Allie Perry gave a presentation about her career journey from majoring in finance to becoming a visual designer. She discussed her experience in print design, digital design, and UX design. For print design, she covered concepts, formatting, pre-press, and production. For digital design, she explained working within social media, CDP, native, and display ad guidelines. She also provided an overview of user experience design and its focus on understanding user personas.

1. MY CAREER AS
A DESIGNER
Allie Perry

2. AGENDA
- PROFESSIONAL JOURNEY
- PRINT 101
- DIGITAL 101
- MAYBE: UX 101
- QUESTIONS

3. WHO IS
ALLIE
PERRY?

4. A VERY
BUSY
WOMAN

5. VISUAL DESIGNER
FOR FISHER INVESTMENTS
VOLUNTEER DESIGNER
FOR NONPROFIT ORGS
FREELANCE DESIGNER
FOR CLIENTS ON THE WEB

6. VISUAL
DESIGNER
PRINT UX / UI DIGITAL

7. HOW DID I
GET HERE?

8. UNIVERSITY OF FLORIDA, GAINESVILLE
CUM LAUDE
BACHELOR OF SCIENCE IN FINANCE
CURRICULUM VITAE

9. WAIT,
WHAT?

10. FINANCE MAJOR ≠
DESIGNER
(OR DOES IT?)

11. PROLOGUE
ME ART

12. WHAT
HAPPENED?

13. PEOPLE
HAPPENED.

14. ART IS A
HOBBY
NOT A
CAREER.

15. YOU WILL
NEVER
MAKE
MONEY.

16. ART IS
NOT A
REAL
MAJOR.

17. UNHIREABLE
TANGIBLE
SKILLSSTARVING
MOVE BACK
HOMEDREAMCRAZY

18. THIS WAS ALL
JUST TALK

19. BUT I WAS
SCARED…

20. SO I
MAJORED IN
FINANCE.

21. THIS FOCUSES ON
VARIOUS WAYS THAT
PEOPLE & INSTITUTIONS
CAN GROW THEIR $$
USING INVESTMENTS.

22. BUT WE WON’T GET
INTO THAT TODAY.

23. GOODBYE
COLLEGE, HELLO
PRIVATE WEALTH
MANAGEMENT!

24. GAINESVILLE
PORTLAND

25. PRO TIP #1.
EVEN AFTER MAJORING IN A
SUBJECT IN COLLEGE, YOU
HAVE NO IDEA WHAT IT’S
REALLY LIKE UNTIL YOUR
FIRST DAY ON THE JOB.

26. TRUST ME.

27. I DEFINITELY GOT A JOB
& STABILITY BUT…

28. WHEN YOU SPEND
50 HRS A WEEK DOING
SOMETHING, IT IS MORE
THAN JUST MAKING $$

29. IT’S YOUR LIFE.

30. SO YOU BETTER
ENJOY IT!

31. SO I PIVOTED,
HARD.

32. LUCKILY I DID A LOT
OF DESIGN WORK
IN COLLEGE.

33. UNFORTUNATELY
IT WAS TOTALLY
DISORGANIZED.

34. AND I STILL HAD A
LOT TO LEARN
ABOUT DESIGN.

35. I HAD TO KNOW…
BEST PRACTICES | DESIGN HISTORY |
PRE-PRESS & PRODUCTION |
PROTOTYPING | TYPOGRAPHY
PRACTICES | FILE TYPES | HTML &
CSS | COLOR THEORY | DIGITAL
ADVERTISING STANDARDS |
LICENSING | ANIMATION | A/V EDITING

36. A LOT OF STUFF.

37. AUTODIDACT
noun
a self-taught person.
GREEK (AUTOS): SELF GREEK (DIDASKEIN): TEACH

38. HOW TO BE AN
AUTODIDACT:
•READ LOTS OF BOOKS & ARTICLES
•LISTEN TO PODCASTS
•WATCH YOUTUBE TUTORIALS
•PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE!

39. SET A GOAL SO BIG THAT
YOU CAN’T ACHIEVE IT
UNTIL YOU GROW INTO
THE PERSON WHO CAN.
- WILL SMITH

40. 1 YEAR
LATER

41. I GOT MY ACT
TOGETHER AND
BECAME A
DESIGNER

42. PRO TIP #2.
FIGHT FOR YOUR DREAM NO
MATTER WHAT. IT’S WORTH
ALL OF THE HARD WORK AND
LONG NIGHTS.

43. TRUST ME.

44. OK CRAZY LADY,
WHAT DOES A
VISUAL DESIGNER
ACTUALLY DO?

45. A LOT OF STUFF.

46. DESIGN FOR EACH
BRANCH OF MARKETING
PRINT DIGITAL ANALYTICS
CAMPAIGN UX / WEB EMAIL

47. LEARNING
TIME!

48. PRINT 101
PRINT IS MORE THAN INK ON PAPER!
PRINT PROCESS:
CONCEPTING FORMATTING PRE-PRESS PRODUCTION

49. DESIGN
CONCEPTS CAN
COME FROM
ANYWHERE. CONCEPTING

50. PRINT
CONCEPT
YOU
MGMT
CLIENT
CO-
WORKER
OUTSIDE
AGENCY
MOM

51. IMPORTANT THINGS
TO KEEP IN MIND
PRINT
CONCEPT
WILL THIS RESONATE WITH MY
AUDIENCE?
WHAT DO I WANT MY AUDIENCE
TO TAKE AWAY FROM THIS?

52. FORMATTING IS A
BALANCE BETWEEN
CREATIVE & COPY.
FORMATTING

53. AD SPEAK
CREATIVE
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COPY

54. STAGE REAL ESTATE
FULL
PAGE
NEWS
PRINT
FULL
PAGE
MAGAZINE
PRINT
11.55" x
21.00"
8.375" x
10.5"

55. FULL
SIZE
BLEED
ZONE
1/8” (.125”)
CUT SIZE
+ BLEED
TRIM
MARGIN
AD LIVES HERE.
(SAFE ZONE)
1/8” (.125”)

56. HEADER
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HEADER
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HEADER
HEADER
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HEADER
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57. PRE-PRESS IS
COMPRISED OF THE
PROCESSES
BEFORE
PRODUCTION. PRE-
PRESS

58. COLOR MODES
CMYK =
PRINT
C
Y
A
N
M
A
G
E
N
T
A
Y
E
L
L
O
W
B
L
A
C
K
R
E
D
G
R
E
E
N
B
L
U
E
RGB =
DIGITAL

59. RESOLUTION
DPI: “DOTS PER INCH.”
A MEASURE OF HOW MANY INK DOTS A
PRINTER CAN DEPOSIT ONTO A SURFACE
WITHIN AN INCH
STANDARD: 300 DPI

60. RESOLUTION
HIGHER DPI = HIGHER RES

61. COMPRESSION
ALLOWS USER TO REDUCE THE
OVERALL NUMBER OF BITS &
BYTES IN A FILE TO EITHER
TRANSMIT FASTER OR TAKE UP
LESS DISK SPACE.

62. COMPRESSION WORKS BY
REDUCING REDUNDENCIES IN A
FILE… EXAMPLE..
“Ask not what your country can do
for you -- ask what you can do for
your country.”

63. “Ask not what your country can do
for you -- ask what you can do for
your country.”
17 WORDS, 61 LETTERS, 16 SPACES, 1
DASH, & 1 PERIOD = 79 UNITS OF MEMORY
LOTS OF REDUNDENCIES!

64. “Ask not what your country can do
for you -- ask what you can do for
your country.”
ASK = 2
WHAT= 2
YOUR= 2
COUNTRY= 2
CAN= 2
YOU= 2
DO = 2
FOR= 2

65. 1. ASK
2. WHAT
3. YOUR
4. COUNTRY
5. CAN
6. FOR
7. YOU
AN ALGORITHM CREATES A LIBRARY
OF WORDS IN WHICH EACH WORD
GETS ASSIGNED A NUMBER.
8. DO

66. “Ask not what your country can do
for you -- ask what you can do for
your country.”
“1 not 2 3 4 5 8 6 7 -- 8 2 7 5 8 6 3 4.”
79 UNITS OF MEMORY
37 UNITS OF MEMORY

68. PRODUCTION IS
THE WORK’S FINAL
PRINTING &
DISTRIBUTION. PRODUCTION

69. OFFSET PRINTING
BASED ON THE CONCEPT
THAT OIL REPELS WATER.

70. OFFSET PRINTING
INKED IMAGES ARE
TRANSFERRED FROM A
PLATE TO A RUBBER
BLANKET & THEN PRINTED
ONTO A SURFACE.

71. OFFSET PRINTING

72. OFFSET PRINTING
PROS:
- HIGH QUALITY
- PRINTS ON ALL
PAPERS TYPES
- GOOD FOR HIGH
VOLUME
CONS:
- HIGH PREP TIME
- HIGH COST AT LOW
VOLUME
- LOW
CUSTOMIZATION

73. OFFSET PRINTING

74. DIGITAL PRINTING
2 FLAVORS:
INKJET LASER

75. DIGITAL PRINTING
INKJET PRINTING WORKS BY
HEATING UP HUNDREDS OF
LITTLE NOZZLES WHICH FORM
BUBBLES OF INK THAT BURST
INTO TINY DOTS ON A SHEET OF
PAPER.

76. DIGITAL PRINTING

77. DIGITAL PRINTING
LASER PRINTING WORKS BY A
LASER ETCHING POSITIVE IONS
ONTO A NEGATIVELY CHARGED
DRUM & THEN NEGATIVELY
CHARGED TONER CATCHING
ONTO THE POSITIVE IONS ON THE
DRUM & THEN FUSED ONTO THE
PAPER.

78. DIGITAL PRINTING
(+)
(–)
(–)

79. DIGITAL PRINTING
PROS:
- FAST!
- LOW COST AT
LOW VOLUME
- HIGH
CUSTOMIZATION
CONS:
- HIGH
- HIGH COST AT
HIGH VOLUME
- LESS DETAIL

80. DIGITAL PRINTING

81. MY STUFF

82. MY STUFF

83. MY STUFF

84. MY STUFF

85. MY STUFF

86. DIGITAL 101
THE NAME OF THE
GAME IS PLAYING BY
THE VENDOR’S RULES

87. MEET THE VENDORS

88. THESE PLATFORMS
USE DEMOGRAPHIC
INFO FROM
PROFILES TO
TARGET ADS IN
PEOPLE’S NEWS
FEEDS.
SOCIAL MEDIA

89. SOCIAL MEDIA
1200 x 628 px
Headline: 25 characters
Body: 90 characters

90. CDP
THESE ARE CONTENT
DISCOVERY PLATFORMS
WHICH USES USER
DATA TO DISCOVER &
RECOMMEND CONTENT
CDP

91. CDPCDP
600 x 500 px
Headline: 60 characters

92. CDP
THESE ARE ADS THAT
APPEAR TO BE A PART
OF THE PLATFORM THAT
THEY ARE HOSTED ON
NATIVE

93. CDPNATIVE
1200 x 627 px
Headline: 50 characters
Body: 150 characters

94. CDP
THESE ARE GENERAL
ADS THAT APPEAR
ACROSS ALL WEBSITES
BASED ON BIDDING &
RELEVANCY OF CONTENT.
DISPLAY

95. CDPDISPLAY
160x600 px
300x250 px
970x250 px
728x90 px
300x600 px

96. WILL THE SHOE FIT?
DIGITAL
CONCEPT
WILL THE SHOE FIT?

97. WHEN DEVELOPING A
DIGITAL CONCEPT, YOU
NEED TO BE ABLE TO
COMMUNICATE IT
ACROSS ALL ARENAS

98. MY STUFF

99. MY STUFF

100. MY STUFF

101. MY STUFF

102. UX DESIGN IS THE
PROCESS OF
ENHANCING THE
EXPERIENCE BETWEEN
HUMAN & COMPUTER.

103. UX = USER EXPERIENCE

104. THE KEY TO UX IS
UNDERSTANDING YOUR
USER & THEIR PERSONA.
55+ Male
Retired
Academia
18-24 Male
In School
Engineer
23-40 Female
Graduated
Medical
30-55 Male
Some School
Farming
30-55 Female
N/A
Religion

105. AS A UX DESIGNER YOU
NEED TO MAP OUT THE
EXPERIENCE THAT THE
USER HAS WITH THE
MACHINE. THIS IS CALLED
THE INFORMATION
ARCHITECTURE.

107. ONCE THE ARCHTITECTURE IS
LAID OUT, YOU NEED TO BUILD
THE WIREFRAMES TO SHOW
WHERE THINGS WILL BE
FORMATTED ON EACH POINT
OF THE EXPERIENCE.

109. WITH THE WIREFRAMES BUILT
OUT, THE DESIGNER FOCUSES
ON PROTOTYPING A
REALISTIC EXPERIENCE THAT
THE USER HAS WITH THE
MACHINE.

112. THANK YOU!
DOES ANYONE HAVE
QUESTIONS?

113. CONTACT INFO
Allie Perry
E: allieperry@outlook.com
W: www.alliemperry.com/