About Katelyn
For nearly ten years, I have had the pleasure of creating visual communication pieces for amazing clients. I started in print design then moved to video, 2D animation and eventually 3D special effects. It is a pleasure to apply all of that experience to an entirely new medium and add a whole new dimension to my toolkit.
Background
My particular set of skills has allowed me to call many places home. Originally from the Cornhusker State, I went to University of Kansas to study Journalism and Graphic Design. During my student years, I always had an odd job of some sort: Sandwich Artist, In-house Designer, Gondolier. But the job that decided so much was when I became Orientation Coordinator for international students.
This little town in Kansas became home to 300 new international students every year. It was our job to help these young people who had just left everything they knew to acclimate to the Great Plains. These new students opened my eyes to new ideas ranging from hot soup for breakfast to other deeply-held religious beliefs.
After college, I moved to Dhaka to teach English and help a nonprofit with their design needs. As a visual communicator who was loosely trained in the Swiss style, I was awed by the extreme dedication to elaboration. Saris, billboards, rickshaws, lettering, singing voices, crowds, and even natural spaces were densely packed with information and life. Dhaka was overwhelming and beautiful. It became my home for 18 months.
When I returned to Omaha, I was astounded by the wide streets and vast unused space.On a trip to Santa Barbara I felt very aware of the extreme wealth and sense of security everyone appeared to carry. It seemed both alienating and unfair. Chicago was a middle-ground where I could begin my career surrounded by different types of people while keeping better contact with my family.
In Chicago I went from Production Artist to Art Director at Ogilvy & Mather and then Art director to Associate Creative Director at Symmetri Marketing. The titles meant little, but I was allowed to break through the aesthetic level to work on concepts and strategies. It was during this time that I realized how quickly my skill set could grow to fit the needs of the project. It was in Chicago that I learned to say yes to projects I had no business accepting and learn along the way. In Chicago I had the perfect mix of challenge and comfort. The path was clear and unencumbered. Naturally, I had to change that.
My husband and partner, Michal, along with our dog Zoe recently sold, donated and gifted most of our possessions and moved to Spain. The biggest and most inconvenient thing we own at the moment is my tower that Michal specifically designed for video editing and effects.
Language barriers are no match for a compelling image.Since our relocation to Europe, I have been enjoying the universality of visual understanding while creating and editing imagery and video for people, places and brands across many types of borders.
