Mark Plattner

About Me

In a field that is constantly evolving, a person has to know a lot about software, coding and design just to get by. It goes one of two ways: specialization or generalization and each has it’s own pros and cons.

Very often the scope of the project changes from day to day. You start out wanting a web design, then you need moved to print or vice versa. You are sent a DVD and expected to “Throw it up on the Web” but it’s the wrong format, plus that logo the client sent you is low resolution and it needs to be used on a print piece. What are you going to do? Unfortunately television and movies have misled the public by portraying a one button button solution to most computer problems. That’s where I come in. There’s a lot of back-end work that needs to be done to get your job out the door.

I have gone the way of the Creative Generalist which means I know a lot about a lot. The primary focus of my career has been do what needs to be done to make clients happy with the end result. You should give me a call to find out what I can do for you.

Testimonials

“Mark is a great production resource for any web or print graphic arts operation. He is creative, but also responsive to the needs of business management. He provides quick turnaround, and is very sensitive to deadlines. Mark always goes the extra mile to make sure everything is right! I would be very pleased to work with him again if the opportunity arises.” David Lash, Director of Travel Products, YTB Travel

“Mark is an incredible designer who works extremely efficiently. Whether I need a simple ad, a complex Web site, or a print piece, Mark delivers beautiful work in record time. When working in a fast paced environment, his willingness to work hard under pressure is invaluable.” Caryn Tomer Marketing Writer and Editor at YTB Marketing, Inc.

“Mark is a jack of all trades. His high level of work and dedication along with his “get it done” attitude made him a favorite to call for assignments with the various agencies and corporations we represented. Clients repeatedly requested him back and always were complimentary of his work ethic, attention to detail, and professionalism.” Kathy McGuire – Mullins, The CreaAgent

More testimonials can be found at LinkedIn logo 82x23 about

Resume

Freelance Production Artist
June 2010–Present
Clients included Spoke, Hughes, Dancing Ink Productions, Manzo Architects, Science House Foundation, EmergentByDesign.com, Van Ella Studios
Web Design & Development, Print and Outdoor POS, POP Production.

Freelance Production Artist
June 2010–December 2010
Clients included Hughes Design, Elaine Swanger Design, Boston Creative, Creative Producers
Group where I performed both print and web production for a variety of projects including phone
interface mockups, amusement park graphics, print newsletters and convention graphics using
Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign.

NSI- The National System
Coca-Cola Team
Initially hired to help migrate copy from one Coca-Cola server to another I took the initiative to
use my skills in Photoshop, HTML and CSS to edit images and code when in-house staff was
overwhelmed with work. I also downloaded and reformatted video from FLV to WMV when the
client was unable to get us the video asset in time for launch. When the client was missing pdf
assets their site, I downloaded old ones, and reformatted them for use with the new site. Copy
proofreading and text formatting for web view.

Benjamin-Moore Paint Team
Dropped French copy into the new Benjamin-Moore website. Tested the site for correct French
usage, documented and communicated the bugs to IT while asking the nitpicky questions about
grammar usage, translation and site functionality.

Anehuser-Busch Team
Creating Trimester Marketing Guides with the AB Marketing CMS and dropping/formatting copy
and images into the system.

Freelance Production Artist
January 2010–June 2010
Clients included:

TRG Group
Along with various print production duties such as illustration creation and InDesign work creating
luggage labels and multilingual booklets. I also sliced a flat photo image in Photoshop, saved it as
jpegs with HTML and worked with the HTML file and inline CSS to create a MarketVolt Email
blast for Essential Travel Accessories

Judth Rubin ETC Public Relations for IMERSA.org:
Gathering information, copy writing and creating the Bi-Monthly IMERSA.org Newsletter using HTML and CSS to get all the elements formatted and positioned.

YTB International, Wood River, IL
Front End Web Design/Production Artist
September 2007–January 2010
Designed websites and banner ads for on-line travel agency and e-commerce site. Designed and produced written marketing materials and PowerPoint presentations. Produced a dynamic e-commerce shopping cart using CSS in conjunction with XSLT documents. Took 3rd party templates and reformatted them to work within our web space. Decompiled Flash Movies and rebuilt them with new graphics. Reformatted unsuitable video and edited it to work within Flash movies and web pages. Used CSS to lay out Travel Brochure HTML pages into two column print page for the purpose of conversion with eXPert PDF. Daily web site maintenance consisting of image replacements and copy changes.

Freelance Production Artist St. Louis, MO
Print Production Artist
August 2006–September 2007
Clients included: Toky, Spectrum Brands, Avala Marketing, National Systems, Adamson Advertising

Waylon Ad, St. Louis, MO
Graphic Production Artist
February 2005–August 2006
Took unfinished comp-stage artwork to print-ready final production often resizing pieces to meet multiple publication or marketing specs (see attached checklist). Performed image retouching and minor color correction. Used Adobe Flash for animation of company web site. Cut, mount, built and bound presentation boards, and promotional books. Performed minor video and audio production on company reels. Provided logos and artwork per client’s request.

EU Concepts St. Louis, MO
Web & Print Production Artist
August 2004–February 2005
Worked closely with lead designer to take rough ideas and make them both print and web ready. Created graphics for client’s interactive kiosks according to strict software specifications. Made adjustments and corrections to live web sites based on client’s needs. Converted serial Flash animations to static navigable HTML pages. Designed and produced corporate Real Estate print ads.

Freelance Production Artist St. Louis, MO
Print Production Artist
August 2004–February 2005
Clients included: Propaganda and Waylon Ad

Rose Design St. Louis, MO
Print & Web Production Artist
May 2003–August 2004

Accomplishments

Freelance Production Artist St. Louis, MO
Print Production Artist
August 2001–May 2003
Clients included Waylon Ad, Toky, TRG and Meridian

The Waylon Company/Momentum-North America St. Louis, MO
Print & Web Production Artist
March 1996 – August 2001
Pre-press production of outdoor, brochures, P.O.S. and P.O.P, coupons and misc. signage.

Accomplishments

My complete portfolio can be found here.