about
My name is Alex Lawrence-Richards and I design for fun and income (not necessarily in that order). This is my website, which serves as a repository for past and present projects in my portfolio. With a trained background in Journalism, Graphic Design, an eye and passion for design, I've been dabbling in new media for the past ten years as a web developer/designer.
My work is--without trying to be pompous or arrogant--functional, clean, usable, and effective. The body of work found on this site have been authored by me, but their copyrights are with their respective owners, unless otherwise stated.
I enjoy good writing, great design, combinations of both, Diet Coke to Diet Pepsi, red wine to white, Apple to Microsoft, Brangenlina to Bennifer (both versions), sandals to shoes, and spring to summer.
I've worked a lot of odd jobs over the years. From dishwasher, to lifeguard, to IT consultant, but by far the worst to date was de-tasseling corn in the middle of July in the Iowa heat and humidity.
In May, 2007, I graduated the University of Iowa with a B.A. in Journalism and an emphasis in Publication Design. I also completed a secondary area of study in Art with an emphasis in Graphical Design.
I currently reside in Iowa City, Iowa, Brooklyn, New York, but I was born in Seoul, South Korea, was adopted and lived in West Point, Virginia for six years and then moved to Cedar Falls, Iowa.
Need a highly motivated, passionate designer for freelance or full-time work? Contact me! I offer a competitive rate (both hourly and per project) and work ethic that will produce the results you desire.
web
This section serves as a showcase of my creative and technical skills in web design, covering work (both personal and professional) over the past few years. To see bigger versions of these pieces, please click on the thumbnail.
Restaurant Verdé
Client:
The Sullivan Gang
Client:
TPI
Client:
Siva Communications
Client:
This section serves as a showcase of my creative and technical skills in print design, covering work (both personal and professional) over the past few years. To see bigger versions of these pieces, please click on the thumbnail. Some pieces include more than one image. To advance to the next image, move your mouse over to the right or left side of the picture and click on the "Next" button.
OnCampus 319 Magazine
About
I was the Creative Director and my duties for this project were all the page layout and between 80-90% of the advertisement creation. After the first two issues, I had established a solid brand with a consistent look and feel. This was a learning process for me the entire way and each issue I was able to improve on the design. It was ridiculously hard work and the hours were absurd, but it taught me a lot and I had total creative freedom, something that is a rarity these days.
Download
September 2006 Issue
October 2006 Issue
November/December 2006 Issue
February 2007 Issue
March 2007 Issue
April 2007 Issue
May 2007 Issue
Typographic Hierarchy
About
This was a favorite project of mine that I did for a typography class. The brief was to create a hierarchy from a block of text that displayed the information in an intuitive and functional manner. The simplicity I attempted to create turned out to be quite elegant and really what makes this piece work.
Download
Type Poster
About
This was another typography project. The brief entailed creating a typographic poster for a font; I was assigned Adobe Garamond Pro. The poster had to show off the font and all of its different variations. When you open this image, click the "Next" tab on the right to see the back of the poster.
Type Poster 2
About
Another typographic poster, this time for Adobe Myriad Pro. It is a one sided poster showing off the variations and letter-forms.
identity
This section covers the bit of identity work I've worked on. Some thumbnails (when opened) contain more than one image. To advance to the next image, move your mouse over to the right or left side of the picture and click on the "Next" button.
Siva Communications
About
Created the brand identity for Siva Communications. Also created printed marketing materials, including a general information brochure, real estate and text message brochure, and business cards (see left). I also designed the front-end of their website. Unfortunately their back-end programmer insisted upon implementing it and it did not turn out the way I designed it. What else is new?
My-txt.com
About
Created the logo and marketing materials for My-txt.com. My-txt is an opt-in text messaging service that pushes out mass text messages to subscribers for businesses that sign up for the service.
Innovative Mediums
About
The parent company of My-txt.com and OnCampus Publications, they wanted a new logo that incorporated certain elements from their old logo, but with a more modern look. This is the design they arrived upon. This logo was incorporated into marketing materials, business cards, and their website.
Resume
Summary of Qualifications
Web and print designer with a B.A. in Journalism and over ten years of experience. Also have a strong background in technology, consulting and support with both Mac and Windows. Motivated individual with a balanced focus on technology and marketing. Attentive, capable, personable contractor with experience in design and marketing.
Professional Skills
- Adobe Creative Suite (currently using CS3)
- HTML, XHTML, CSS
- Page layout/design
- Web design, branding & identity
- Content Management
- Computer Troubleshooting/Consulting
- Microsoft Office
- Mac OS X, Windows XP, Windows XP Vista
Experience
Freelance -- 1997-Current
Designer, Consultant
I've been doing freelance work on and off (lately mostly on) for over ten years. I do a lot of it for fun and pleasure, but also for profit--steady diet of ramen and PB&J gets old after a while.
Restaurant Verdé -- Jan 2007-July 2007
Design Consultant
Redesigned their website with a more user-friendly and functional website that was faster to load and more intuitive to use. Also helped create a marketing effort directed towards a younger audience. Currently they are getting ready to introduce a new menu and will be re-designing their website, creating a summer marketing campaign and designing a new menu.
OnCampus Publications -- Aug 2006-Jun 2007
Creative Director
OnCampus Publications' OnCampus 319 is a monthly college-lifestyle magazine that caters to students in the Iowa City, IA area. As Creative Director, I created the look and feel of the magazine, from page layouts to creating advertisements for customers who bought space in the magazine. This was the first ever magazine I had ever done before and I had no idea what was in store for me. It was hard work, probably some of the hardest I've ever done design-wise, but the pay-off was well worth it. They are currently gearing up for the second volume of the magazine, slated to debut this August.
Innovative Mediums -- Aug 2006-May 2007
Design Consultant
Innovative Mediums is the holding company for OnCampus Publications and My-txt.com. They were looking for a re-branded identity which included new logos, marketing materials and websites for both it and its subsidiaries. All three websites have since been butchered changed.
University of Iowa -- May 2006-Apr 2007
IT Consultant
Trained incoming students who were hired at the University of Iowa Help Desk. Taught them the systems and processes we used to help serve the students, staff and faculty of the University of Iowa with their computers and technology services we offered. Also wrote training documentation, composed presentations and helped with certain marketing materials.
University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics -- September 2005-Apr 2006
IT Support
Helped maintain the computers and networks at the University of Iowa Hospitals & Clinics' Anesthesia wing. Other duties included software installation/troubleshooting, new hardware installation, hardware upgrades and general system maintenance.
Stead Technology Services Group, University of Iowa -- May 2005-Aug 2005
IT Support
Helped maintain the College of Business' computer network. Duties included software installation/troubleshooting, new hardware installation, software migration, and general system maintenance.
Department of Physiology and Biophysics, University of Iowa -- Feb 2003-May 2005
IT Support
Helped with maintaining the computers, email networks, and file servers of the department. Updated their intranet website and changed their external departmental website (it has since been butchered updated). I also consulted on hardware and software buying decisions related to the faculty's needs.
Education
B.A., Journalism and Mass Communication; Second Area of Study, Graphic Design
The University of Iowa, May 2007
contact
You can email me at alex at lawrence-richards dot com, use this handy contact form or reach me on AIM as nowayjose0. I receive a large volume of email, and I am at times a lousy correspondent, but I'll always read every email I get. If I don't respond, please don't take it personally.