Nicole Ellis

Hello! 

I am a Digital Media and Design major with professional experience. My strengths lie in Motion Graphics, 2D Animation, Graphic Design and Character Design.

When I'm tasked with working on a large-scale project, my first response is to take charge in any way I appropriately can. I like to dive right into the brainstorming and ideation process in order to not only stimulate interest in the project, but have a good idea on the expectations that need to be met. Once a goal is established, I also choose to restate the necessary tasks and organize how the work flow is going to go.

I absolutely enjoy taking a hands-on approach to any issues I face; no matter any struggles I face during the ordeal, adding on to my knowledge and experience will always turn it into a positive outcome; I never want to leave a project with a negative mindset, no matter how difficult the process may have been.

Co-Owner/Lead Developer/Artist

GET ON THE BUS GAMES (November 2022 - Present, Remote)

With GET ON THE BUS GAMES, I have developed, designed graphics and advertising for and marketed two games that have been published on Roblox. The group for our games has reached over 800,000 members and have had multiple videos made of them.

- Creating digital 3D assets for in-game experiences.
-Designing graphics and UI layouts for different genres of video games.
- Marketing games towards the desired audiences.
- Managing earnings and production.

Student Worker

Talkwalker (Jan 2020 - Dec 2020, Remote)

For two semesters (the Spring 2020 and Fall 2020 semesters), I was chosen to work with Talkwalker for my Student Agency course. During this time period, I was in charge of creating motion graphics and original assets for Talkwalker's Mountain Climber program. After collaborating with a group of students on who would be in charge of creating motion graphics for certain timestamps in a given video, I would independently draw vector assets from scratch based on a given style sheet. Afterwards, the assets would be imported into Adobe After Effects to be given motion.
I was also involved with the creation of Tobin, an animated spokesperson for Talkwalker's Mountain Climber program. I had a large role in the ideation for Tobin's design from his hair to his clothes, Tobin himself going through several revisions. I was one of two lead artists in the assigned group and had a hand in designing several expressions and poses for multiple parts on Tobin. In the end, the finished product was a completed vector puppet with changeable limbs and heads as well as several props for the puppet to interact with (ex. a desk, chair, phone and laptop).

- Creating Original Assets and Motion Graphics for Talkwalker's Mountain Climber program.
- Creating Tobin, the animated spokesperson for Talkwalker's Mountain Climber program.

Intern

Reverb Digital (May 2020 - Aug 2020, Remote)

During my internship with Reverb, I was tasked with creating various graphics for promotional material, print-outs, fliers and graphics for merchandise for multiple companies.

For each project, I was given a small description or what the main objective was as well as the appropriate style sheets and links to the subject's webpages and logos. From there I would independently source references and create mock-ups or close-to-finished pieces of work. I'd then tweak what I had based on the comments and suggestions given to my by my supervisors.

The majority of these projects involved creating vector assets in Adobe Illustrator.

- Creating multiple assets for different clients through Reverb Digital Media (promotional materials, print-outs, fliers, graphics, social media banners, etc.).

Student Worker

I was approached for both of these opportunities during my time with the Hartford Journalism and Media Academy. As a high school student, I was chosen and paid to work on different projects produced by the Connecticut Public Broadcasting Network.
In the Summer of 2015, I helped to produce "Ethan's Music Room," a series of live-action, 2 minute interstitials that premiered on television. I was assigned with designing the logo, creating graphics for a tie-in game and designing various activity sheets for the series. I had full control in terms of sketching out original concepts for the show's logo and assets for the tie-in game. From there I was given instruction on how to carry out certain tasks before being left to edit and export various assets for both print and video.
From late 2016 to mid 2017, I helped to produce "Breaking Views", a series of live-action informative shorts that discussed current issues at the time of production. Being one of two Lead Visual Artists on the production, I was tasked with creating various motion graphics for individual episodes, designing a mascot and creating additional worksheets and lesson plans to go alongside the shorts. While working on Breaking Views, I had a huge role in creating the style guide for both the video graphics and print-out sheet in order for others to collaborate. I was also the sole designer for the mascot, creating the original concept art, polished assets and a 3D mock-up with minimal interference.

- Helped to produce Ethan's Music Room by editing video and creating multiple assets (the show's logo, video game art, activity sheets, etc.).
- Was a Lead Visual Artist for Breaking Views and created multiple motion graphics and visual assets (video graphics, print-out sheets, the mascot, etc.).

University of Connecticut

Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in Digital Media & Design.