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Gordon
McAlpin
1230 W. Albion Ave., Apt.
3N • Chicago, IL 60626
phone 773-710-6632 • e-mail gordon
<at> strippedbooks <dot> com
Education
Bachelor of Science in Studio
Art (Graphic Design)
Bradley University, Peoria, Illinois • August,
2000 – May, 2001
Bachelor of Science
in Studio Art (Drawing)
Bachelor of Arts in English (Writing)
Bradley University, Peoria,
Illinois • June,
1992 – December, 1996
Creative Writing minor
Work Experience
Freelance Designer,
Production Artist, Illustrator and Writer
Self-Employed • January, 2003 – present
• Freelance design,
production, illustration and writing for a variety of clients
and publications. Clients include National Geographic School Publishing, WorldTravel Meetings & Incentives,
the Chicago Catalog Group, Golin-Harris, Edelman (through
Artisan | etalent), CFM Direct, Bookslut, Gapers Block and PISTIL Magazine.
• Experienced with POP displays,
direct mail, packaging, brochures, posters, logo design
and more.
Digital Artist (October,
2006 – September, 2007)
Graphic Artist (August, 2005 – October,
2006)
Upshot • August, 2005 – September, 2007
• Digital production/pre-press
work on in-store signage, posters, out-of-home, and a wide
variety of print products, for Miller Brewing Company,
Disney Vacation Club, Procter & Gamble, Finish Line,
and other accounts.
• Create illustrations and retouch,
color correct and/or composite photographs to art director
and client instructions.
• Prepare file mechanicals
for release to print vendors using Adobe Illustrator.
Graphic Designer
CFM Direct, Inc. • March, 2005 – August, 2005
• General production work using QuarkXPress
and Illustrator on direct mail projects for a variety of finance clients.
• Completely
rebuilt templates for Metris direct mail letters, resulting in faster turn-around
times and lower error rates campaign-wide.
Freelance Designer,
Production Artist, Illustrator, and Technical Editor (full-time)
Chicago Catalog Group (now Haggin Marketing) • November,
2003 – August,
2004
• Page layout and general
production work for catalogs, instruction sheets, packaging
and other projects.
• Created technical illustrations
and presentation graphics for a variety of projects.
• Edited
technical information for a 3,000+ page aviation parts
catalog.
Associate Art Director (March,
2002 – Jan. 2003)
Production Art Director (July, 2001 – March,
2002)
Publications International, Ltd., Lincolnwood,
Illinois • July, 2001 – January, 2003
• Designed, prepared, and preflighted mechanicals for a variety of projects
including children’s books, activity books, educational tile sets and
related packaging and marketing materials.
• Directed freelance illustrators
with written instructions and detailed thumbnail drawings.
• Retouched
artwork in Photoshop to meet licensors’ requirements
as necessary.
Production Artist
Key Industries, Inc., East Peoria, Illinois
• January, 1998 – April, 2001
• Produced mechanicals for screen and offset printing
of a wide range of promotional products (including pens, 3M notepads,
and magnets).
• Scanned and vectored customer artwork, set type, and layed out artwork/design
elements.
Art Proofreader
Key Industries, Inc., East Peoria, Illinois • March,
1997 – December, 1997
• Checked production artwork for
typographical and artistic errors (such as trap) and corrected
them as necessary.
• Promoted to California Line Team Leader after three
months, where I established procedures for future California
Line proofreaders.
Comics & Cartoons
“Multiplex” weekly
humor comic strip. Multiplexcomic.com. July,
2005 – present.
“Baldy” adaptation of a short story
by Joe Killiany. Barrelhouse issue 4. Summer,
2007.
“Stripped Books:
A Comics Panel” comics-form article. StrippedBooks.com. December,
2005 – April, 2006.
“Eye of the
Beholder” comics-form article. PISTIL
Magazine. Fall, 2005.
“Stripped Books: Harry Potter and the 57th
St. Books Release Party” comics-form
article (cover illustration
by Libby VanderPloeg). StrippedBooks.com. September 5, 2005.
“Stripped Books:
Neil Gaiman at the 2005 Nebula Awards” comics-form
article (guest illustrated
by Dan Henrick). Bookslut. July,
2005.
“Stripped Books:
Pick the Trotsky!” comics-form article.
Bookslut. May, 2005.
“One Day at the
Daily Planet…” comic strip. PISTIL
Magazine. Spring, 2005.
“Stripped Books:
Stephen Mitchell on Gilgamesh” comics-form
article. Bookslut. February, 2005.
“Stripped Books:
Jon and Lane go to Barnes & Noble!”
comics-form article. Bookslut. November, 2004.
“Stripped Books:
Persepolis 2.1: The Story of a Signing”
comics-form article. Bookslut. October, 2004.
“Jane, You Ignorant
Slut” comic strip/editorial illustration. PISTIL Magazine. Fall, 2004.
“Public/Private”
comic strip. PISTIL Magazine. Fall, 2003.
Articles & Interviews
“Big Time
Interview with Big Time Attic” interview with comics
creators Zander Cannon, Kevin Cannon and Shad Petosky. Comic
Book Galaxy. October 17, 2005.
“The Ivan Brunetti
Interview” interview with comics creator Ivan Brunetti. Comic
Book Galaxy. September 8, 2005.
“The
Hope Larson Interview” interview with comics
creator Hope Larson. Comic Book Galaxy. August
9, 2005.
“Practically Cooking:
Go Go Gadget.”
Saucy. June 15, 2005.
“An Interview with
Jon Scieszka” interview with children's book writer
Jon Scieszka. Bookslut. June, 2005.
“Practically Cooking:
Look Sharp.”
Saucy. May 10, 2005.
“Practically Cooking:
Pots and Pans.”
Saucy. March 30, 2005.
“Vote of Confidence”
interview with designer Marcia Lausen. PISTIL Magazine.
Spring, 2005.
Reviews
“Flotation
Device #11
by Keith Helt and various artists” comic/zine
review. Comic Book Galaxy. October 19, 2005.
“The
Wind on the Moon by Erik Linklater” book review.
Bookslut. May, 2005.
“Epileptic
by David B.” book review. Bookslut. May,
2005.
“Wonder Woman
and The Greatest American Hero”
DVD box set reviews. Gapers Block. March 4,
2005.
“Nausicaä
of the Valley of the Wind” film
review. Gapers Block. February 18, 2005.
“Yasujiro Ozu,
Part Two: The Story of Floating Weeds and Early
Summer” film reviews. Gapers Block.
February
11, 2005.
“Aliens of
the Deep and What the Bleep Do We Know?!”
film reviews. Gapers Block. February 4, 2005.
“In the Realms
of the Unreal” film review. Gapers Block.
January 28, 2005.
“Yasujiro Ozu,
Part One: Tokyo Story and Good Morning”
film reviews. Gapers Block. January 14, 2005.
“A Short Film
About John Bolton” DVD review. Gapers
Block. January 7, 2005.
“Hotel Rwanda
and The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou”
film reviews. Gapers Block. December 31, 2004.
“House of
Flying Daggers, Million Dollar Baby, and Infernal
Affairs” film reviews. Gapers Block.
December 24, 2004.
“Stupid Sports
Comedies: Dodgeball, The Iron Ladies,
and Shaolin Soccer” DVD reviews. Gapers
Block.
December 17, 2004.
“Moolaadé”
film review. Gapers Block. December 10, 2004.
“The Most
Gigantic Lying Mouth of All Time” DVD review.
Gapers Block. December 3, 2004.
“Finding Neverland”
film review. Gapers Block. November 26, 2004.
“Arrested
Development: Season 1” DVD review.
Gapers Block. November 19, 2004.
“The Incredibles
and The Iron Giant” film
reviews. Gapers Block. November 12, 2004.
“Olive, My
Love by Vivian Walsh and J.otto Seibold”
book review. Bookslut. November, 2004.
“Primer”
film review. Gapers Block. November 2, 2004.
“Vera Drake”
film review. Gapers Block. October 29, 2004.
“Team America:
World Police and Secret Honor” film
reviews. Gapers Block. October 22,2004.
“Four Films by
Seijun Suzuki: Underworld Beauty, Tokyo Drifter,
Branded to Kill and Kanto Wanderer”
film reviews.
Gapers Block. October 15,2004.
“The Leopard”
film review. Gapers Block. October 8,2004.
“King Matt
the First by Janusz Korczak” book review.
Bookslut. October, 2004.
“The Star
Wars Trilogy” DVD box set review. Gapers
Block. October 1, 2004.
“THX 1138:
The George Lucas Director's Cut” film review.
Gapers Block. October 1, 2004.
“Sky Captain
and the World of Tomorrow” film review. Gapers
Block. September 24, 2004.
“Wicker Park”
film review. Gapers Block. September 10, 2004.
“The Meat
You Eat by Ken Midkiff” book review. Bookslut.
September, 2004.
“Vanity Fair
and Sense & Sensibility” film
reviews. Gapers Block. September 3, 2004.
“Hero and
Wonderful Days” film reviews. Gapers
Block. in the August 27, 2004.
“Odd Obsession,
Impulse and Sanshiro Sugata (Judo Saga)”
article and film reviews. Gapers Block.
August
20, 2004.
“Carnet
de Voyage by Craig Thompson” book review.
Bookslut. August, 2004.
“Garden
State” film review. Gapers Block.
August 13, 2004.
“Harold
& Kumar Go to White Castle” film review.
Gapers Block. August 6, 2004.
“Napoleon Dynamite and The Devil’s
Backbone” film review. Gapers Block.
July 30, 2004.
“The Door in the Floor” film
review. Gapers Block. July 23, 2004.
“The Philadelphia Story and
Bad Santa — Badder Santa: The Unrated
Version” film reviews. Gapers Block.
July 16, 2004.
“Godzilla (1954) and
Stray Dog” film reviews. Gapers
Block. July 9, 2004.
“Control Room and City of God”
film review. Gapers Block. July 2, 2004.
“Saved!”
film review. Gapers Block. June 11, 2004.
“Spring,
Summer, Fall, Winter … and Spring”
film review. Gapers Block. May 14,
2004.
“Freaks
and Geeks: The Complete Series and Firefly:
The Complete Series” DVD box set reviews.
Gapers Block.
April 30, 2004.
“Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Lost in
Translation” film reviews. Gapers Block.
March 26, 2004.
Fiction
“Jimmy
Corrigan: The Smartest Kid on Earth” fake film
review, published as part of “The Critic:
Books Turned Movies.” Gapers Block. March
26, 2004.
Look & Find
Finding Nemo children's book. Publications International.
May, 2003.
“Off Into Forever”
short story. Cat Machine #6.
Skills
• Expert-level
skills in QuarkXPress, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop
and Adobe Acrobat Pro on the Mac platform.
• Working
knowledge of Adobe InDesign, Macromedia Dreamweaver,
Macromedia Fontographer, and Microsoft Office.
• Strong
knowledge of typographic conventions, print methods,
dielines & templates, and color management.
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