MY SON ISAYAS AND ME HAVING COFFEE WITH FRIENDS IN ETHIOPIA

Experience & Skillsets

• Graphic Design: branding, collateral, packaging

• Web Design: layout, HTML5, CSS, Squarespace

• Project Management

• Art & Creative Direction

• Video Production: filming, editing, storyboarding

• Adobe Creative Suite user

I’ve loved art and design from an early age, but it wasn’t until 2006 that I had the opportunity to pursue it as a career by learning from some amazing creative professionals at the School of Visual Concepts in Seattle. Since then, I have gained skills, friends, and stories, and have made and directed the making of loads of beautiful things.

Delving into a career in design has changed the course of my life in rich and meaningful ways. I’ve learned that there is great purpose found in using design for good. From re-creating new governmental brands like ArtsWA to creating a friendly image for a law firm at Helland Law Group, my career has proven to be a mix of fun, challenge, and reward. In addition to my own growth, the opportunity to nurture others’ design leanings and giftings as a Creative Director has been a truly rewarding experience.

The ten years I spent at Hemisphere Design & Marketing, a small design shop in Tacoma, allowed me to learn what it takes to work with international brands like Microsoft, SAP, and Amazon. As a small 2-3 person shop, we worked as a unit to create award-winning brands, like TAPCO Credit Union. We made our city better by creating striking collateral and environmental graphics for Tacoma Public Schools. We also made a difference in the world by crafting the MicroFlicks microfinance campaign for VisionFund. I learned much and accomplished much at Hemisphere, and in addition to branding, web, and collateral design, I was also the main project manager.

In 2019, I was invited to join the team at New Community Church of Tacoma as the Communications & Creative Director. It has been a joy to work closely with people I really care about, as well as to work with, and flesh out, a brand I helped create back in 2006. Leading a growing church’s communications through a pandemic proved to be quite a challenge (understatement?), but as a team, we worked to innovate, pivot, and learn new skills on the fly. To serve people well during a time of separation, we crafted a consistent “living room” video presence that included music and teaching each week. As a church with limited staff, my skillset broadened to include video production (from storyboarding to set design to filming to editing…and sometimes acting…yikes!). Since then, our church has grown and the number of creatives who volunteer their time has grown as well. I now have more opportunities to create design briefs and foster an atmosphere that welcomes creative expression as a way to serve others in and through the church.

As time moves on, I look forward to seeing how I can use my love of branding and storytelling to serve others and build meaningful relationships. Who knows, maybe I’ll get to work with you on something new!

All the best,
-Waymond