation students’ portfolios.


My innovative approach to managing design projects in an academic environment successfully met the client objectives, fostered team collaboration, encouraged student initiative, and produced professional portfolio projects.


See design projects from High Voltage

Digital Design Instructor

San Francisco State University, Multimedia Studies Program 

San Francisco, CA . . . 1997–2002


Consulted on the print design curriculum, as well as multidisciplinary portfolio development for graduating students. Taught visual design; project planning; digital illustration; image editing; information design; production and pre-press; portfolio development; and career planning. Worked closely with the program director and faculty in the web, animation and video tracks to ensure that all students completed a professional portfolio for entry into design and multimedia fields.

Education

Fashion Institute of Technology

New York, NY . . . 2010


Master of Arts in Illustration

Università degli Studi di Urbino Carlo Bo

 Urbino, Italy


Fine Arts, Applied Arts, and Art History

State University of New York at New Paltz

 New Paltz, NY. . . 1981


Bachelor of Arts in Visual Arts

Magna cum Laude

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Copyright © 2018 Li Gardiner - All Rights Reserved.

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