About the artist
Creative/Art Director, Designer

Description:
Throughout my professional career, my experience has been fast-paced, challenging and broad in scope. It has required strong strategic planning, highly creative visualization and effective management capabilities. I have been instrumental in the improvement, streamlining and cost savings of creative operations, developed cutting edge marketing and branding campaigns, and created award winning design images. As a result, I have a design portfolio that will knock you socks off!

Resume:
Energetic and resourceful CREATIVE/ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER with over 20 years of packaging design/collateral materials and management experience with a demonstrated ability of providing the imaginative vision and leadership that drives companies and their market branding efforts to benefit unprecedented creativity, consumer awareness and profitability.

SUMMARY OF QUALIFICATIONS

?Lead packaging designer for Consumer Products Division for Fortune 100 company maintaining consistency in branding and corporate identity standards.

?Pioneered, designed, and managed in-house creative services for M corporation, including graphic designs and production, print buying and traffic coordination, marketing materials and sales promotions working directly with product managers in all phases of design, production and quality assurance.

?Directed the creative strategies that directly contributed to the 500% growth of one of the fastest-growing Fortune 100 privately held companies in California.

?Award winning packaging design branding for national beverage company.

?Created marketing campaigns and products nationally recognized as setting current standard of excellence in quality and design in a variety of industries.

CAREER HIGHLIGHTS
Creativity
Designed and developed image for a new soft drink product line and marketing materials for Extreme Creme Sodas , Diet Juice Squeeze, and Tejava, produced by Crystal Geyser.

Developed product line branding, packaging design, catalogs, trade shows, corporate identity, websites and retail promo campaigns which complemented domestic and foreign markets for a diverse clientele: Crystal Geyser Water Company, alpine spring water-CG Roxanne Company, Caffino Espresso Drive Throughs, Christian Brothers Winery, Concannon Winery, Coldwell Banker Real Estate, Gilford Pharmeceuticals, Johnson & Johnson, MicroDental Corp, Nidek Corp, Oceanic Corporation, Koret of California, Oracle, APM Europack, Granny Goose Snack Foods, and Regal Gifts and Art.

Awarded bronze in the International Beverage & Packaging Competition for Crystal Geyser Tejava package design competing with 120 countries and several thousand entries. Awarded numerous Honors of Excellence in Communication Arts Magazine, Point of Purchase Association, Kirk Paper Co., Direct Mail Association, and the Medical Marketing Association. Management and Leadership Significantly reduced costs through effective planning and coordination, consistently meeting stringent deadlines and budget targets for core domestic and international direct-marketing promotions.

Consistently built and mentored a team of talented, motivated, multi-tasking individuals that produced under tight deadlines, produced on-target creative strategies of the highest quality.

Art directed, propped and styled photo shoots, both table top and location, in the food and beverage industry, clothing and accessories, furniture, gifts & art, sports equipment venues used in catalogs, brochures point of sale, web, trade shows, national advertising and sales promos .

Contracted and supervised domestic and international digital prepress and 4/6 color printing vendors that facilitated cost savings of 50%, directly impacting bottom line and employee profit sharing. Directed designers, photographers, stylists, casting directors, desktop designers, and copywriters to produce consumer sales materials, retail packaging, websites and videos for diverse market segment.

Credited with reducing costs 33% in one year for the Consumer Products Division by building goal-driven design and production teams while instituting planning and execution practices that assured meeting deadlines to eliminate rush and overtime costs.

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Guarascio Creative Consulting - Owner?Castro Valley, California 1994 ?Present
Freelanced a full-service creative design and production firm providing regional and national clients with the full range of top quality print and web-based branding, advertising, packaging and presentation materials. Serve as sole client contact for all phases of needs assessment, contract negotiation, design review and follow-up. Supervise freelance professionals on a per project basis including art directors, photographers, web designers, illustrators and copywriters. Manage all business related functions.

IFS (Institutional Financing Services, Inc.) ?Benicia, California 1983 ?1994
VP/Creative Director
Supplied the creation, vision and leadership to the creative department of one of the nation抯 largest fundraising companies to develop and produce exciting, products, packaging, catalogs, collateral materials and prize incentives totaling 20 million pieces per year. Negotiated, contracted and supervised printing services of highest quality US and offshore vendors. Managed six full-time and 20 contract employees and a 10 million dollar annual budget.

Crown Zellerbach Corporation - San Leandro/San Francisco, California 1979?983 Consumer Products Flexible Packaging Division
Creative Director/Sr. Packaging Designer

Marketing Selection/Fromm & Sichell/Christian Brothers?Winer 1977-1979
Graphic Designer for Christian Brothers?Wines and Spirits

EDUCATION Bachelor of Arts, Graphic Design/Photography/Interior Design,
Ohio University, Athens, Ohio
NYSU at Buffalo, New York

ASSOCIATIONS/AFFILIATIONS
Printing Industry of Northern California
Board of Directors and past-Chairman/CEO, National Association of Underwater Instructors Guest lecturer for International Conferences on Underwater Education and Los Angeles Explorers Society
Vizsla Club of America
Contra Costa Kennel Club

Capabilities
?Acrobat ?Adobe Illustrator ?Adobe Photoshop
?Bar Code Pro ?InDesign ?Mac OS X
?Microsoft Excel ?Microsoft Word ?Microsoft Office
?Microsoft Powerpoint ?Photoshop ?Quark Express

 Nancy Guarascio

Location:
Alamo, CA 94507

Contact:
Nancy Guarascio
nguarasc@comcast.net