WELCOME!

I’m LAURA DOWNING

An experienced photo editor

OBJECTIVE

I’m a photo editor with an immense passion for cultural heritage and history. I’m seeking to apply these interests with a company that helps people meaningfully engage with our world.

I am a trained expert in aesthetics, which translated into a keen eye for graphic design. My foundational undergraduate studies of art history and studio art studies taught me how to recognize, analyze, critique, and develop my own work using the elements and principles of art and design.

I also have a natural affinity for computers and working digitally (I even built my own computer at 16—I knew I wouldn’t get a car for this milestone birthday, but I asked and received this instead).

Experience

self-employed, culture mode llc 2016 - Present

I have freelanced DBA as this LLC since 2016 with the longterm goal of setting up a digital creative heritge-focused agency in Bulgaria. In 2020, I refocused and decided to use the pandemic era as an opportunity to work on my passion project (details are still confidential for business reasons but may be disclosed on request; it’s a text-heayy historical board game, so my desktop publishing skills are well-utilized). In 2021, I also decided to pursue graphic design and sought out additional training to improve my skills. 

It was a beneficial experience that helped me realize that my abilities and professional interests are better suited for information-focused desktop publishing that I can enhance with my aesthetic eye and appreciation for visual communication and graphic design.

Mid-2020 I decided to use this exceptional pandemic era to focus on my own passion project (like Isaac Newton on a much much humbler scale). The project is still confidential, but my dream is that in 5 years time the educational art history board game I have been putting my heart and soul into these past few years will be sold at the gift shop in the Louvre.

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photo editor, system 1 (remote) January 2015 - Present

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trivia master, total trivia (remote) January 2015 - Present

I worked in an international team spread across the globe (Helsinki, Hong Kong, Minneapolis, Barcelona, etc.). Work was done remotely with weekly meetings via Zoom (before it became ubiquitous thanks to the pandemic) and most contact handled over Slack.

program assistant, balkan heritage foundation & Field School 2011-2013

stewardship coordinator, public art saint paul 2010-2011

• Repaired spray-painted public sculptures based on consultation with trained art conservationist (masking tape removes painted graffiti without hurting the object—slowly)

education intern, docent training program, minneapolis institute of arts 2009-2010

• The museum has an intensive two-year training program to train their docents. I assisted with the first year training, which mainly included making sure all training materials were up to date and making any necessary modifications,

• I was also in charge of keeping the docent library organized, which included thousands of folders of collected research on individual works of art in the museum’s collection, and periodically updating these folders as new research was published.

• I also collected more searcg abd based on my supervisor’s instructions and my own

graphic designer, gracefaerie designs, 2007-2009

• Used Photoshop to

• Used Adobe Illustrator to turn hand-drawn clothing patterns into digital documents. Keen attention to detail was necessary to assure that the scale and proportions remained exact from digitization-to final printing, as well as making sure all pattern directions and markings were correct.

software skills

adobe indesign

adobe photoshop

adobe illustrator

adobe acrobat

adobe after effects

• Creative thinker with strong visual design and typography skills

• Periodically social, but capable of independent work for long periods of time

• Ability to successfully develop several projects at once and adapt quickly when changes in direction are given

• Experienced creating, updating, and maintain brand standards with consistent and creative branding across all materials

• Keen attention to detail & ability to ensure consistency of designs across various media outlets

• Willingness to learn new software, stay on top of trends, best practices, and bring nwq ideas to the team

• Ability to create designs for various media (e.g. print, web) platforms and devices (e.g. desktop, mobile)

• Strong working knowledge of Adobe Photoshop and InDesign

• Proficient working knowledge of Adobe Illustrator, Lightroom, and After Effects

• Advanced Photoshop skills

• Excellent communication skills

• Proactively research and self-educate on subject matter that needs to be portrayed graphically

• Adaptive design eye and skillExperience developing and managing Brand Style Guides

• Select, maintain, and enhance digital library assets, ensuring brand usage is based on latest standards and company protocols

• Methodical, efficient, and productive

• Strong creative, organizational problem solving

• Able to manage multiple projects simultaneously under the pressure of deadlines

• 10 years experience working in a remote team

• Experience in branding, digital, and packaging design

• Great sense of typography, illustration, and visual composition.

• google docs suite

creative SKILLS