experience

Amy Pelto Graphic Design—Oct. 06 to present
Freelance Graphic Designer
I work with a variety of clients including Catholic Healthcare West and the Mercy Hospitals, Sacramento Infiniti of Roseville, the Sacramento Public Library, The Press Connection and DiPinto Design. My projects include advertisements, brochures, posters and displays, newsletters, magazine production, T-shirt design and logo development. I also manage the Web site for Crocker Electric Incorporated (www.crockerelectric.com).

Catholic Healthcare West, Rancho Cordova, Calif.—Dec. 2001 to Oct. 2006
Graphic Design Coordinator
I supported the six Sacramento-area Mercy hospitals as well as Mercy Medical Group as the in-house graphic designer. I created a variety of print collateral including internal and external brochures, physician directories, booklets, mailing pieces, newspaper ads, magazine ads, trade show signage, logos, billboards, posters, T-shirts, giveaways, invitations, flyers, newsletter templates and communication materials. I art directed photoshoots and managed a stock image library. I maintained annual advertising schedules, contracts and ad runs, and I was the primary contact for advertisers and print vendors. I oversaw branding from a graphics standpoint to ensure there was a unified look and feel for in-house marketing materials and advertising. I collaborated internally with hospital managers and the marketing staff, and externally with advertising agencies.

DevX.com, Palo Alto, Calif.—Sept. 2000 to Oct. 2001
Designer
I was recruited from Fawcette Technical Publications (FTP) to join DevX.com, an online content provider for developers, which was a spin-off of FTP. I set up a home office and telecommuted from El Dorado Hills. I designed print marketing pieces including brochures and ads for trade magazines, and I designed and mocked up Web pages in Photoshop for in-house and advertisers’ pages hosted by DevX.com. I created banner ads for internal and external Web sites, and designed graphical icons and templates for editorial material on the Web site.

Fawcette Technical Publications, Palo Alto, Calif.—March 1995 to Sept. 2000
Associate Art Director, Java Pro magazine—Dec. 1999 to Sept. 2000
I oversaw the look and feel of Java Pro, designed the cover and laid out the magazine each month. I designed marketing collateral including T-shirts for conferences, polybags with CDs, and advertorials. I designed the cover for a biannual issue titled XML Magazine, laid out the table of contents and lead feature, and assisted with magazine layout. I converted the print version of the magazine to the on-line version each month (formerly www.java-pro.com).

Design Production Associate, Java Pro magazine—Sept. 1997 to Dec. 1999
I transferred to the Art Department to help launch Java Pro magazine and produce the first “beta” issue in 1997. I oversaw the production process and dummied the issue, made layout corrections and placed partial ads. I worked with a prepress vendor to run film and I provided the printer with printing impositions and instructions. I also estimated the cost for print jobs for special inserts and outserts, and I assisted the Art Director with and eventually took over cover design.

Associate Managing Editor, Visual Basic Programmer’s Journal (VBPJ)—March 1995 to Sept. 1997
I managed a biannual special issue, Getting Started with Visual Basic. I planned the content, assigned articles, and managed free-lance and staff editors. I co-managed the VBPJ production process and assigned and edited features and columns; wrote and laid out the Basic Heroes column; and developed concepts to illustrate charts and figures for the magazine. I represented VBPJ in the reader forum on CompuServe and I interacted with vendors, speakers, potential writers and readers at conferences. I was promoted from Associate Editor to Associate Managing Editor.

Hare Publications, Carlsbad, Calif.—June 1991 to Sept. 1994
Associate Editor, Police: The Law Officer’s Magazine
I assigned, proofed, wrote and laid out feature and department articles. I contacted photos agencies, photographers and newspapers to research photos for the magazine and special issues. I art directed photoshoots for magazine spreads, as well as photoshoots for related product catalogs. I developed concepts for graphics and wrote copy for advertising deadline cards. I was promoted from Editorial Assistant to Associate Editor.

EDUCATION & COMPUTER SKILLS

San Diego State University
Bachelor of Arts—Journalism with an emphasis in Advertising

U.C. Berkeley Extension, San Francisco
Graphic design and computerized page layout courses

Software Proficiency
Adobe CS3 Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign and Dreamweaver; Adobe ImageReady; Adobe PageMaker 7.0; Allaire HomeSite; Microsoft Office 2008 (Word, Excel, Outlook, PowerPoint); QuarkXPress 7.0. Some knowledge of Flash (currently enrolled in an advanced Flash class at Sacramento City College Spring 2009 Semester). Fluent on both Macintosh and PC platforms.