Sara Nicholson
www.saranicholson.com
dirtydiva@gmail.com

Objective:

To become part of a team of open-minded individuals who thrive on engaging customers through creative writing and visuals.

Qualifications:

    * Excellent visual, spoken and written communication skills
    * Understanding of social networking and its influence on customer relations
    * Deep knowledge of design, typography and photography

Experience:

Freelance Web Design, (February 2009 - Present)
Responsible for wireframes, look and feel and front-end coding (html,css) of various websites. Created designs to work in different content management systems. Consulted on other designersÕ work to make sure it would be easy to use as well as attractive for the user. Managed projects to make sure they were designed and programmed on time and on spec.
	
	* http://www.energyrecoverycouncil.org/
	* http://www.stopetaxes.com/
	* http://www.internationalpropertyrightsindex.org/
	* http://twitter.com/kittychix


Online Community Manager, Microsoft Xbox - Volt, Redmond, WA (8/2006 - 12/2008)
Responsible for online content posted on the official Xbox blog (GamerscoreBlog.com), official Xbox press site and Xbox.com personality page. Recently redesigned skin for GamerscoreBlog.com. Acted as liason between hardcore Xbox community and PR/Marketing. Assisted in translating PR and marketing materials into digestible information for gamers. Attended industry events and offered coverage for community members including blogs, photos and videos. Appeared in magazine articles and advertisements for EGM, 1up.com and Computer Gaming Monthly. Founded female gaming group Gamerchix. Appeared on panels and spoke to University classes in regards to gaming communities.

    * http://www.gamerscoreblog.com
    * http://www.gamerscoreblog.com/press/default.aspx
    * http://www.xbox.com/gamerchix
    * http://www.joystiq.com/2008/11/20/nxe-avatars-of-the-rich-and-famous/
    * http://www.flickr.com/photos/gamerscore


Senior Web Designer, Columbia University, New York, NY (7/2002 - 12/2007)
Responsible for designing web sites for various internal clients. Made sure all designs met industry standards and remained easy to use. Used provided branding to create general look and feel to carry across several departments within student services, yet maintain their individual feel. Photographed architecture for use throughout departmental sites.

    * http://commencement.columbia.edu
    * http://www.columbia.edu/cu/housing/
    * http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lernerhall/docs/About_Us/index.html
    
Senior Web Designer,  Etrana,  New York,  NY (5/2001 - 10/2001)
Responsible for complete design and maintenance of EtranaÕs corporate web site. Also responsible for creating client pages on the internal B2B sites. 

	* http://www.saranicholson.com/etrana/

Multimedia Director, Chyron Corporation, New York (1/1999 - 4/2001)
Interocity Development was bought by Chyron Corporation in January 2001. Was promoted to Multimedia Director. Responsibilities included setting standards for creation of multimedia content, communicating with clients, budgeting, creating specs, creating and producing multimedia content for web sites, kiosks, and CD-ROMs. Projects included:

    * TDWaterhouse/ Changing Jobs or Retiring CD-ROM
      Responsible for the full creation of educational CD including design, programming, and management.
    * Arts & Entertainment Network
      Designed, produced, and managed development of banner ads and splash pages for A&EÕs Biography series and the original movie presentation of Thin Air; also The History ChannelÕs History of Basketball and Great American Quiz Show series.

          o Great American History Quiz:
          o http://www.saranicholson.com/html/gfx/demos/gahq2.gif
          o http://www.saranicholson.com/html/gfx/demos/gahq1.gif
          o History of Basketball:
          o http://www.saranicholson.com/html/gfx/demos/bball1.gif
          o http://www.saranicholson.com/html/gfx/demos/bball2.jpg
          o Biography:
          o http://www.saranicholson.com/html/gfx/demos/bio1c.gif
          o http://www.saranicholson.com/html/gfx/demos/bio5.jpg
    * People.com
      Managed and produced several online pieces for People.com including:
          o A Beautiful Mind: (design, flash production, project management)
          o http://www.saranicholson.com/people/abm/index.html
          o WendyÕs: (html production, project management, page layout)
          o http://www.saranicholson.com/wendys03/
          o Subaru:
            (html production, project management)
          o http://www.saranicholson.com/subaru/

Designer, Time Inc. New Media, New York (6/1998 - 11/1998)
Responsible for creating homepage tiles to accompany current entertainment and news stories on pathfinder.com. Created graphics for breaking news stories for time.com. Designed 1998 Emmy Awards section.

Education:
BachelorÕs Degree, School of Visual Arts, New York (5/1999)
Bachelor of Fine Arts in Interactive Design.

Skills:

Photoshop
Illustrator
HTML/CSS [BBEdit]
Flash
Mac OSX
Microsoft Vista
Excel WordPowerpoint
Various CMS Systems

*References available on request