Forrest Cameranesi Geek of all Trades

Curriculum Vitae

Download a printable version of my resume in PDF format.

Please note the links to my various portfolio galleries in the main navigation above.

Overview

I have extensive experience in diverse creative and technical fields including both web development and graphic design, and I am looking for opportunities to broaden and deepen those skills.

I am equal parts abstract and practical, big-picture and detail-oriented, striving always to embody the best of both sides of every such dichotomy.

I always seek to understand both how and why to do whatever task I’m applying myself toward: both what could be useful for doing that task, and what doing that task could be useful for; as well as the human aspects of both the colleagues whom I depend upon in order to do my job, and the stakeholders who depend upon me to do it. Besides my education in arts and technologies, I also have a degree in philosophy, and my own philosophical system centers entirely around applying that person-centric pragmatism to all areas of life.

I love to learn, and I’m a very fast learner, drawing on my wide breadth of experience to gain fluency on new skills quickly, and strengthen those I already have. I also love to teach, to help others round out and polish up their skill sets.

Academic and cognitive aptitude tests consistently score me around the top 1%. Personality tests rank me highly on conscientiousness, openness, and agreeableness.

I thrive in a support role, helping others to achieve their goals. But I’m also comfortable in a leadership position, as I see leadership itself, done right, as a kind of a support role.

I work extremely well independently, and have done so for most of my life. But I also love it when my work can be part of a larger team effort, or when I can bring together the products of other people’s work.

I can turn around tasks very quickly, and love to keep my to-do list clear and stay ready to jump on the next task immediately. But I also love any opportunity to spend much time working out every last detail of a complex project to perfection.

I am looking for a steady career where the skills and experience I already have are enough as they are from day one, and where there are opportunities to learn and grow more in the future.

Skills

Web Development

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Front-End
Back-End

Graphic Design

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Work Experience

Art Director

at The Monterey Company, 2012-2020

Graphic design primarily in Illustrator for production of lapel pins, coins, medallions, and all varieties of art on metal, both production-ready technical art for manufacturing and photorealistic proofs for customers; design and oversight of workflows and collaboration processes to coordination between sales representatives, external art resources, and manufacturers; and miscellaneous graphic and web work for internal use.

(They are located at 35 SW Century Dr #110, Bend, OR 97702. My supervisor was Paul Stark, the founder and CEO, who can be reached at 541-699-6063. My position here was eliminated due to the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.)

Software Engineer

at CVTech, 2011-2012

Development of an ecommerce platform in Ruby on Rails, JQuery/Javascript, CSS & HTML, as well as motion graphic advertisements and other graphics work for web and print.

(They were located at 10 E Yanonali St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. My supervisor was Ethan Kravitz, the founder, who can be reached at 203-240-1675. This small startup went out of business.)

Graphic & Web Designer

at Stratus Media Group, 2010-2011

Lead design, development, and management of most company websites; graphic and web design for screen and print to serve both marketing and operational needs, including logos, advertisements, flyers, posters, and event collateral such as tickets and signage; minor video and audio editing; copy editing of texts for publication; and assistance and advice in installation and maintenance of IT infrastructure.

(They were located at 3 E De La Guerra St, Santa Barbara, CA 93101. My supervisor was Jamie Schaible, the Director of Marketing, who could be reached at 805-884-9977. The entire department I was part of got downsized.)

Technical & Administrative Assistant

at Castellino Training & The BEBA Clinic, 2002-2012

Creative and technical responsibilities included graphic design and page layout, web design and administration, database design and administration, computer and network maintenance, minor video production in Final Cut Pro and iMovie, and proofreading and editing of publications.

Administrative duties included recording payments in Quicken and the company's FileMaker database, preparing deposits, and taking them to the bank; running reports and preparing spreadsheets on financial and statistical data; check-in, check-out and billing of clients; copying MiniDV tapes to video DVDs for sale and archival; processing orders for resale products; bulk mailings (both postal and email); shipping and receiving; payroll; scheduling; filing and other organization; and miscellaneous errands. Once or twice per year I was entrusted with the full administration of the business for one month, including my own payroll, while the head administrator went on vacation.

(They are located at 1105 N Ontare Rd, Santa Barbara, CA 93105. My supervisor was Sandra Castellino, the co-founder and chief administrator, who can be reached at 805-687-2897. I left this position to pursue better growth opportunities.)

Graphic & Web Designer

at Diane Steele & Company, 2001-2002

Logo and business card design, graphic design for dye-sublimation onto merchandising products (e.g. T-shirts, mouse pads, etc), and some web design.

(They are located at 102 W Summer St #22, Ojai, CA 93023. My supervisor was Diane Steele, the founder, who can be reached at 805-646-6266. I left this position to return to school.)

Computer Technician

at BitVision, 2001

Repair, maintenance, and installation of Macintosh computer systems for local schools and businesses.

(They are located at 305 W Ojai Ave, Ojai, CA 93023. My supervisor was Anthony Winecoff, the founder and CEO, who can be reached at 805-640-3300. This was a temporary job.)

Computer Technician & Salesperson

at Mac HQ, 2000-2001

Sale, repair, maintenance and installation of Macintosh computers and related equipment, and assorted administrative duties including billing, shipping and receiving, and filing.

(They were located at 2377 E Main St, Ventura, CA 93003. My supervisor was Shaun Moon, the founder, who could be reached at 805-585-0065. I was downsized from this position.)

Education

Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy

at the University of California at Santa Barbara, class of 2007 with a 3.9 GPA, Highest Honors, and Dean's Honor Roll

Classes in ancient and modern history of philosophy, logic, general metaphysics, philosophy of space and time, philosophy of mind, philosophy of science, philosophy of religion, meta-ethics, ethics, moral psychology, free will and determinism, political philosophy, theories of justice, focused studies on Plato, Descartes, Leibniz, and Berkeley, as well as supplementary classes in religious studies, sociology, and cultural anthropology.

Associate of Arts in Multimedia Arts & Technologies

at Santa Barbara City College, class of 2004 with a 4.0 GPA, Honors, President's Honor Roll, and Phi Theta Kappa

Classes in general design, drawing, painting, multimedia design, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, audio-video editing, computer animation, and video game design.

Recommendations

My former colleagues and supervisors have had nothing but high praise for me. Please see their recommendations on my LinkedIn profile.