I’m sure you have a lot of questions about me, but the first one I will answer is this: nope; I do not like writing about myself. But since I have to, I will humbly provide you with several well-organized bullet lists.
Most important:
• I have a sense of humor (no matter what kind of work you do, this is probably the most important quality to have)
• I am kind, honest, fair and open-minded
• I take criticism well and offer it honestly (when appropriate)
• I am organized (to a fault)
My professional experiences:
• I have had a lot of experience doing what I do. That being said; I also love to learn new things.
• I worked at two different newspapers doing ad design and full-page pagination.
• I worked at a marketing/communications agency for most of a decade.
• I designed several phone books from start to finish. (Remember printed phone books?)
• I am the proud owner of:
– A.A.S. in Visual Communications (Cecil College)
– B.A. in Commercial Art/Graphic Design (Millersville University)
– Certificates: Digital Imaging, Photography, Video Technology, Portfolio Production (Cecil College)
• I also went back to college a few years ago to brush up on web design/development
• I have also had a lot of random work experience:
– Pharmacy Technician (Ask me to design a pharmaceutical label and I’ll nail it.)
– Receptionist (optometry, orthopaedic and the front desk at a hotel)
– I worked as a cashier in a craft store, I was a graphics person at a marble company (the stone, not the round things); and I worked at a church during a major church merge. Please note that a good bit of this experience started at age 14—I didn’t jump around jobs like a frightened bunny!
Things I consider myself excellent at:
• Photoshop – I can restore an old photo or add a realistic alien into your group photo—your choice.
• Pagination – I love designing newspapers, magazine, newsletter, price lists, menus… bring it on.
• Writing/Editing – I am an avid reader and I understand grammar well enough to know when something is wrogn.
• Repetitive Tasks – I don’t know why, but I have a lot of patience for this kind of work. I can drop the background out of photos all day long.
Random design-related stuff I have done:
• Banner Ads (Static/Animated), Databases
• I am not a from-scratch coding expert but I can make my way around pre-written: PHP/CSS/HTML/XHTML
• 35mm, 2-1/4, 4×5 Photography [with darkroom experience in color and b/w]
• IRIS printing, Imagesetter, Fiery (most of this is irrelevant, I know…)
• Video Editing (linear and non-linear) & Audio Editing (i.e. podcast, audiobook…)
• Manual Printing Press / Typesetting (This is so fun!)
• Slides/Slideshows
• File Conversion, Mac troubleshooting, ANY computer or software related troubleshooting (I love solving the mystery of why something isn’t working).
• Light plumbing, drywall finishing, oil changes and radiator replacement on a Jeep Wrangler (with no a/c—fact!)
My faults:
• I don’t like stopping mid-project or walking away from things until they are done.
• I am an introvert. While I consider this a good thing, many others do not. I am quiet, always thinking, but rarely say what is on my mind until I have refined it to precisely the right words. This makes me an excellent writer (behold! the power of the backspace!), but a terrible face-to-face conversationalist.
• I am a raging perfectionist. I don’t like making mistakes and tend to refine-refine-refine.
• I have a lot of hobbies. This sometimes makes me a “jack of all trades, master of none”.
Fun facts:
• I am an INTJ (…a whopping 95% Introvert!)
• My spiritual gift is discernment
• My Enneagram type (a 98% match) is a Five (The Investigator)
• I am a Ravenclaw (despite my love for Severus Snape)
What do I charge?
Excellent question! I charge a standard hourly rate billed on the quarter-hour (to help save you money) which varies based upon the type of work needed (i.e. graphic design, transcription, photography retouching…). I understand that budgets vary from job to job and I am happy to try and work within your budget as much as possible.
How to contact me
I’m in the process of updating this website as of April 2021. If this message is still here, I haven’t gotten around to setting up my Captcha yet and don’t want to receive a lot of spam by adding my email address or phone number directly.
In the meantime, if you’d like to send me a message, please contact me using LinkedIn or grab my embedded phone number from one of the images in my portfolio gallery. I appreciate that you’ve read this far and I hope we will be able to work together on your next project.
Oh, I almost forgot… what does the RGoldie in RGoldie Design stand for? Rebecca Goldie.