What is a Reamsbottom?

What is a Reamsbottom? Well I am a Reamsbottom. It is my long and funny sounding last name, that I can't imagine changing. Below is some more information about me, my illustration styles, experiences with past projects and what I am currently working on.

Click here for a typical resume [pdf]

 

Currently I work full-time as an instructional designer at the University of Lethbridge in Lethbridge, AB, Canada. I work with instructors so that they can meet their teaching goals and students can understand and achieve learning objectives. I do this in many ways. First via conversation, brainstorming and planning with faculty members. Next via the integration of tools such as Learning and Content Management systems, Audience Response systems and communication tools such as Videoconferencing and Adobe Connect Pro. A very fortunate part of my job is creating a community of teaching and learning. I am able to utilize my design skills in creating awareness for these communities. I do so via the creation of posters, digital signage, and web sites. I also use my design tools to modify and create tools that may not be currently available. For example I am currently creating a Teaching Assistant handbook. The content was created and edited by one of our Teaching Fellows, and I am then commissioned to layout the content in a pleasing and functional format.

In the past I have had a variety of jobs from maintenance and factory work to web design and advertising. I believe that the diversity of my work experience gives me a perspective that is not completely embeded in the world of illustration and design. I think this is an advantage of mine and a benefit to my clients.

Digital Visions Inc.
This company helped me complete some of my first projects as they hired me initially as a practicum student. I worked on a few projects while completing my practicum. Most noteably was an interactive CD-ROM for the Lethbridge Research Centre. I also aided in the completion of some flash animations and web development.

AD Graphix Inc.
After graduating college and moving to Calgary, Alberta, Canada to find work, I began work for a great little company called AD Graphix Inc. While working here I was able to learn a lot from some senior designers who had worked in the industry for some time. I was initially hired not just because of design skills but because of my knowledge in interactive media such as the web. I was able to think of any design constraints that the web posed and design for them accordingly. I created logos, pamphlets, as well as newspaper and magazine ads for companies such as Shell Canada, Banff Mountain Lodge, Caye Chapel Resort, and Metro Construction. The AD Graphix founder was also an avid golfer, and much of the work we completed were golf course related. Golf course guide books and score cards were some of the major projects we worked on here. The golf course guides were constructed using landscaping blueprints, helicopter aerial shots, and a lot of manual work by us, the designers. We began by establishing the shape of the course from the aerials and blueprints. We then created a skewed birds eye view of the course, created and added textures, patterns and gradients. Each shrub, and tree was indivdually placed, and each sand trap was contoured using the airbrush feature in Photoshop. The result was a detailed and brilliant course guide that provided golfers with 3D visuals of the course.

Curriculum Re-Development Centre at the University of Lethbridge
I still currently work at the UofL, but my job has changed and varied over the years that I have been there, and my duties have ranged and continue to range from distance communication facilitator to graphic designer, illustrator and web designer. This job is and has always maintained a high level of diversity.

 

Some of my illustration experience comes from projects outside of my day job. I have completed logo development for race cars, car clubs, and equestrian trainers. I have built websites for health product companies as well as researchers. However, some of the work I enjoy the most are the illustration projects. Working on sketches and illustrations for a childrens book I'm writing, as well as some comic strips I have been developing are some of the projects I have achieved the most satisfaction from. Most recently I have also taken an interest in photo-realistic illustrations and matte painting of landscapes.