Matthew Olson

Current

• Creative Director and Owner at Signalfire, LLC

Past

• Senior Graphic Designer at Rockford Forms & Graphics
• Senior Desktop Publisher at Iverson Language Associates
• Researcher at Rock Lake Research Society

see less...

Education

• Lakeland College

Recommended

7 people have recommended Matthew

Connections

31 connections

Industry

Marketing and Advertising

Websites

• Signalfire Productions
• Personal Site

Matthew Olson’s Summary

In addition to being our principal, Matthew Olson is also one of the driving forces behind the creativity engine at Signalfire. A diverse creative and business background gave him a unique outlook on providing a new level of creative business services and the means to make it successful. Seeing the need to offer businesses an option that has the creativity and media flexibility of a design studio while holding on the practical logic of everyday production, Olson launched Signalfire to bridge the gap between good design and good business.

While managing the desktop publishing department for a content management firm in Milwaukee, he focused on brand management that was more than just logo usage and colors, but also involved style guides, content and technical documentation. "Documentation is everything," says Olson, "in the world of technical manuals and document management, managing a brand involves more than just how your customer's logo appears, but how the entire identity is used." Olson also began working with both web design and online help projects as technical documents forged onto the Internet and into PDF workflows.

Olson moved into the commercial print industry after several years and found a way to tie his entire background together. "Outdoor advertising, technical documentation and commercial printing all came together," he explains. Having worked his way through computer-to-plate spot color imagesetting to four-color, color managed digital prepress, Olson felt the need to make use of his diverse knowledge. "I was working with the identities of international corporations and saw the edge it gave them in everyday business dealings," Olson says, "I saw a need for small business to have the same advantages."

Matthew Olson’s Specialties:

Signalfire is a collective of skilled individuals with backgrounds in graphic design, web design, web application development, copywriting, digital prepress and technical illustration. Signalfire is a chorus of experience and skills to bring to customers regardless of size. "We're here to be a single source solution to businesses looking to make an impact in their market," Olson says, "we're looking forward to a bright future, but an even brighter one for our customers."

Matthew Olson’s Experience

• Creative Director and Owner

  Signalfire, LLC

  (Privately Held; 1-10 employees; Graphic Design industry)

  June 2002 — Present (6 years)

• Senior Graphic Designer

  Rockford Forms & Graphics

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Printing industry)

  March 2003 — June 2006 (3 years 4 months)

• Senior Desktop Publisher

  Iverson Language Associates

  (Privately Held; 11-50 employees; Translation and Localization industry)

  March 2000 — March 2003 (3 years 1 month)

• Researcher

  Rock Lake Research Society

  (Marketing and Advertising industry)

  1997 — 2002 (5 years)

Matthew Olson’s Education

• Lakeland College

  B.A., 1996 — 1999

  Activities and Societies:

  Op/Ed Editor - Lakeland College Mirror.

Additional Information

Matthew Olson’s Websites:

• Signalfire Productions
• Personal Site

Matthew Olson’s Interests:

graphic design, web development, web design, web hosting, CSS, branding, brand management, logo design, commercial printing, brochures, websites, PDF, InDesign, Illustrator, PhotoShop, Dreamweaver, Acrobat, Adobe, Apple, outdoors, US history

Matthew Olson’s Groups:

Milwaukee Adobe Users Group, National Association of Photoshop Professionals, Delavan-Delavan Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce, Elkhorn Chamber of Commerce

Matthew Olson’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• consulting offers
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch