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RESUME for CLAIRE DESJARDINS

Objective: To use my 10+ years of experience in design in helping organizations communicate clearly and effectively, through visual medium.
Willing to travel.

Skills summary

• Artistic Direction & corporate identity
• Graphic design
• Web site design, planning, management & marketing
• Electronic newsletter production & coordination
• Project development & coordination
• Information architecture
• Team leadership & interpersonal skills
• Solid understanding of government of Canada's Common Look & Feel
• Content writing

Partial list of organizations that have bought my designs

• Department of Canadian Heritage
• Library and Archives Canada
• Petro-Canada Fuels, Inc.
• InterSight Technologies
• GoodNursing Magazine
• K-Mart
• Woolworth's
• Carnival Cruise Lines
• Holland America Cruise Lines
• Grand Union
• Wyndham Hotels

Professional experience

Graphic Design Consultant

Self-employed
1990-2000, June 2002-February 2005, 2006-2007, 2008-present
www.studioclaire.com (portfolio)
www.studioworx.com (blog)

• Assist clients in creating and developing corporate image, including logo development, look and feel, co-brand kits, style guide development, colour palettes, etc.;
• Design advertising & promo items, including corporate media kits, flyers, mailers, posters, etc., while respecting branding guidelines;
• Design and create magazine layouts and ads;
• Design and maintain web sites for clients in various industries, including financial, technology, arts, government, manufacturing, Internet, & retail sectors;
• Optimize client's web sites for top search engine ranking, thus increasing traffic to sites;
• Coordinate production of web sites from inception to end (ex: concept, site architecture, graphic design, content development, coding, delivery and marketing);
• Interior & exterior consultation of tourist attraction design;
• Painted murals in restaurants, shopping malls, bars;
• Created original designs for reproduction on clothing & souvenir items;
• Participated in numerous craft shows in Canada, USA, and Caribbean.

Graphic Designer

Halogen Software (Ottawa, On)
July 2007-January 2008
www.halogensoftware.com

• Created web page designs
• Updated corporate brochures
• Assisted in production and setup of annual User Conference, coordinated all related marketing collateral
• Assisted in re-branding initiative
• Organized branding elements to ensure consistency throughout all marketing collateral
• Provided artistic direction to freelance designers
• Designed new pieces of marketing collateral, under direct supervision of VP-Marketing

Senior Communications Officer

Library and Archives Canada (Ottawa, On)
February 2005-May 2006
www.collectionscanada.ca

• Designed and coordinate the production of Library and Archives Canada's first electronic newsletter;
• Increased e-Newsletter subscriptions to 3,000+ in 10 months, via various initiatives;
• Streamlined market research with production requirements, ensuring brand guidelines were respected and used consistently throughout the institution;
• Established visual guidelines and directed global look and feel for organization;
• Designed and coordinated production of all corporate promotional print items (banners, flyers, posters, print advertisements, hand-outs, etc);
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• rovided direction to freelancers and other individuals implicated in the production of corporate material;

Some projects I worked on: Educational Resources Guide, Govenor General's Award posters for history teachers, Archival Community Digitization Program Kit, including a poster, CD, and a "build-it-yourself" box, What's On brochure, exterior banners, signage, among others.

Artistic Director

Bell Canada (Montreal, Qc)
December 2000-June 2002
www.bellzinc.ca

Bell Canada's BellZinc.ca was a bilingual, B2B, Canadian portal which targets SMEs, and has since been merged with Bell.ca.

• Managed and directed workflow for Creative Services department of B2B portal for SMEs, including scheduling and maintaining deliverables timeline, and coordinating outsourced work;
• Planned re-design project and launch of Bell Zinc web site. Successfully coordinated redesign of site's navigation, respecting branding guidelines, and achieved project completion for launch date;
• Designed ergonomic web site GUI; this increased traffic to the site, and therefore to the number of page views; in turn, this enabled Bell Zinc to attract and maintain business partner relationships;
• Re-designed look & feel and architecture of Bell Zinc Trade Directory: more than 65,000 product and service categories available for searches and requests for quotes, with over 600,000 Canadian companies listed 1,500,000 worldwide listings, and companies from over 130 countries;
• Worked closely with marketing & communications department to establish a strong brand identity for all aspects of the company, including web site, subscriber newsletters, and other promotional material, such as online ad campaigns;
• Spearheaded creation of style guide & co-brand kit to facilitate co-branding of partners' sites and integration of Bell Zinc white label products;
• Assisted in usability focus groups;
• Implemented latest industry trends & practices; assessed internal needs for creatives, identified possible setbacks and defined solutions.

Senior (graphic) Web Designer

Cognicase (Montreal, Qc), 2000
www.cognicase.com

• Established client communications goals and translated these into design mockups; upon approval, I oversaw the developers' who consolidated the various elements into a working web site;
• Created brand identities for clients, including development of logos and style guides;
• Coordinated and managed the architecture (including storyboards), production and design of client web sites, successfully achieving timely deliveries;
• Created ergonomic GUIs for web, in-house graphics (PDF & PowerPoint presentations, logos, icons);
• Followed and implemented technological developments & industry best practices.

Graphic Designer - Web Producer

Normal Solutions (Montreal, Qc), 1999-2000
Was later acquired by Cognicase

• Coordinated and managed web projects (client relations, development team coordination, administration of web projects);
• Consulted with clients to assess their needs & goals, created timelines for projects, coordinated deadlines for deliverables;
• Designed GUI for corporate web site and corporate intranet (Normal Solutions);
• Created in-house graphics (posters, stationery, and presentations to potential clients);
• Maintained and updated client sites: edited images and coded HTML.

Web Designer

Electronic Direct Marketing (Montreal, Qc)
1998-1999
www.aminteractive.net
Later changed name to "AMInteractive"

• Created & maintained web sites for clients;
• Created banner ad campaigns, including design and ad copy creation;
• Edited images and coding HTML for web pages;
• Assisted in administration and coordination of targeted electronic mailings;
• Filled in for Operations Manager during vacations.

Office Administrator - Tech Support

VIAccess (St. Thomas, VI), 1997-1998
www.viaccess.net

• Managed the daily operations of Internet Service Provider's head office;
• Assisted in increasing the number of local users by way of creating advertisements, radio announcements, and telephone assistance (was hired at inception of company; number of local users increased from 0 to 2000+ during the time I was there);
• Provided technical support: TCP/IP dialup connections for Windows 95 users;
• Maintained and updated records for user database;
• Designed newspaper print ads;
• Designed web pages for ISP.

Art Director - Graphic Designer - Product Dev.

M&M Postcards (St. Thomas, VI), 1996-1998
Later changed name to "TOPS"

• Created new designs for souvenir manufacturer & distributor (St. Thomas, VI), including a new line of best-sellers;
• Participated in strategic brainstorming for new kinds of souvenirs to place on the market;;
• Coordinated communications between M&M and manufacturers in the far east;
• Assisted in creation of company's marketing strategy;
• Computerized the company, enabling them to do business more efficiently with overseas manufacturers.

Speaking Engagements

&What you need to know about web-enabling your business: delivering your message online&
For CAPS Montreal - Europa Hotel, Montreal (2002)

Certificates & Awards

• Golden Web Award - colexionperez.com (2004)
• Golden Web Award - InterSightTechnologies.com (2004)
• Golden Web Award - MVPix.com (2003)
• Photoshop 5.5, Master - Brainbench.com (2000)
• Illustrator 8.0 - Brainbench.com (2000)
• Fireworks 3 - Brainbench.com (2000)
• HTML 4.0 - Brainbench.com (2000)
• The Ronnie Terry Award for Excellence in the Creative Arts - St. Georges School of Montreal (1981)

Associations & Committees

• International Association of WebMasters and Designers (member, present)
• Art in the Park 2007 (artist/vendor)
• Ottawa School of Speech and Drama (member, 2006-present)
• National Gallery of Canada (member, 2005-2007)
• Ottawa School of Art (member, 2005-present)
• Montreal Museum of Fine Arts (member, 2005-2007)
• iStockphoto.com (contributing photographer, 2004-present)
• Friends of English Theatre at the National Arts Centre (member & volunteer, 2006-present)
• Art in Strathcona Park 2006 (artist/vendor)
• Sommelier's Guild (member, 2006)
• Association du 2445 Quesnel (president, 2002-2005)
• St. Georges' School of Montreal (Class reunion committee member, 2002-present)
• Jeune Chambre de Commerce de Montréal (member, 2002-2003)
• Bell Zinc Christmas party organizing committee (committee member, 2001)