Scott Interrante, who hosts our podcast Pop Unmuted, contacted me to adapt the Pop Unmuted Tumblr theme for his new podcast. Are We Even Friends? is a podcast hosted by two real-life friends, Scott Interrante and Emily Cottone, who discuss the popular sitcom Friends with twice-weekly podcasts focusing on two episodes per recording. Like the Pop Unmuted theme, the site for Are We Even Friends? is responsive and includes outgoing links to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes and follow on Twitter.

Kira Grunenberg, the music journalist behind the blog Throw the Dice and Play Nice, contacted me to move her site from Blogger to WordPress with a fresh design. After choosing the Watson theme, I provided theme customization to match her site’s color scheme, add responsive breakpoints for mobile visitors, and adjust thumbnail image sizes. I also provided content migration services to transfer the site from Blogger to WordPress, including redirects to maintain search result placement.

As the largest part of a series of updates to multiple digital platforms to help promote the band’s independently-released sophomore album, The Bridge, I redesigned the WordPress website for Graffiti6’s official website. The site is responsive for both tablet and mobile displays and focuses on Graffiti6’s discography, with custom post types used to build a discography of music releases and a lyrics section. The two sections are connected to link each song on a release to its lyrics, and in order to provide interactivity, I used Livefyre’s Sidenotes plugin to allow fans to share and comment on their favorite lyrics. (Read more on my implementation of Livefyre Sidenotes here.)

While working with Graffiti6’s TommyD to provide updates across digital platforms to help promote the band’s independently-released sophomore album, The Bridge, I had the opportunity to create a lyric video for the album’s second single and title track, “The Bridge.” Inspired by the band’s kaleidoscopic style, both graphically and musically, I created the lyric video in Adobe After Effects, using preset effects to allow the song’s lyrics to pop out from swirling graphic background imagery.

I completed this website redesign for the Writing, Rhetoric & American Cultures department at Michigan State University. Objectives included the use of a fresh and bright color palette, responsive breakpoints for tablets and smartphones, improved navigation, and a more useful homepage layout. Previously created calendar widgets were also updated for efficiency by using CSS linear-gradient instead of images to build a zigzag pattern, and a custom web font (Asap) was included in headlines for a more modern, updated look. Theme built using WordPress’s Twenty Thirteen theme as a base.

Pop Unmuted is a pop music podcast on which I act as a co-host along with host Scott Interrante. I created a logo that encapsulated the bright, expressive sound of pop music while also containing an air of sophistication and authority to match the podcast’s goals for intelligent, theory-based discussion of the genre. I also launched a Tumblr-powered website to house podcast episodes and related content. Using Tumblr’s default theme Optica as a base, I edited the theme to suit our branding ideas, including muted colors, the “-x-” design featured in the logo, and a web font that mimics the logo. Logo and social media images are .svg files to ensure clarity on tablets and smartphones.

As part of a website redesign to market Graffiti6’s independently-released sophomore album, The Bridge, I created social media graphics to help promote the album release, as well as of that of single “U Got The Sunshine,” which was promoted in international markets. These graphics were posted as cover photos on the band’s Twitter and Facebook pages and as banners on the existing Graffiti6 website in the interim while the redesign was being completed. On Facebook and the website, they were accompanied by smartURL links to help track clicks and monetize purchases.

After being asked to assist one of my jazz professors at Michigan State University, Etienne Charles, with social media promotion surrounding the release of his album Creole Soul, I created several graphics for social media promotion. These images, based around the style of the Creole Soul album cover and existing accompanying graphics, were used on social networks such as Facebook and Instagram, as well as within email newsletters.

After being asked to assist one of my jazz professors at Michigan State University, Etienne Charles, with social media promotion surrounding the release of his album Creole Soul, I created a series of email newsletters to keep fans updated of news, press coverage, and tour dates. Using MailChimp, I created custom newsletter designs based around the style of the Creole Soul album cover and accompanying graphics. I also created a press kit to be distributed to event and festival promoters, containing links to reviews and interviews.