dennis schaefer
Visual Designer
Professional Summary
Versatile, creative professional with over a decade of experience delivering visually compelling solutions that elevate brand identity, engage audiences, and drive results.
Skills
Visual Communication
Project Management
Brand & Identity
Team Leadership
Business Strategy
Color Theory
Technical Skills
Mac and Windows proficient
Advanced-Level Photoshop, InDesign
Adobe Creative Suite
QuarkXpress
Microsoft 365
HTML/CSS
Google Analytics/SEO
WordPress
MailChimp/Constant Contact
Hubspot
Murf AI
Education
New Hampshire Vocational Technical College at Laconia
Graphic Design
AAS: Associate of Applied
Science and Art
1984 - 1986
Certificates:
New Horizons, Nashua, NH
Web Design HTML and CSS
Dec. 2012
New Horizons, Nashua, NH
Web Design HTML5 and CSS3
Nov. 2012
(603) 988-4109
onlyinmaine@gmail.com
Loudon, NH
Work History
Art Director-TCI Magazine
Tree Care Industry Association (TCIA)
Manchester, NH
9/2023 - Present
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Direct and produce company’s flagship monthly magazine (cover and interior)
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Design media kits, magazine supplements
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Work directly with editors, authors to understand content for sourcing imagery
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Maintain/design magazine web site using UX best practices.
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Create SEO-consistency through file naming, alt tags, etc.
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Create audio content from print articles for use on Spotify, Apple, etc.
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Produce in-depth educational E-newsletters via Constant Contact and Hubspot
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Integrate YouTube videos into WordPress, and generate printable images from video content using Adobe Premiere Pro
Freelance Visual Designer
Loudon, NH
10/2012 - 9/2023
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Work with area based small businesses providing guidance and ideation for branding and marketing solutions
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Brand liaison with the Town of Loudon Agricultural Commission to promote local farmers and their products including video
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WordPress, website design and maintenance
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Brand identity, logo design, digital advertisements and E-newsletters
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Book interior and cover design for individuals and companies such as Re.Adpublishing and Elsevier Inc.
Graphic Designer/Digital
Laconia Daily Sun
Laconia, NH
8/2015 - 9/2018
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Design and layout daily news features and articles
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Paginate and design all magazine supplements
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Write and create content for Social Media and E-Newsletters
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Convert news pages to an E-reader format
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Create InDesign style-sheets, Photoshop macros to streamline production
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Maintain servers, backup systems (RAID) and all in-house computers
Design Manager/Art Director
Elsevier Inc.
Waltham, MA
10/2006 - 10/2012
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Managed a design department of four staff members, freelance copy editors and spec-writers
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Responsible for art-directing and scheduling of complete book covers, interiors, and ancillaries, averaging of at least 260 titles per year
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Identified print-to-electronic conversion problem areas and developed solutions such as adding XML principles
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Improved “print-to-release” dates, by reducing design-related slippage from 17% to 0% within three months of start date
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12 Bookbuilders of Boston awards for team cover design
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Created CSS templates for third-party vendors to build E-products based on clients’ needs
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Redesigned cover template for the Syngress imprint, resulting in a 22% sales increase within the first year
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2010 recipient of Outstanding Team Performance Award
Senior Graphic Designer
Addison Wesley-Pearson Education
Boston, MA
7/2000 - 10/2006
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Conceptualized, designed, and produced 40+ covers and interior designs, annually for $50 million college-textbook front list
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Directed and managed freelance designers and photographers
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Researched and selected cover photography including licensing, royalties, and
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associated budgetary constraints
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Designed Pearson Education’s 2004 Book of the Year
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2004 Bookbuilders of Boston award for cover design
Pagination/Systems Manger
Addison Wesley-Pearson Education
Boston, MA
7/2000 - 10/2006
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Managed the operations of a six-person pagination staff and a five-person advertising department
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Responsible for the timely-production of the daily newspaper
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Created templates, libraries, and style sheets to facilitate quick production times
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Prepared and designed in-house illustrations and graphs to articulate article information
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Designed and paginated specialty pages and all promotional inserts
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Maintained all wire-servers, pagination stations. Installed and updated all hardware and software
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Worked with management to create fully paginated pages direct to film