Starting to build your design portfolio? About to graduate from school? Join us for a Virtual Portfolio Bootcamp hosted by AIGA STL. Come learn from our expert panel of St. Louis design professionals to get some guidance in launching your design career. This virtual panel discussion will go over what makes a strong portfolio, tips for applying and interviewing for jobs, and more! We are excited to share some advice and answer your questions. Panelists joining us include:
Lorne Hebert, Deanna Kuhlmann-Leavitt, Al Lopez, and Scott Matthews.
Lorne Hebert (they/them) is a Senior UX Designer at Sherpa CRM, a technology company focused on empathy driven sales and marketing. They have worked in UX for the last five years as both a designer and developer in a variety of industries, and have a passion for accessibility in everything they build. When they aren’t designing, you can usually find them baking bread, crocheting baby blankets for cats, or playing Dungeons and Dragons.
Deanna Kuhlmann-Leavitt, an Art Center College of Design graduate, began her career in Los Angeles before establishing Kuhlmann Leavitt, Inc., a multi-disciplinary firm known for its work in the built environment, new media and print. During her 30-year career she has received awards from AIGA, AIA, SEGD, Type Directors Club, Communication Arts and Graphis to name a few. She has been featured in CA, Exhibit Design, the Masters of Design, International Trade Fair Design and many other leading publications. Deanna has served on design juries across the US and Canada, served on AIGA national and local boards, was a TEDx St. Louis speaker, co-founded STL DesignWeek and recently completed her board service for STL Village.
Al Lopez is a user experience designer based in the St. Louis area. Their love of technology started in the 90’s when their uncle gave them a computer and told them to have at it. They have been on a quest to understand how humans interact with technology ever since.
Their passions are spreading technology to underserved communities, increasing accessibility in everything they build, and pizza. In their spare time they teach User Experience at LaunchCode’s CoderGirl and hang with their German Shepard, Jupiter. Al is also the co-President of the Saint Louis User Experience group. They hold monthly meetings to teach everything User Experience, User Research and Customer Experience related.
Scott Matthews has been a professional illustrator/designer for over 30 years and is one of the co-founders of Tremendousness which is a communications design firm that specializes in informational storytelling and live visualization. Their clients include Adobe, HP and Bain & Company. On the personal side, his work has appeared in more than 150 magazines and newspapers including The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. His cartoons have appeared in and on books, packaging, billboards, and game boxes. He's developed two apps and one alternative comic strip. In 2010 he joined the AIGA St. Louis board to create the Chair for Cause in order to organize annual charity art auctions and has hosted five events.
