214-718-1304
dave@redblok.com
www.redblok.com
201 E. Van Buren Avenue, Winslow AR 72959
September 2008 - Present
RedBlok Creative Services, Dallas, TX/Winslow, AR
Owner
I provide web, print and broadcast design services, on a freelance basis, to clients nationwide. Recent projects have ranged from layout and design for the La Prensa Libre and Washington County Observer (Arkansas) newspapers to video graphics for Texas’ TXU/Luminant/Energy Futures Holdings company and web design for restaurants, non-profit organizations and events, and media professionals from Dallas to Seattle.
October 1998 - September 2008
KDAF-TV (Tribune Company) Dallas, TX
Design Director
From October to December, 1998, I designed and implemented a complete graphics package for a brand-new news operation that was being launched at this station. After launch, I remained in the newsroom as Design Director, providing (along with two assistants, one full-time and one part-time) day-to-day graphics for the news, as well as supervising on-air graphics for the station as a whole.
March 1998 - October 1998
KXAS-TV (General Electric/NBC) Fort Worth, TX
Senior Designer
I provided daily graphics for three newscasts, as well as occasional print, signage, and audience promotion graphics.
March 1989 - March 1998
WDZL-TV (now WSFL, Tribune Company) Hollywood, FL
Art Director
I designed and implemented on-air graphics; I also designed print materials in support of sales staff and print advertising intended for newspaper entertainment supplements and magazines such as TV Guide. In 1990 I oversaw the purchase and installation of the hardware and software necessary to move our operations from the drawing board to the computer, and I continued to direct that development over the next nine years.
April 1988 - March 1989
WTTO-TV (Sinclair Broadcasting) Birmingham, AL
Art Director
I designed everything from the station's letterhead suite to billboards; I also supervised the production of on-air graphics by local production boutiques (we had no in-house production capabilities.)
November 1984 - March 1988
WBMG-TV (now WIAT, New Vision Television)
Operations Assistant
I served as assistant to the Operations Manager of this CBS affiliate. My duties included coordinating programming information between the in-house programming department and the CBS affiliate liason; writing and designing occasional print advertisements; and an amazing amount of typing (on an IBM Selectric typewriter, no less.)
May 1980 - November 1984
Self-employed
Freelance Graphic Design, Birmingham, AL
During this time I designed and built sets and scenery for television and live theater; I illustrated grocery products for newspaper advertising; I executed finish art for logos and display typography (no computers -- all done with Rapidograph pens and a lot of swearing); and I laid out type for print advertising (with an X-acto knife and Spray-Mount and still more swearing -- no computers).
Design software:
I am expert in Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator, and professionally competent in Adobe Flash and Corel PaintShop Pro.
3D design software:
I am proficient in Blender3D.
Video compositing and effects:
I am expert in Adobe After Effects.
HTML/CSS/JS editing applications:
I am proficient in various editing apps, including PSPad, Aptana, JEdit, Notepad++ and Adobe Dreamweaver. (Note that all of the websites referenced on the RedBlok site were hand-coded in PSPad.)
Web technologies:
I am expert in (X)HTML and CSS; proficient in Flash; I am competent in PHP and JavaScript.
Browsers:
I am familiar with the peculiarities of all the major browsers, including IE7-9, Firefox, Opera, Chrome and Safari, (Webkit, Mozilla, or IE, in other words).
Icing on the cake:
I am fluent in English and Spanish, (plus a little tourist French and Portuguese; I can also order coffee politely in Greek.)
1976-1978
Snead State Community College, Boaz, AL
1978-1980
University of Alabama in Birmingham, B'ham, AL
1989-Present
Various college-level classes in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and Dallas, TX
1989
Regional Emmy Award (Animation)
1990
Regional Emmy Award (Art Direction)
1995
National Emmy Award nomination (Public Service Category - Writing)
2001
Regional Emmy Award nomination (Graphics, Non-News)
Assorted Associated Press Awards (Texas), Addy Awards (South Florida), BPME/Promax Awards
Reference are available upon request.