Melissa Stoberg

About Me

"Without deviation from the norm progress is not possible" - Frank Zappa

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Jump to:   What I do    What I’m looking for    Why I am looking    Why Hire Me

Mini Career Memoir

I’m an American graphic designer who has lived in Ireland for the past 9 years. My passion is clean, useful design for business by day and grungey and surreal designs by night. I’ve worked in Silicon Valley and San Francisco, for start-ups and for large corporations. I’ve free-lanced, worked in Ireland and America and recieved commendation from the CEO of a Fortune 500 company for my design. My career path has been winding and full of diversions wandering off the main road - I think of that as a positive thing.

I started my career as a video editor and effects compositor for computer games, had a long love affair with print design and am now re-discovering my love of the web. We had briefly fallen out during the coding tangle of the browser wars, but now I’m hooked on clean code and useable sites.

When I’m not designing, I’m feeding my various addictions - to images, coffee, books and playing with After Effects and/or my pets.

What I do and don't do

So what do I do? I do web design. I do print design. I design brochures, posters, sites, web banners, print ads and dvd covers. Occasionally I design identity. I like to learn new techniques and technologies. I think about the needs of my clients and their audiences. I take classes and read books and am always looking for talented people from whom I can learn more.

What I don’t do is complex Flash designs, Flash animation or development/programming. If you need those things, you are looking for a Flash expert, an animator or a web developer. My focus is good looking design that works.

What I'm looking for

I’m looking for a position in a company that is has a positive, low-politics environment and is focused on good results. I’d love to work for a company that has a culture of collaboration and learning. But most of all I’m looking for a place I can be excited to come to every day - a company committed to making communication that looks good and works well. And smells like coffee.

Why I'm looking

Currently I am employed - so why am I looking for a job? I work at a good company that's changing rapidly. That’s good for the company, but my job has changed too. And now the job and I are no longer a perfect fit. I’m looking for a better fit between my skills and goals and the needs of a company. I’m not looking for a new job. I’m looking for a great fit.

Why me?

On my plus side: I’m experienced and I care about the work I produce. I think about your target audience. I aim for useful designs. I have an eye for details. I am interested in always learning more. I am addicted to typography and colour. On the minus side: I’m quite short, addicted to coffee, I have questionable musical taste and an odd sense of humour. And I can't keep up with the Irish at drinking.

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Will we make beautiful pixels together? Take the quiz.

Please note the letter of each answer - don’t worry, it’s a short quiz.

1. Sum up the coffee situation at your office:

• a) There is excellent coffee in my office.
• b) There are good cafés near my office.
• c) We have a 5 year old can of powdered instant coffee. What’s the problem?
• d) Coffee? Bah! Who needs it?

Before we go any further, I'd like to make the suggestion that if you answered d then perhaps there is no point taking the rest of the quiz. As one coffee addict once said, 'a morning without coffee is like sleep.'

Okay? Ready to take the rest of the quiz? Don’t forget to put on your safety goggles - here we go!

2. The working style in my office can best be described as:

• a) Collaborative
• b) Individuals focusing on work alone but with occasional collaboration
• c) Like working in a call centre
• d) Like serving in the military

3. My attitude to employees learning new things is:

• a) Great! I'll even pay for classes and seminars
• b) Great - although I can’t afford to pay for classes, I'm happy to see my employees interested at work and expanding our pool of knowledge.
• c) Pointless - everyone knows that job descriptions are meant to be followed to the letter forever.
• d) What? I don’t hire people to think!

4. My employees come to work because:

• a) They love what they do and they do it in a positive environment
• b) They get to save clients from an aesthetic or usability crime
• c) Some of them have mortgages
• d) They’re biding their time while plotting revenge.

5. I'd describe our office political structure as:

• a) Almost horizontal
• b) A low level of office politics
• c) Hey, if you don’t have knives protruding from your back, you aren’t trying hard enough!
• d) Resembling a horror movie.

Only one more question to go!

6. What I'm looking for is best described as a:

• a) Well-rounded graphic designer
• b) Print and web designer with an interest in tech
• c) Flash guru
• d) Web developer/programmer
• e) Really tall person

Scoring this quiz is easy. If your answers are mostly a’s and b’s, then we’d have great work chemistry. Mostly c’s and d’s or an e? You’re looking for someone else. Simple! If you think we would make good lab partners, give me the good news.

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