I’m Jess Paterik, a curious, challenge-driven multidisciplinary designer.

I have 18 years of experience as a creative in print, video, web, illustration, graphic design, and animation spanning industries from supplements to publishing.

WORK

PROCESS

From my 18 years of experience, these 10 things help guide + direct my creative process.

Know the Box

Have a clear grasp of the problem and know what constraints there are before building the solution.

You can't think outside the box without establishing one first.

Large to Small

Focus on the overall layout, idea, or campaign before getting caught up in the details.

Let it Breathe

If you find yourself getting too fussy with a design, step back.

Take a break. Go on a 5 min walk. Brew a cup of coffee. Work on something else. Just step away for a minute.

Then come back with fresh eyes. Better yet, get someone else to look at it.

Design / Edit are Separate

Editing and creativity are necessary for good design, but can't successfully happen at the same time.

Be fully creative. Step back. Then thoroughly edit.

Computers are Tools

So don’t let them limit your creativity. You are the designer and have more tools available to you than just a computer. Use them.

They can also be jerks, so back up often.

Pay Attention

You never know what can inspire new ideas.

Really look around at the world. Stop and take a picture or note of things that grab your attention.

Be Curious

Ask questions. Do the research. Google it.

So what if it’s learning more about 17th century wigs? Allow yourself to keep learning new things.

Wonder, don’t just jump to conclusions.

Add One New Thing

Not only do you continue building your skill-set; like the scientific method, it makes it easy to know if the new thing helped or harmed the outcome.

Say, "I don't know."

There is so much freedom and growth on the other side of this phrase.

Ask knowledgeable colleagues, look for tutorials, books, podcasts or any other resources on the subject.

Have Secret Mentors

Pay attention to the work you admire from peers and experts.

Pull their work apart to understand what makes it good.

Have they ever been interviewed? Find out! Learn as much as you can about their work and process.

ABOUT

Bio:

Jess Paterik is a native St. Louisan, who spent 14 years in Chicago, then returned to be near family – her younger sister was diagnosed with stage IV colon cancer, fought valiantly, and sadly lost her battle in January of 2019. Being near her sister and family during this time is something she’ll never regret. 

Jess loves learning anything new about food, tea, coffee, beer, mixed drinks, art mediums, music, bicycling, roller skating, and the passionate interests of others.

She currently lives in the South City neighborhood of St. Louis, near Ted Drewes (a famous local ice cream shop #priorities) with two very affectionate, fuzzy faced cats, Ollie and Frankie (after Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston – 2 of the original 9 Disney animators).

Resume:

Senior Graphic Designer

  • Create compelling covers and easy-to-read interiors for adult spirituality books, curriculum, picture books, and more

  • Present concepts to internal teams

  • Source illustrations, photos, music, and video templates as needed for projects

  • Customize sourced art to adhere to brand guidelines and retouch images for marketing materials

  • Edit audio and video for podcasts and convention sponsor spots

  • Work with illustration agencies to source talent

  • Manage external illustrators – setting timelines, check-ins, and feedback

  • Create materials for trade shows and conventions – displays, banners, signage, etc.

  • Design notecards, postcards, bookmarks, stickers, posters, and other items to support authors in promotion of new books

Graphic Designer

  • Research and design new website using Sketch
  • Oversee development of website with external vendor
  • Create additional functionality (PHP/CSS), pages, and templates for website ( WordPress + Elementor)
  • Direct three camera operators / Video switch between eight cameras for two live services on Sunday mornings
  • Operate roaming / stationary camera rigs
  • Shoot / video edit weekly announcement videos
  • Take photographs of staff and events using DSLR
  • Create graphics that span print / video / digital / social media for church and ministries – both still and animated
  • Design branding systems for ministries
  • Create training and support materials for colleagues and volunteers – guidebooks / videos / presentations / Canva templates

Freelance Art Director / Illustrator

jpaterik.com

  • 19+ years of experience in digital, print and video/animation both B2B and B2C
  • Able to tie designs directly to business goals
  • Love collaborating with creative team and client from concept to finish
  • Have a proven track record of taking ideas from sketch to completion
  • Unique set of experience and love for learning makes for expert problem solving

Senior Art Director

  • Senior art director on the Enjoy Life Foods (ELF), Blue Bunny, Orchard Valley Harvest, and Ortega accounts
  • Worked closely with CD, ACD, Copywriter, Digital and Social teams to create major campaigns spanning print, video and digital
  • Developed brand guidelines that became templates used by other ADs on our other brand accounts in the agency
  • Reviewed / approved creative work across video / print / digital to ensure consistency
  • Provided art direction on-set at video shoots and with post production vendors
  • Assisted in creating storyboards for commercials and other video applications for brands like Bomb Pop, Ortega, Revlon, Vicks Humidifiers and others
  • Developed creative concepts for new business pitches and campaigns that could easily translate into any tactic

Skills:

All items marked with a ‘*’ designate a passed LinkedIn Skill Assessment badge.

Advanced

SOFTWARE:

  • Photoshop*
  • Illustrator*
  • InDesign*
  • After Effects

HARDWARE:

  • Wacom Tablet

MEDIA / OTHER:

  • Pencil / Charcoal
  • Marker
  • Crafting tools / supplies

Intermediate

SOFTWARE:

  • Mac OS / Windows
  • Premiere Pro
  • CSS* / HTML
  • WordPress*
  • Procreate 
  • Office – GSuite, Microsoft Office, Apple iWork

HARDWARE:

  • Nikon DSLR
  • Sewing Machine

MEDIA / OTHER:

  • Watercolor / Arylic
  • Spanish

Beginner

SOFTWARE:

  • Blender (3D)
  • Sketch
  • PHP
  • Terminal

HARDWARE:

  • Dremel Tool
  • Gimbal for phones

MEDIA / OTHER:

  • Ink
  • French Macarons

Learning + remaining curious are the skills I’ve developed most.

If you have tips, resources, or would like to chat about any of the above, PLEASE shoot me an email: hello@jpaterik.com

Currently Learning

SOFTWARE:

HARDWARE:

  • Arduino

MEDIA / OTHER:

  • How to make legit Ramen
  • Refresher Figure Drawing Course – Fall 2023
  • Fiction Writing Course – Fall 2023

Want to learn

SOFTWARE:

  • AR / VR

HARDWARE:

  • 3D Printer
  • Laser Cutter

MEDIA / OTHER:

  • How to make legit croissants

References:

CONTACT

Let's collaborate

Begin the conversation with an email!

hello@jpaterik.com

© 2022 Jess Paterik

Photos by Samantha Sherwood

Let's Build Something Together

Brief:

2020 put a kink in everyone’s plans. The Kid’s Ministry was struggling to find volunteers and wanted to relaunch the Sunday ministry in a big way. (When things were looking good early summer of 2021)

To keep a positive spin -and to have an excuse to play with LEGOs- I recommended a building metaphor.

Role:

Animator // Editor

+1 new thing:

Built my own overhead rig with supplies I had on hand. Created a makeshift green screen as well. #LadyMacGuyver

Mueller Pasta Pitch

Brief:

This was work created for a pitch. When I taught Graphic Design at St Louis Community College, one of the other adjunct professors and I did a show. 

Click on the image to see a PDF walk through of the process behind the work for this pitch. 

Role:

Sr. Art Director // Creative Lead

+1 new thing:

I created a colander from actual pasta and shot photos in the studio. Our Creative Director used it as a leave behind at the pitch meeting. 

Blue Bunny

Brief:

Blue Bunny rebranded and wanted us to help them create hype with an ice cream tour truck + sell the new brand / mascot to Hearst’s magazine editors. 

The most iconic thing about Blu – besides the fact that he’s blue – are his expressive ears. They would stick out amongst the stack of promotional materials on the editors’ desks.

I extended the idea to the truck + trailer with the help of our print production team.

Role:

Sr. Art Director

+1 new thing:

I collaborated with our print production team to find fresh ways to showcase the new mascot. 

Every time I brought ideas to them, they gave me multiple recommendations of how we could execute + would help choose great solutions that fit time and budget.

Kid Connection Rebrand

Final Logo

Logo Development:

Brief:

The Kid’s ministry decided to revamp the space during the pandemic and thought it would be a good time to revisit the brand.

We went through several revisions, but I really love where things landed.

Role:

Graphic Designer

+1 new thing:

Created custom type for ‘Kid’ in Illustrator. It got stronger with each revision.

First Free Website

Brief:

The church’s website was in need of a refresh. The capabilities we needed had outgrown the CMS that was being used. I did some ‘market’ research, designed the layout, and managed an external team of developers who created a custom WordPress template for our team. From there, I built out templates and added functionality. (And continue to add / fix things :P )

Role:

Graphic Designer // Front End Dev
& Managed External vendors

+1 new thing:

I created the initial site design using Sketch for the first time.

Mighty Crunch

Brief:

I was working on an in-house team at a freeze dried food + supplement manufacturer and was tasked with creating in-house brands to sell direct to consumer.

The packaging was limited to what would work with the equipment (made circa 1940). So canisters it was! We did fill pouches for clients… *cough*Trader Joes*cough* But we also needed to keep production costs down.

Role:

Art Director, Product Photographer, Graphic Designer

+1 new thing:

With some input from my supervisor, Matt, I created copy for the package. May have had a little too much fun being set loose. (haha)

Bomb Pop Storyboards

Brief:

We pitched several ideas for Bomb Pop commercials. This one was based on gifs / boomerangs that were popular at the time. 

Role:

Sr. Art Director

+1 new thing:

Created an animated gif in Photoshop so the boards had some animatic elements.