ABOUT BRIAN

Brian is a graphic designer and illustrator from St. John’s, Newfoundland, Canada. He completed visual arts training from Sheridan College in Toronto and a Business degree from Memorial University in St. John’s. Since 2002 he’s worked with numerous clients in-house and freelance.

SKILLS

Logo design, branding, illlustration, print design, vector graphics, hand drawing, web design, writing, editing

SOFTWARE

Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Adobe XD, Fresco, Office, Google Sheets

CLIENTS

Calgary Flames, Calgary Stampeders, Brewster Travel, ATB Financial, West Canadian Digital Imaging, Trigger Street Productions, Formac Publishing Company Ltd., cDemo, K6 Media, T-Shirts.com, Cold Bore Technology

TESTIMONIALS

“I had the pleasure of working with Brian for 3 years. As our sole graphic design employee, Brian was responsible for all requests - ranging from client design work to equipment design mock-ups to a full suite of digital graphic assets for the company. Brian provided an attention to detail and artistic skill that helped us ensure we had a thoughtful design process throughout the organization, ensuring feedback was collected from all stakeholders that culminated in top quality graphics. I would recommend Brian’s skills for anyone looking for a graphic design skillset in their organization!”

Alida Burke
CFO, Growcer

“Brian is a talented designer that is friendly, collaborative, and detail oriented. When he has to balance multiple pieces of feedback, Brian always retains the integrity of the work and follows design best practices. He’s got a natural handle on InDesign, Illustrator, and branding, and it shows in his work. I enjoyed working with Brian and some of the best designs have come from giving Brian the freedom to take the brand where he wants it to go. When empowered to make the call on design decisions, projects excel!”

Stephanie Gordon
Content Team Lead, Growcer

“I worked with Brian for the better part of three years. As part of our Sales and Marketing team, Brian's responsibility was to support us with graphic design to better communicate Growcer's values using his creativity to help both future and existing customers. Whether it was creating new logos and brands for existing customers, or "beautifying" sales and marketing documents, Brian's creative thinking and talent was demonstrated through his quality of work, and undoubtedly levelled-up the content that Growcer was making. He was able to manage the many different ideas and opinions from the sales, marketing, and CS teams and generate clear, concise, and visually striking designs. It was a pleasure working with Brian and I can't recommend him enough!”

Nick Halverson
Sales, Growcer

“I thoroughly enjoyed working and collaborating with Brian. Every time we worked on a project together, Brian was great at quickly adapting and making changes based on my, or the team's, requests and the final product would always come out as something the whole team was proud of. He definitely left his mark on the Growcer as his designs will be influential on the company for a very long time and will act as a solid stepping stone for the future.”
Molly Neave
Research Associate, Growcer

“Brian's work speaks for itself. But if I had to describe it in one word that word would be AWESOME! Brian understands that the design of a logo must incorporate the brand story to truly stand out and perform. Brian is an amazing presenter of design concepts. I highly recommend Brian for out of the box creative design.”

Paul Readwin
CEO & Founder, Business Instincts Group

“Brian's skills were a huge asset to us at BIG. His eye and design sense helped us build some of the coolest visual brands that we've ever developed. He is a great team player, and I really enjoyed working with him.”

Judy Garvey
Project Coordinator, Business Instincts Group

“Brian is a creative thinker and we work with him because he provides us with ideas we would otherwise not come up with ourselves. He is a very talented illustrator and we have come to depend on his illustration skills on many projects. I'd highly recommend him for any creative design you may need.”

Christian Lavergne
Owner, K6 Media

“Brian was an exceptional self-manager who was always timely with his assigned work. When working with designers, many can have negative reactions if a client does not feel the work delivered meets their original vision. Brian was always very patient and thorough with any revisions we required - a trait I have not seen very often. On a monthly basis Brian always delivered a large amount of high-caliber content for T-Shirts.com. We would certainly work with Brian again in the future.”

Brad Kreutz
CEO, T-Shirts.com

RESUME / CV

Versatile graphic designer and illustrator with 20+ years of in-house and freelance experience. Specializes in branding, print design, and translating business goals into effective visual solutions.

DESIGN EXPERIENCE

Graphic Designer • Growcer Modular Food Solutions • 2020–2023 • Remote to Ottawa, ON

Worked as an intermediate to senior graphic designer for a manufacturer of vertical farming technology, contributing to its rapid growth and success. Daily work spanned a variety of design tasks, including:

  • Print: Developed sales sheets, brochures, user manuals, product guides, spec sheets, and case studies.

  • Web: Created presentation templates, webinar ads, and social media and website graphics.

  • Branding: Designed original logos, packaging mockups, and container wraps for clients/partners.

  • Promotional: Produced event banners, business cards, staff apparel, folders, etc.

  • Other: photo editing, maps, infographics, blog illustrations, brand guides, etc.

Joined the company during its early stages when it had an unfocused brand and disorganized marketing materials. Led the standardization, streamlining, and revitalization of the company's visual identity across marketing materials, documents, and more. Organized its library of photos and graphic assets and migrated existing Photoshop-based documents to InDesign. Overall, used InDesign, Illustrator, and Photoshop daily. Managed projects with Google Sheets and Monday and fostered seamless remote collaboration through email, Google Hangouts, and Slack.

Graphic Designer & Illustrator • Freelance • 2002–Present • Remote & In-house

Served clients across Canada and the United States, delivering quality design solutions with a focus on strategic goals and client service. Work includes:

  • Branding: Create effective logos with a strong emphasis on concept and strategy.

  • Illustration: Produce illustrations in a variety of styles tailored to client preferences.

  • Print: Design business cards, flyers, brochures, banners, vehicle wraps, and other print collateral.

  • Photo Editing/Mockups: Conduct photo editing and create mockups for various applications.

  • Web: Develop visually appealing web designs and graphics to enhance online presence.

Use Illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign regularly but start with hand-sketching as an initial step to explore and solve design problems. Collaborate with printers and third-party vendors to ensure seamless project execution and high-quality deliverables. Responsible for billing and invoicing. Clients include: Calgary Stampeders, Brewster Travel, ATB Financial, K6 Media, West Canadian Digital Imaging, Formac Publishing Co. Ltd., cDemo, and Cold Bore Technology.

Graphic Designer • K6 Media • 2010–2015 • Remote & In-house (Ottawa, ON)

Designed logos, illustrations, vehicle wraps, banners, business cards, and web graphics for a small, high-volume, fast-paced signage and branding shop. Managed multiple projects at once, largely unsupervised and on tight timelines. Collaborated with managers, colleagues, and clients, incorporating feedback quickly. Worked most closely with in-house print colleagues to ensure accurate and efficient results, especially for complex and material-heavy vehicle wrap designs. Used Illustrator and Photoshop for design work and Excel/Google Sheets for project management.

Graphic Designer • Business Instincts Group • 2011–2013 • In-house (Calgary, AB)

Worked as an intermediate graphic designer for a tech startup incubator, striving to create design work that fulfilled lofty strategic goals. Work included logos, print materials, illustrations, web graphics, web design, storyboards, UI templates, storyboards, infographics, email newsletters, photo editing, and some writing and editing. Worked closely with fellow designers, web developers, managers, investors, and print and manufacturing partners. Led design briefs at the start of each project to ensure clear project strategy, goals, and timelines. Frequently pitched concept work to management, colleagues, and other shareholders.

Graphic Designer & Illustrator • T-Shirts.com • 2003–2010 • Remote to Chicago, IL

Designed apparel graphics for an e-commerce apparel business. Consistently met weekly design quotas, creating hundreds of graphics in Illustrator and Photoshop. Worked with print team to ensure correct production. Evaluated and revised an existing library of thousands of graphics for technical and commercial quality. Worked remotely without direct supervision and communicated with managers and colleagues by phone and email.

CONTENT CURATION EXPERIENCE

Templates Reviewer • Canva • 2022–2023 • Remote to Manila, PH / Sydney, AU

Reviewed hundreds to thousands of user-submitted graphic templates weekly for compliance with Canva's policies on commercial value and legal compliance. Collaborated remotely with managers and colleagues via Slack, Zoom, and email. Worked under minimal supervision and responsible for own time management. Managed productivity and billing with custom Google Sheets.

Vector Graphics Reviewer • Shutterstock • 2016–2020 • Remote to New York, NY

Reviewed user-submitted vector graphics (icons, logos, illustrations, templates, etc.) for commercial value, technical quality, legal compliance, and metadata accuracy. Consistently processed 10,000 graphics weekly under minimal supervision. Reviewed over 2 million graphics during the length of contract. Inspected content with a proprietary online interface and Adobe Illustrator. Routinely consulted policy guide to ensure accurate and consistent review. Designed custom Google Sheets to track daily, weekly, and monthly productivity. Collaborated remotely by Slack and email.

EDUCATION

Bachelor of Business Administration • Memorial University Of Newfoundland • 2005–2010 • St. John’s, NL

Completed a 4-year business degree. Studied marketing, economics, accounting, organizational theory, communications, business law, quantitative analysis, calculus, French, literature, psychology, and sociology.

Art Fundamentals Certificate • Sheridan College of Applied Arts and Technology • 2003–2004 • Oakville, ON

Completed a 1-year visual arts fundamentals program. Studied drawing, painting, graphic design, technical drawing, sculpture, and creative writing. Served as Class Representative, meeting regularly with faculty to discuss student issues.