Matthew Tarr

Current

• creative director/president at Elevation 7

Past

• Special Sections/Lead Designer at Gannett
• Creative Director at Paramount Environments, Fort Myers, Fla.
• Production Artist at Phoenix Creative, St. Louis, Mo.

• Designer/Editor at Journal-World, Lawrence, Kan.
• Sports Editor at The Baytown Sun, Baytown, Texas
• Writer/Editor at The News-Democrat, Belleville, Ill.

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Education

• Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville
• University of Kansas

Recommended

2 people have recommended Matthew

Connections

46 connections

Industry

Graphic Design

Websites

• My Company

Matthew Tarr’s Summary

Creative director and principal of ELEVATION 7, a full-service creative and strategic marketing agency headquartered in Fort Myers, Fla., U.S.A.

ELEVATION 7 specializes in developing branding, advertising strategies for companies of all shapes and sizes, with an emphasis on innovative design (web and print) and comprehensive editorial solutions (copywriting, public relations and more).

Matthew Tarr’s Specialties:

> Advertising, design (web/print), branding, marketing, public relations, copywriting/editorial.
> Proficient in Photoshop, Illustrator, Freehand, InDesign, QuarkXPress, Dreamweaver, Flash (Mac and Windows platforms), HTML, XML, CSS, PHP, etc.

Matthew Tarr’s Experience

• creative director/president

  Elevation 7

  (Graphic Design industry)

  July 2008 — Present (1 year 5 months)

  > Creative director and principal of ELEVATION 7, a full-service creative and strategic marketing agency headquartered in Fort Myers, Fla., U.S.A.
  > ELEVATION 7 specializes in developing innovative branding and advertising strategies for companies of all shapes and sizes, with an emphasis on cutting-edge design (web and print) and comprehensive editorial solutions (copywriting, public relations and more).

• Special Sections/Lead Designer

  Gannett

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; GCI; Newspapers industry)

  May 2003 — July 2008 (5 years 3 months)

  > As Special Sections Designer from May 2006 to July 2008, I developed and coordinated visual elements for 100,000-plus circulation daily newspaper. I supervised and executed large-scale projects and special sections in addition to daily duties as designer for automotive and real estate sections.
  > As Lead Designer in News/Sports from May 2003 to June 2006, I worked closely with writers, photographers, illustrators and editors to execute design projects on rigid daily deadlines.
  > Winner of numerous news design awards (Associated Press Sports Editors, Florida Sportswriters Association, Society of Professional Journalists, Gannett, etc.).
  > Additional duties include copy editing, writing, proofreading, executing flow of sections.

• Creative Director

  Paramount Environments, Fort Myers, Fla.

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Commercial Real Estate industry)

  July 2002 — May 2003 (11 months)

  > Supervised and developed a variety of brand identity, marketing and design campaigns for national corporation based in Fort Myers, Fla. Projects included large-scale signage programs, website development and print advertising.
  > Duties include day-to-day management and supervision of five-person design/graphics operation and Web sites.

• Production Artist

  Phoenix Creative, St. Louis, Mo.

  (Graphic Design industry)

  July 1999 — October 2001 (2 years 4 months)

  > Executed a variety of production projects including in-store signage, product packaging and magazine/catalog layout.
  > Produced advertising and promotional copy for a wide range of mediums including direct mail, billboard and television.
  > Partial client list: Borders, Waldenbooks, Anheuser-Busch, Cracker Barrel, Shoney's, Finish Line.

• Designer/Editor

  Journal-World, Lawrence, Kan.

  (Privately Held; 201-500 employees; Newspapers industry)

  June 1996 — July 1999 (3 years 2 months)

  > Served as chief nightside editor for award-winning sports staff.
  > Wrote features, game stories and columns on deadline for several different beats including NFL's Kansas City Chiefs, MLB's Kansas City Royals and NCAA basketball (University of Kansas).
  > Supervised nightly production of entire sports section. Responsibilities included design/layout of section front, photo/copy editing, headline writing and editorial content decisions.

• Sports Editor

  The Baytown Sun, Baytown, Texas

  (Privately Held; 51-200 employees; Newspapers industry)

  May 1995 — June 1996 (1 year 2 months)

  > Designed pages, wrote stories, edited copy, supervised four-person staff.

• Writer/Editor

  The News-Democrat, Belleville, Ill.

  (Public Company; 201-500 employees; Newspapers industry)

  August 1994 — May 1995 (10 months)

  > Wrote stories and edited copy for sports staff (part-time position while attending school for second bachelor's degree).

Matthew Tarr’s Education

• Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville

  Bachelor , journalism/mass communications , 1994 — 1995

  Graduated magna cum laude.

• University of Kansas

  Bachelor , political science/English (minor) , 1987 — 1992

Additional Information

Matthew Tarr’s Websites:

• My Company

Matthew Tarr’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
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• reference requests
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