alaina marie castillo

My Point of View: I grew up and attended college in Pittsburgh, PA. After graduating, I made the decision to move somewhere that was naturally beautiful; full of music, markets and artists. Currently, I live in southern Vermont and work as the Graphic Design and Production Manager at Mount Snow Ski Resort. I have achieved an ideal work/lifestyle balance here and will continue to find a way to make it happen wherever I go.

• I strive to combine meaningful design with sustainable strategies that are considerate of their global impact.
• New media outlets are the link between man and machine.
• I believe collaboration leads to grandeur ideation.
• Music expresses what cannot be said.
• A good cup of coffee makes me tick. (All coffee was not created equally!)
• Art and the outdoors go hand in hand, the way i see it.

Areas of Expertise: Mac/Windows, Microsoft Office, Adobe CS 4: InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Fireworks, and Dreamweaver, Quark XPress and working knowledge of Flash and HTML.

Skills: advertising, branding, corporate identity, collateral, illustration, logos, merchandising, photo retouching, and web ready graphics.

Education: B.S. Graphic Design, California University of Pennsylvania, 2002-2006
• Courses included: core design fundamentals, desktop publishing, in-depth critiques, marketing, branding, typography, fine art, art history, printmaking, multimedia production, and web design/publishing.
• Excellence Award for Graphic Design, 2006, Dept. of Art & Design, California University of PA.

Experience:

Graphic Design & Production Manager, October 2006-Present, Mount Snow Ski Resort, West Dover, Vermont. mountsnow.com
• In-house Graphic Designer to the resort. Responsibilities include: all printing that can be done in-house, advertising design and placement, brand management, creative direction, event posters, event assistance, flyers, brochures, direct mail, marketing, merchandising, logos, restaurant menus, signage design, skiing, trade show display, web creative, as well as managing and building the photography library.

Freelance Designer, August 2009-September 2009, Meathead Films, LLC., Burlington, Vermont. meatheadfilms.com
• Created graphics for 2009 ski film "Wild Stallions" DVD cover & poster. This project came with a clear direction for the concept and vision for the graphics. The final layout was completed by the company.

Freelance Designer, August 2009, Overcome Everything, Inc.,
Brattleboro, Vermont. runtellmanrun.com
• Designed a brochure for Tellman Knudson’s run across America...BAREFOOT.

Freelance Designer, 2007-2009, Samirah Evans, Brattleboro, Vermont. samirahevans.com
• Designed posters, and signage for local jazz performer, Samirah Evans.

Freelance Designer, May 2006-August 2006, Omicle LLC. Washington, Pennsylvania, omicle.com
• Collaborated on creative development and gained experience with web design. My work here was compensated in frequent boxes of fresh vegetables.

Muralist, 2005, Demon House, Charleroi, Pennsylvania. demonhouse.com
• Painted large scale scenes throughout the haunted house.

Medical Secretary, 2002-August 2006, Drs. William & Manuel Castillo, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
• Office administrator, redesigned office forms and business cards and learned medical billing.

Extracurricular Activities:

Yearbook Design & Instruction, 2007-2008, Wardsboro Elementary School, Wardsboro, Vermont
• Worked with the 6th grade class to build, design, and produce its annual yearbook.

Vice President/2004-05 & President/2005-06, Studio 224, Graphic Design Club
• Helped run and organize the graphic design club at California University of PA. The student led group provided freelance design work to people within the school and community. Some projects included: identity creation, web design/development, print collateral, event posters, t-shirt designs and package designs. Also planned and attended several trips to different cities to visit graphic design firms.

References are available on request.