Loretta Matson| Creative Services

Resumé

WORK EXPERIENCE

2002 - Present, Freelance Consultant

Designed and produced book covers for authors of fiction and non-fiction through an independent publisher.
Designed web sites and marketing materials for fine artists and educational organizations.
Wrote and edited articles for lifestyle/social web sites
Planned, tracked and ensured timely completion of creative services projects for a major shipping company.
Designed and produced a variety of custom-printed and hand-bound pieces.

2001 Cisco Systems, Inc., Seattle, WA

Supported writing/editing group with tools and file management for software documentation.
Reformatted existing documents to meet Cisco graphic standards.
Wrote procedures for writers and editors for reverting to a previous version of Adobe FrameMaker.
Assisted writers with developing concepts for illustrations.

1996 - 2001 Active Voice Corporation, Seattle, WA

Created manual designs for three documentation sets ranging from 500 to 2,000 pages each. Produced visual standards documents for all book designs. Led process for modifying book designs. Team-designed information with writers and editors. Assisted other graphic designers in producing templates for four book designs.
Designed and led the initiative to migrate the Publications department (15 persons) from Microsoft Word to Adobe PageMaker. Trained writers to perform basic page layout.
Worked with marketing communications and manufacturing departments to produce manual covers and product CD packaging for three Active Voice brands. Adapted five OEM brands to Active Voice packaging formats.
Produced functional templates in Adobe FrameMaker. Specified settings for advanced features such as conditional text, variables, cross-reference formats and document properties, enabling my department to publish multiple versions of a documentation set from a single set of files.
Supervised creation and management of several hundred illustrations. Set standards to optimize their reusability.
Created more than 100 technical illustrations and diagrams showing hardware configurations.
Worked with vendors to ensure timely completion and delivery of approximately 10,000 pages of documentation over a four-year period.
Supervised the work of up to five graphic artists, training them in policies, procedures, and time management.

1994 - 1996 Merchant du Vin Corporation/Pike Brewing, Seattle, WA

Produced marketing materials for a variety of media. Produced entire line of marketing materials for name change from Pike Place Brewery to Pike Brewing. Assisted Creative Director in rendering designs for paper, ceramics, clothing, embossed metal, and vehicle signage. Prepared files for various output methods.
Managed extensive image library. Corrected and manipulated scanned images. Created illustrations for brewing supply catalog.
Drafted presentation visuals for sales department.
Wrote a style guide which included beverage industry terms and non-English names and words used by client breweries.

1987 - 1994 Aldus Corporation, Seattle, WA (now a part of Adobe Systems, Inc.)

Led graphic production efforts for several versions of the Aldus Persuasion product documentation. Led documentation team for the Aldus Persuasion 2.1 New Features Guide. Acted as subject matter expert and technical editor for entire Aldus Persuasion 3.0 documentation set.
Adapted manual designs for Aldus Fetch and Aldus TrapWise for different package sizes.
Designed and produced templates for Aldus Persuasion 2.x presentation software.
Illustrated and produced software manuals in European languages as well as English. Assisted other graphic artists in illustrating and producing manuals for Aldus PageMaker and Aldus FreeHand.
Wrote the Aldus Persuasion 3.0 AutoTemplate Guide.

EDUCATION

University of Washington, Web Technology Solutions Certificate, 2011
University of Washington, Multimedia Certificate, 2002
Western Washington University 1977 - 1980

OTHER

Betty Edwards’ seminar: “Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain”

AWARDS

Society for Technical Communication

2000: Excellence in the category of Quick Reference Guides
Unity at a Glance
1997: Achievement in the category of Software User Guides
Lingo User Guide
1994: Achievement in the category of Software User Guides
Aldus Fetch 1.0 Getting Started
1993: Excellence in the category of Quick Reference and Job Aids
Aldus Persuasion 3.0 AutoTemplate Guide
1991: Achievement in the category of Publication Design
Aldus Persuasion Desktop Reference
1990: Excellence in the category of Software Reference Guides
Aldus PageMaker Reference Manual
1989: Excellence in the category of Job Aids
Aldus Persuasion Desktop Reference

From the Technical Publications department at Active Voice Corporation, 1998: Recognition “For exceptional efforts to ensure the excellence of our documentation.”