My Journey

My artistic career began circa 1992 at Corporate Visual Productions in Coral Gables, Florida. Previously a bookkeeper by trade, I decided it was time to do something more creative with my life. I trained with the resident artist at C.V.P. and began learning programs such as Corel 4.0 and Photostyler. Throughout the three years spent at C.V.P., I enjoyed learning about slide and video duplication, E6 and kodalith developing, copystand and product photography for companies such as Exxon and Visa.

In 1994, I worked with Applied Imaging in Miami Lakes. Though this experience was short-lived, it was an excellent opportunity to get involved with some new programs such as Persuasion, Powerpoint, Pagemaker, Astound, Super Q, Freedom of the Press and Adobe Dimensions, and to work with companies such as Disney and Royal Caribbean.

Later that year, I worked with a very creative photographer, Carlos Littlepage at Littlepage Photography. I enjoyed the position of photographic assistant, office manager and layout editor. It was there that I gained the greatest experience using the standard “big three” in desktop publishing: Quark, Illustrator and Photoshop. Among the many projects created at Littlepage Photography were swimsuit and Judaica catalogs, various brochures, product packaging, magazines, newsletters and ad campaigns.

It was in 1995 that I started my own freelance company, Beyond Design. Working part time, after hours and on the weekends, I worked toward building a clientele through word of mouth from some very happy clients.

From February 1996 through September 2000, I worked as a technical support representative for Deneba Systems, a graphic software developer in Miami. I was hired at Deneba because of my experience in graphic design and extensive use of mainstream software packages. As a tech support rep, my job was to answer customer questions about the “Canvas” software and resolve software-related system issues. Frequent customer questions included how to use Canvas to create various graphic effects. I did significant bug testing and reporting through four versions of this exciting software. As part of the Development Decision Team, I assisted in making decisions about what would help the software become more mainstream. Working closely with the Art Director, I helped develop several Tips, Tricks and Techniques for the Deneba web site. Sadly, the Deneba team was downsized in 2000. However, this gave me the opportunity to go back to school to pursue an additional degree in Graphic Design.

Between 2001 through 2003, I had the unique and exciting opportunity to work as the layout designer and illustrator for the Miambiance Literary Magazine, published annually by Miami-Dade College. Each year, the magazine is entered in several national, state and regional competitions. I earned 36 out of the 102 awards the magazine received between 2001 and 2003. Be sure to take a peek at the achievements section for more information about these awards.

Since early 2003, I have devoted my time exclusively to my freelance graphic design company, Beyond Design International, creating book covers, billboards, exhibit design, logos, product packaging, brochures, and ad design. In March of 2003, working closely with the Industrial Design company Roth•ink, I had the distinct honour of developing a graphic package for the River Heritage Museum in Paducah, Kentucky. This exciting project included logos and 3-dimensional signage, wall murals in both Illustrator and Photoshop, 9' charts and graphs, graphic representations to guide muralist, kiosk panels, button plates, and artifact layouts for each of the museum's exhibit areas. The museum had its grand opening in late August 2003.

I've specialized in book design, almost exclusively, since 2003. In early 2020, I acquired the much less fumble-fingery URL www.BeyondDesignBooks.com and began doing business under the BDB name.

Today, the list of projects and clients continues to grow and expand to include:

- Museum and Exhibit design with Roth•INC International and the
- River Heritage Museum, Padukah, Kentucky
- Logo, hang tag, and product label for Haute Couture dress designer, Ema Savahl
- Book cover designs for various individual authors and publishers
- CD cover and DVD cover designs for various musicians and lecturers,
- Product identity development for Trilogy International, (logo, product label, catalog, meditational CD, instructional DVD and web design.)
- Large format trade show booth and exhibit graphics for The Nigerian Space Council
- Large format traveling exhibits for Teachers Discovery
- Billboard designs for various companies
- Direct marketing Ad designs for DDM-New York
- Corporate identity and investor proposal for Hydro•Jection (Solutions with Water)
- My MOST famous client yet... Pope Francis!

And the list goes on.....