Lauren Carswell
For a PDF of my resumé, click here. For an electronic version, click here.
EDUCATION
Texas State University
San Marcos, TX | August 2011–December 2015
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Communication Design
GPA: 4.0
The Katrina School of Art
Cut Bank, MT | 2008
Dougherty Arts School
Austin, TX | 2008
Advanced Training Institute
Indianapolis, IN | 2005–2006
RECOGNITION
Graduated Summa Cum Laude
Dean's List all semesters
Two President's Volunteer Service Awards from former President George W. Bush
WORK EXPERIENCE
Designer, Copy Editor, and Distribution Manager
CoStar Group, Austin, TX | November 2016–December 2021
Served as designer, copy editor, and distribution manager for LAND and Texas LAND, the largest rural property publications in the country. Each of these real estate and lifestyle magazines reaches 30,000 to 35,000 readers. These 200± page magazines are published quarterly (for 8 magazines a year) in print and online. Key responsibilities:
- Designed property and retail ad pages and featured articles, creating designs that were cohesive with each client’s company branding
- Reviewed all text, checking for grammatical and spelling errors and consistency with company copy standards; made edits and modified sentence structure as needed for flow and clarity
- Reviewed all designs for consistency and accuracy
- Uploaded editorial content in each issue to Land.com via Wordpress
- Oversaw magazine distribution, including managing client mailing lists and troubleshooting and resolving subscription/distribution problems
- Researched trending land events, companies, and products to feature in the magazines
- Constantly evaluated business processes for ways to increase productivity and maximize resources; suggested multiple changes to the copy editing and distribution processes which were implemented and resulted in greater efficiency and fewer mistakes
Freelance Visual Designer
Noah's Ark Preschool, Austin, TX | October 2017–November 2017
Created a tri-fold brochure and updated the business card for a preschool.
VintageMarketSearch.com, Kyle, TX | June 2016–November 2016
Performed brand identity work for a business specializing in antiques and vintage items.
Blue Cross Blue Shield, South Carolina | June 2016–September 2016
Performed brand identity work for the Cyber Security Operations team. Collaborated with client to determine design direction. Produced multiple design drafts for review. Delivered final design in multiple formats for use in print and web.
Lumerit Education, Spring Branch, TX | June 2016–August 2016
Remediated numerous formatting issues and inconsistencies in Lumerit online college course class modules. Using their new branding guidelines, made HTML formatting modifications to the text in Canvas class modules to produce a consistent user experience. Researched and selected appropriate stock photos to use as header images for class module webpages.
LolleePop Gourmet Popcorn and Treats, Round Rock, TX | December 2015–August 2016
Performed brand identity work for a local start-up. Met with the business owner to understand her business and design objectives. Produced multiple design proposals to help owner solidify design vision. Produced the final deliverable in multiple formats to facilitate usage for web, print, and clothing.
Compass Point Media, San Marcos, TX | April 2015–May 2015
Designed the layout, look, and feel of a responsive website for a Certified Purchasing Professional using Adobe Illustrator. Met with client as needed to discuss design direction and needs. Deliverables consisted of final design files in multiple formats.
Sales Associate
Stein Mart, Austin, TX | August 2010–August 2015
Worked as a customer service cashier.
- Processing customer purchases and returns in person and over the phone
- Troubleshooting customers’ transaction and merchandise problems and raising issues to management as needed
- Maintaining a professional demeanor with difficult customers
- Closing registers as needed, which included counting and documenting the money in each register
Visual Designer & Sales Associate
Cottage Comforts LLC, Wimberley, TX | October 2008–August 2011
Designed business card and arranged displays for an antique and collectibles retail business. Assisted with customer needs and cashiering. Utilized the Adobe Creative Cloud suite.
Layout Artist
Advanced Training Institute, Oak Brook, IL | April 2006–March 2008
Worked on a multi-year educational curriculum revision project for an international non-profit organization. Served as the sole layout artist on a 7-person team charged with a complete revision of their home education curriculum. Also designed related projects, including a weekly planner and a reporting guide for parents.
- Merged and formatted text using templates in Quark Xpress
- Applied editor’s hand-written text revisions after each stage of review
- Adjusted tracking, kerning, and leading on each page to achieve proper fit of all document elements
- Inserted pictures supplied by the art editors, adjusting size, location and page formatting as necessary to achieve the desired visual balance between text and graphics within each section of the document
- Searched online image supplier sites for context-appropriate pictures to use in various documents
- Used Adobe Photoshop to edit pictures and convert PDF files to picture files
- Edited music files in Finale for use in curriculum documents
- Worked on a number of related projects which included acting as sole designer of a weekly planner and a reporting guide for parents and students
SKILLS
Design Tools
InDesign
Illustrator
Photoshop
Quark Xpress
InVision
Web Development
HTML5
CSS
Komodo IDE
Visual Studio Code
WordPress
Organization/Management
Dropbox
Magazine Manager
Basecamp
Evernote
Trello
Chargebee
SimpleCirc
Other
Mac & Windows
Microsoft Office Suite
Numbers, Keynote, Pages
ISSUU
Canvas
Personal
Detail-Oriented
Excellent Communicator
Discreet
Strong Interpersonal Skills
Grammar Enthusiast
