The 2023 Art and Design Career Day and Networking Event took place on Thursday, April 20. Organized by the Department of Art and Design, the theme of this year’s panel talk was Behind Success. Four alumni speakers from different art and design disciplines shared their successful work and life experiences to students from sophomores to seniors. The four Monmouth Art and Design alumni are:
Jennifer Cretella ’07 Designer at Apple
Jennifer is a user experience designer specializing in visual design and communications. Currently, Jennifer leads design and communications strategy for growth & development, culture & connections, and education & training efforts in Software Engineering at Apple. This includes producing documentation, articles, blogs, podcasts, and videos as well as supporting communications and marketing materials. Jennifer has also worked on design, UX, and communications teams at Apple in SPG, SWE, and MarCom. Previously, Jennifer was a designer on corporate communications and marketing creative teams. She started her career as an art director and photo editor in print at magazine publishers and will forever value the editorial and design experience gained from those starting roles.
When not working or spending time with her family of five, Jennifer contributes to a variety of non-profit organizations in San Jose as a board member and volunteer. Jennifer graduated with a BFA in graphic design from Monmouth University and earned a MLA in digital media design from Harvard Extension School.
Pasquale Dorsi ’19 Animator at ideaMACHINE Studio
Pasquale is a lead artist and animator at Idea Machine Studios. As lead artist, Pasquale coordinates with clients and directors to create concepts and illustrations that are adapted for commercial and promotional videos. Pasquale has worked with major clients including McGraw Hill, Johnson and Johnson, World Wildlife Fund, PFIZER, Major League Baseball, and Splenda. His work consists largely of storyboard creation, character design, and animation. Outside of his current employment, Pasquale works on several freelance projects as an artist, animator, and art director. He has worked with Golden Dynasty Entertainment, 8bit Big Band, and other small businesses creating animated videos, concept designs, and illustrations. In his spare time, Pasquale also volunteers as a teacher at Princeton Learning Cooperative. There he helps students understand digital art by making concepts, character designs, and background art.
Bill Foster ’19 Art Director – Print at AV Squad
Bill is a Golden Trailer Award nominated art director at AV Squad, a two-time nominated Agency of the Year entertainment marketing agency located in Los Angeles, CA that specializes in key art and trailers. His catalogue of work encompasses several projects that range from blockbuster movies to on-demand streaming content. Some titles he has worked on include: “The Northman,” “Operation Fortune: Ruse de Guerre,” “Last Night in Soho,” “The Menu,” “John Wick 4,” “Cocaine Bear,” “A Good Person,” “Beau is Afraid,” “House of the Dragon,” “Hell’s Kitchen,” “Mayans,” “Ted Lasso,” and others. In his free time, Bill owns and operates an apparel company that designs for the non-traditional, traditional western outlaw, and also freelances for several musical artists such as Lorna Shore, Project: Vengeance, Wild the Coyote, among others.
Sarah Snow ’19 Visual Designer at HP
Sarah currently resides in Los Angeles, CA, where she works as a visual designer with the global experience design team at HP Inc., a multinational information technology company best known for its personal computers and printers. Since joining the Instant Ink team within HP, she has led several initiatives, including building a unified design system, leading her team’s rebrand efforts that corresponds with HP’s overall revamp, along with designing the visuals for Instant Ink’s web and mobile applications. Prior to working for HP, Sarah started her design career in a fitness tech startup located in Santa Monica, designed to provide subscribed users with on-demand yoga, Pilates, meditation and fitness classes. There she designed all marketing materials for the company, created visually engaging and innovative design solutions across web and mobile applications, and led the brands overall design evolution.