Melinda (Mel) Stockwell

After graduating from Coe College in Cedar Rapids, I landed a wonderful position for an advertising company and that set my career on track as graphic designer and print liaison. From there I began working in large print houses as an Art Director. I supervised the design department and prepress while working in tandem with sales to develop an overall effective marketing strategy. This new position was found necessary in the industry and became known as Creative Manager.

As Creative Manager, I had to stay in constant contact with the front end of the business. The customers feedback to the sales department is crucial to the efforts of a marketing plan. This depicts the visual goals of the graphic designers and creates a royal cord of branding throughout the company reaching into manufacturing. That is the method I use every day in my life whether I am designing, writing a business plan, delivering product, or ordering from my vendors. A true designer needs to recognize the cause and effect of what they are putting out for viewing. I strive to make my efforts measurable. Was it successful and if so rate that success and list how it can be improved. Failures are important and often need to be made to rule out what not to do. They must be analyzed and measured just like a success. As trends change, economy shifts, and customers (whether in house or external) need to be educated on what works and what doesn't, it is up to me to balance the information and supply visual answers to any question along the process path.

My personal strengths are carrying a heavy work load while meeting deadlines and staying plugged into the trends and changes of international design. My artistic strengths are capturing what I need in a photograph, quick graphic design development, full knowledge of the printing process, and the ability to work with other artists and realize how their strengths can plug into a project.