Melanie Kidd

Experience

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  Melanie Kidd's Studio

  May 2008 - now

  Concept Artist / Storyboard Artist / Illustrator

  My personal freelance studio, where I take on clients for various art projects. My background and expertise in 2D Animation allows me to provide professional level storyboards for various disciplines such as: live action, shooting boards, animation, commercials, webisodes, special effects, animatics, sketch art. Projects can range in finish level from advertising pitch boards down to fast placement boards. Competent in both digital and traditional techniques. I also take on clients for custom illustrations, murals, children's book illustration and various graphic design needs.Clients have included: AT&T Inc., Verizon Wireless, Bokeh Cinematic Solutions, Google Inc., Dreamworks Animation, PorterCo, Viscira, MITRE and Chromium Branding Show less

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  Themendous - Tremendous Theming

  Jan 2009 - Jan 2010

  Industrial Foam Sculptor

  Formerly known as Custom Creations, Themendous is an International Award winning theming design and build company. While working there I converted drawings into large 3D sculptures out of polystyrene and painted top coats for media fabrication, signage, event/retail displays, food props, fun center theming and miniature golf courses. A full-scale Viking Ship I helped create was showcased in the center of NYC's Times Square for Dreamworks Animation's "How to Train Your Dragon" promotional exhibit in 2010. Show less

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  Vendristudios & Murderous Automation

  Sept 2009 - May 2011

  Storyboard Artist & 2D Animator

  Developed storyboards and animated short 2D animation, "The Joke", in collaboration with Tom Kyzivat. "The Joke" was shown in Ottawa Int. Animation Festival (2011) and Brooklyn Animation Block Party (2011)by BamCinematic & Rooftop Films.

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  San Francisco Arts Commission

  Jan 2010 - Oct 2016

  Mural Artist

  A member of StreetSmARTS, a Department of Public Works (DPW) program, administered by the San Francisco Arts Commission and Intersection for the Arts. The program connected artists with private property owners to create vibrant murals on their buildings, enhancing the character of their property and surrounding neighborhood, while deterring ongoing vandalism. Mediums used were acrylic and spray paint.

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  Jefferson Elementary School District

  Apr 2011 - Dec 2012

  Substitute Teacher

  Worked with students in grades K-12 as assigned in various disciplines while maintaining strong classroom management and being prepared to create a lesson on short notice.

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  Emery Unified School District

  Aug 2011 - Jan 2015

  Mentoring Artist

  Assisted faculty in creating engaging lessons to teach full Adobe creative platforms on compositing, graphic design, animation, story boarding, layout, digital painting, composition, editing, Maya modeling, rigging and animation software, computer programming languages: HTML, CSS and Java Script, as well as, instructed students on the internal parts of a computer with full scale computer builds.

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  Dave Lowery

  May 2013 - Jul 2013

  Roughed out and brought to completion shooting boards for an AT&T commercial spot as supervised by David Lowery. Roughed out and brought to completion shooting boards for a Verizon Nokia Lumia commercial spot as supervised by David Lowery.

  • Illustration Consultant

    May 2013 - Jul 2013

  • Illustration Consultant

    May 2013 - Jun 2013
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  Supergiant Games

  Jan 2015 - Jan 2015

  Operations Assistant/Office Manager

  Generated marketing prospects and strategies, handled sales through the online store, shipped all products, logged tax information, managed payroll procedures, organized travel arrangements, worked with staff artists and developed and maintained vendor relationships. As well as, oversee the look and upkeep of office renovations.

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  Kiddie Academy

  Jun 2017 - Aug 2019

  Mentoring Artist / Gallery Director

  Each summer across three years I worked with Kiddie Academy of Gaithersburg I developed process based art lesson plans for various age groups. Then I would gather all supplies (usually through donation from various local businesses) and teach the lesson to the children, yielding various art pieces. These projects were for an Annual Charity Art Show, a silent auction held each summer where parents and family could come bid on children's art. I was also responsible for the gallery layout and flow, as well as displaying all the artwork with photos and explanations of each age group's art project. 100% of proceeds from the Art Show were then donated to Save the Children foundation. Show less

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  MITRE

  Aug 2017 - Apr 2020

  Concept Artist/ Presentation Designer

  Partnered with clients to envision compelling stories, lay out customer journeys, storyboard videos, and create high-level communications using visual graphics on MITRE's Strategic Communications team. Specialized in guiding clients through important questions and create sketches and illustrations to clarify challenges and develop steps how to strategically solve them with the least amount of risk/delay. Worked with senior executives to create strategies and deliverables that helped our clients better meet audience needs. Pitched to both internal and external clients regarding new approaches to ongoing projects to maintain traction and meet deadlines consistently. Successfully acted as lead designer to win a long-term contract bid with Medicade, a multi-million dollar initiative that involved visualizing data, creating info-graphics and designing road maps to convince our client we were the right company for the job. While at MITRE I had the opportunity to work with various government and private sector clients across DC, VA and MD on both projects spanning illustrations, storyboards, communication design and presentations for the Internal Revenue Service, National Aeronautics and Space Administration, Department of Defense, National Cybersecurity Center of Excellence and National Institute of Health. Show less