-
About
I am an Industrial Designer with over 20 years of experience. With 20 years in rigid packaging and 3 in consumer products, I have a wide variety of successful items in production.
In my current role at Graham Packaging I typically work on over two dozen new customer driven projects per year by balancing 3-5 projects simultaneously. Califia, Colgate-Palmolive, Danone, Purex and Playtex are just a few of the 70 customers and nearly 100 brands I have worked with.
When I was a children’s toy designer I had more opportunities to invent and develop my ideas from scratch and carry them through the manufacturing process. Churning out idea after idea for the big “seasonal concept push” was always very rewarding for me. I thoroughly enjoyed my time there.
Over the years I’ve also learned that I have valuable skills and interests beyond design. I’m one of those rare designers that can actually work well with engineering. I’ve participated in PAC committees at the local art institute and eagerly participate in educational endeavors. I have made and sold jewelry from found objects since I was in 7th grade and worked for a found object sculptor for many years; that experience has helped me develop my ability to problem solve with what’s in front of me and to be able to find unexpected uses for everything around me. All of those skills and interests make valuable additions to any development team.
Here are a few of my favorite accomplishments:
-20+ patents awarded or pending
-Had a design stolen by a customer
-Projects continuously on time and under budget
-Successful engineering of, and improvements to, inventors’ blue sky toy concepts
Thank you for taking the time to read a little bit about me.
April -
Education
-
Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) Industrial and Product DesignUniversity of Wisconsin-Stout1998 - 2001
-
Associate of Arts (AA) Computer GraphicsRochester Community and Technical College1993 - 1996
-
-
Experience
-
Industrial DesignerGraham PackagingMay 2005 - Present (21 years 1 month)Designing mono-orifice fluid containment vessels at an alarming rate!
Currently working with international companies to develop new structural package designs. I create new designs independently or directly with customers in live CAD design sessions and have created several packages to help the sales team present Graham’s technical and design capabilities. I have been awarded over 20 design and utility patents. -
Toy DesignerProcessed Plastic CompanyJul 2004 - Mar 2005 (8 months)Invented, engineered and designed the best children's toys you've never seen!
I created original product concepts in the fast paced toy industry. "Season kick-off" mtgs required coming to the table with 50+ new toy ideas and then working through interest and feasibility of everyone's ideas within a few days in order to develop an action plan for the entire season. I always had several ideas at the top of the short list.
Daily responsibilities included conceptualization through sketching and rendering, market research and keeping projects on schedule. Other responsibilities included the development of specification sheets, cost reduction proposals and concept presentations for internal and external review. -
Design Coordinator for Product DevelopmentBig Time ToysFeb 2003 - Jul 2004 (1 year 5 months)Made crazy inventors' toy concepts reality.
Developed concepts, designs and their mechanical solutions. In addition to fine-tuning the function and aesthetics of incoming concepts, I constantly sought out additional low-cost ways of enhancing the toy experience for children through added features or gameplay opportunities.
Daily responsibilities included providing drawings and verbal explanations of designs to engineers in Hong Kong and directing independently contracted artists and inventors. Additional responsibilities included creating instruction sheets, engineering specifications and quality control checklists. -
Industrial Design Co-opPanasonic (Matsushita Home Appliance Company)Danville, KYJan 2002 - Jan 2003 (1 year)This was a very valuable internship for the Panasonic floorcare division full of design, model making and general corporate learnings.
Worked with design, engineering, manufacturing and marketing on new concepts, detail refinement, human factors and graphics for Kenmore and Panasonic vacuum cleaners. I participated on the redesign of the flagship Kenmore Progressive canister vacuum by creating my own concepts for the final mix presented to focus groups. Comments regarding my concept were incorporated into the final design. The current model relates even more strongly to one of my discarded concepts.
Responsibilities included sketching, model making, painting, research and presentations. -
Studio AssistantJudy OnofrioAug 1993 - Aug 2001 (8 years)Worked closely with the artist on creative decisions regarding form, details and color on large scale sculptures.
My ability to add miniscule beads "right-side up" without visible glue earned me the nickname of "tweezer" in the studio. I began to add patterns into the background surfaces that became a standard in surface finishing for years. I had the ability to focus on the smallest details of the largest sculptures whether they took a few days or several weeks. With my natural ability to sort and organize I was also able to properly identify, label and sort the artist's entire history of work that was loosely documented through thousands of slides.
Daily responsibilities included surfacing with beads, broken mirror and ceramic, jewelry, seashells, etc. I was also responsible for grouting, painting, final finishing and office and studio organization. I often aided in training new assistants and loved to source raw materials in the community on garage sale days.
(Note: I worked part time 1993-1996, fulltime 1997-1998, and fulltime summers 1999-2001)
-
-
Industries
-
Skills
-
Elsewhere on the Web
-
On Coroflot@aprilmoonpeacock, member since 2005
-
-
Following 1
-
Followers 2
-
