Mark Lux

mark@luxwerxstudios.com

Professional Summary

Graphic Designer/Art Director with 15 years of print advertising experience (including supervisory roles) in fast-paced corporate environments. Customer-focused leader, who always seeks out a company’s “point of difference” and showcases them in their designs/layouts to create customer awareness.

Functional Creative Experience
Design, Project Specification, Material/Hardware Selection, Production, Photography, Quality Control, On-Site Execution.

Multi-Media Printing Expertise
Catalogs, Promotional Materials, Signage, Print Advertising, Websites, and Mailings.

Professional Experience

Emed Co., Williamsville, New York      2001 - 2008
National safety sign manufacturer & direct marketer with revenues over $55 million; a division of Brady Corporation, a global manufacturer with plants in over 15 countries.

Senior Creative Designer/Art Director (2001 - 2008)
Graphic Designer (2001)
Designed and developed printed direct marketing campaign material that sold and promoted Emedco’s products and services (including 864-page Buyer's Guide & Carton to VIPs, 483-page master book to customers, small book and specialty books to prospects, envelopes, letters, promotional flyers and monthly catalog covers). Coordinated and oversaw the complete design and production of assigned catalogs. Worked with merchandisers to develop concepts and ideas on how to showcase featured products. Oversaw the creative process and mentored other designers. Handled all aspects of photography including lighting, set design, and photo retouching. Proofed and approved final color quality on-site at each printer. Utilized software including Quark Express, Adobe CS2, and Microsoft Office. Maintained and edited graphics for corporate website. Designed weekly emails for both Emed & Seton Connecticut.

  • Named “Employee of the Quarter” for outstanding job performance.

  • Developed Emedco's Catalog Brand Image.

  • Streamlined workflow to improve efficiency in catalog pricing changes by 50%.

  • Created new workflow procedures for catalog page turn-in which became industry standards adopted for use in 4 Brady direct marketing catalogs (Emed, Seton US, Seton Canada, Personnel Concepts).

  • Promoted to Senior Creative Designer after only 6 months on the job.

  • Managed Graphic development for new catalog creation for top selling product lines for Lock-Out, Security and Mega book.

  • Received “Innovation Monthly Award” for graphic concepts for Large Orders, resulting in a sales increase of 5%.

  • Developed from scratch the Emedco Buyer's Guide with over 829 pages of top line product, resulting in revenues of over $12 million annually and average orders over $500.

  • Designed the look and provided the graphics for Emedco's specialty website, lockoutproducts.com.

  • Selected to travel to printers to perform “press checks” (quality checks on printed catalogs).

  • Led the creative effort for two sister company catalogs, Personal Concepts & Seton Canada Sourcebook. This was Personal Concepts' first catalog and Seton Canada's Sourcebook was completely reorganized and re-designed.

Mark Lux                                                   Page 2

 

Professional Experience

Tops Markets LLC / Ahold U.S.A., Williamsville, New York      1994 - 2001
A regional grocery chain of 125 full-service supermarkets and 200 convenience stores.

Graphic Designer/Art Director (1996 - 2001)
Designed and developed promotional and advertising materials that promoted a positive image of its’ corporate brand, products, and community focus. Managed a team of 3 associate artists, I was responsible for supervising their work, weekly time sheets, annual reviews, and scheduling vacations. Directed the work of photographers, print production and construction services to provide unified store graphics and print advertising. Managed a variety of design and prototype projects for internal departments including, grocery, general merchandise, bulk, dairy, frozen, deli, carry-out, and price control. Coordinated graphics for all store grand openings.

  • Managed advertising projects for two subsidiaries, Vix and Herbs Nutritional Center, including in-store signage and print advertising, and the company’s Sensational private label brand.

  • Member of team that coordinated all in-store and print advertising for Tops BonusCard, the largest promotional experience in the company’s history. 

  • Conceived and designed all Tops BonusCard P.O.P. item and price signage.

  • Designed and coordinated print advertising for the first Tops Gasoline Stations.

  • Directed the conversion of all in-store graphics in the 1997 merger of Finast Supermarkets Inc. (comprised of forty Ohio stores) with Tops Markets, Inc.

  • Designed and directed construction for internal and external store décor of the first free-standing Herbs Nutritional Center in western New York.

Associate Artist (1994 - 1996)
Completed a variety of creative projects assigned by graphic designers, ensuring the integrity of electronic mechanical files for production.

  • Created the Tops permanent sign package used by all store locations, developing a standardized system corporatewide, maintaining continuity, and eliminating waste.

 

Education

State University Of New York College at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York
B.S. - Graphic Design, 1992

Canisius College, Buffalo, New York
Completed Two Years of Undergraduate Coursework in Marketing

Technical Skills

Quark Express             Adobe PageMaker             Adobe Photoshop               Adobe In-Design
Adobe Illustrator          Excel                                 Word                                   PowerPoint
Freehand                      Fetch                                  Dreamweaver                     iPhoto/iMovie

Professional Development

Completed ongoing professional development seminars on topics including public speaking, supervision and staff evaluation, and software updates. I am continuing my studies in web development, and am currently enrolled in 2 (and have completed 3) on-line courses.