COMPANIES I DELIVERED PROJECTS FOR
PRESENTATIONS
Pitch decks are my specialty
I honed my presentation design skills while working at Walt Disney, where I had to deliver very sophisticated animation-driven decks to company’s top executives under tight deadlines. I used the expertise that I acquired there to keep designing presentations for other media and tech giants, such as 21st Century Fox, Warner Bros., NBC Universal and Facebook. I craft my decks using Apple Keynote, Microsoft Powerpoint and Google Slides, along with the arsenal of various Adobe CC software such as After Effects.
MOTION GRAPHICS
From inks to dancing pixels
I started my career in the world of print design, where the beauty lies in the details of a static layout — a page, a poster, product package, or anything that is covered with colored ink. As the world kept changing, I felt the need for a new challenge, and I found it in the world of motion graphics. I methodically educated myself in the technical intricacies of Adobe After Effects, and started to breathe new life into my designs by making them dance on a digital screen.
Besides using my motion graphics skills to enhance Keynote deck slides at Walt Disney, I’ve also had an opportunity to design videos for giants of American hi-tech industry, such as Dell, Salesforce, Cisco Systems and Hewlett Packard.
Motion graphics demo reel video
Disney sizzle video
Malaysia Texas skit animation
Cisco Open Stack video
HP Google Apps video
Print will always be beautiful
Despite our world becoming so completely digital, you can still see printed color inks everywhere you look – on billboards, on the pages of a magazine, or on every piece of packaged food you just bought. This is how I learned the craft of graphic design — by creating print pieces, using the classic software trio of Photoshop, Illustrator and InDesign. I still enjoy every aspect of the print design process – concept, layout, typography, photo editing, production, and the amazing press check where your creation finally comes to life.
A package of sell sheets for Disney English
A packaging design for a CD by Micheline
Promo card designs for actors in Hollywood
Typography design for Milken’s book
ABOUT RAD
RAD’S MICRO-BIO
I’m a graphic designer and art director specializing in presentations, motion graphics and print.
After coming to the US from Poland, I initially wanted to take my electric guitar playing skills to the next level of professional proficiency. However, after discovering computers, art and design, I decided to change course. I set out to build a career as a creative professional that would take me to many fascinating destinations. I worked in brand development, sales promotion, advertising, entertainment, media and publishing for some of the most high-profile American companies, overseeing an arsenal of creative solutions from concept and design through all aspects of production and project management.
As a designer, I am mostly self-taught — I learned my craft in the real-life business school of hard knocks. To broaden my knowledge, I diligently studied books and software, took some fantastic design classes at UCLA Extension and networked with a lot of industry professionals and like-minded people.
My experience of living in three different worlds — Eastern Europe (Warsaw, Poland), US (Southern California area), and Asia (Chiang Mai, Thailand) — offers me a unique perspective on how people from various cultures interact, and it helps me better navigate the complex pathways of global communication.
PROFESSIONAL SKILLS
| CREATIVE |
|---|
Presentations Design
Motion Graphics Design
Print Design & Production
Infographics Design
Concept Development
Art Direction
Creative Writing
| SOFTWARE |
|---|
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Illustrator
Adobe InDesign
Adobe After Effects & Plugins
Apple Keynote
Microsoft PowerPoint
| OTHER SKILLS |
|---|
Fluent in English
Native Polish proficiency
I can sms, handwrite & chat in Thai
Guitar skills, electric and acoustic
The art of digital asset management
Identifying patterns in a sea of chaos
Creative communication skills
MY MINDSET
My story of arriving in the US with a backpack, a hundred bucks and one phone number shaped me into someone who knows how to build something from nothing under any circumstances. I expect nothing, and I am ready for anything. Mindfulness, flexibility, learning on the fly and adapting to the constantly changing environment are all key to the success of the mission.
Whether it’s collaborating with an on-site team as a freelancer, working on a project for my own client, or plugging into the universe of remote work — I hit the ground running, and I hit it hard. I listen closely, I propose solutions, thoroughly prepare, and then spring into action — you will never find me pondering what to do. I will stop at nothing until the project is delivered on time, within budget, and with a level of high quality to die for. When it comes to getting things done, I mean business — every step of the way.
MY BALANCE
Most designers are there to create designs, most bureaucrats are there to manage bureaucracy, and most diplomats are there to mediate conflicts. Personally I find that in order to successfully deliver what I am asked for in a dynamic business environment, I need to be able to master and balance all three of these skill sets. There is no “separation of duties”, and all three are parts of one seamless and focused work process. Not just my knowledge and experience, but my deepest gut-level animal instincts guide me on this path.
My mind has to be able to roam free and stay “out-of-the-box” to arrive at a creative solution. To implement my design concept I may need to switch gears and activate the inner bureaucrat who will oversee the organizational and technical aspects of the project. And to get it all done and delivered — despite the growing influence of AI — I still need to successfully interact with living, breathing human beings who have cultural differences, aches, pains, agendas, and everything in between. Balance is of the essence.
MY STRATEGY
In my work process, I really do believe in a “70% preparation, 30% execution” approach. Having a bird’s eye view of the project and taking some extra time to brainstorm ways of improving the overall efficiency of a given workflow is essential. Sometimes it seems that “I haven’t started yet”; perhaps I may still be drinking my coffee.
However, once the preparation stage is completed and I have decided on a course of action, the actual battle to get the project done is now well planned and mapped out. If I prepared well, this may happen at blinding speed. My fingers dance on the keyboard and my mind is that of an orchestra conductor, fully focused, fully in control of all the staves of the score; the symphony is playing itself. Something that was estimated to take a week takes a couple of hours. Jaws drop. I’ve been there, and I’ve done that.
COOL PROJECTS THAT I HAVE WORKED ON
Dell’s Cybersecurity Team
My role at Dell quickly expanded to
include creating and editing company’s
collection of technical white papers,
designing videos and presentations,
managing SharePoint websites, and
responding to any urgent requests
coming from the global security team.
My organizational and diplomacy skills,
a keen understanding of cultural
differences plus the ability to come up
with creative solutions on the fly
came in very handy!
Facebook Presentations
I have been contracted to assist
Facebook’s worldwide team with
their PowerPoint presentation needs.
I worked on elaborate data-driven
decks where attention to detail
and accuracy were a must. Working
remotely, I had to collaborate with
executives residing in different time
zones and make sure the goods were
delivered on tight deadlines with
lightning speed.
At Apple Beats
Working at Apple Beats’ Culver City
headquarters was quite an experience.
The environment was a unique mix of
slick hi-tech and hip-hop celebrity
culture, amped up to 11 with a
relentless pressure to deliver
presentation concepts and revisions
within hours. LeBron James would stop
by, and Dre was planning a party.
You were either on the very top of
your game, or you would not have been
able to last a day there.
Harry Potter Style Guides
While working at Warner Bros., I’ve
had a fantastic opportunity to design
and produce eight style guides, one
for each Harry Potter movie.
I had to plow through a mountain of
image assets, design all the layouts
and make sure everything was
meticulously organized and accounted
for. Diving so deeply into Harry Potter’s
universe was a blast of fun; now I can
see that Harrys’s got more gadgets
than James Bond!
Disney Presentations
At Walt Disney, I worked on some of
the most complex and sophisticated
franchise and corporate event decks
for their top executive team. Nothing
was off–limits, and many slides required
the design of elaborate animations
using After Effects. Working at the
“mouse”, I learned how to thrive in a
challenging work environment where
high-profile projects had to be delivered
on short deadlines and look absolutely
“pixie dust amazing”.
Warner Bros. Licensing
This was one of the most gigantic
presentations I’ve ever designed and
executed, and I have done it three times
in a row. A stream of image assets from
multiple teams had to be incorporated
into the sequence while being constantly
revised and ultimately turned into a
video with a voiceover. Warner Bros.
Licensing Show was a corporate combat
bootcamp like no other in Hollywood.
From now on, I think I can run just about
any kind of show.
NBC Universal Decks
I have enjoyed designing beautiful
Keynote decks for some of the most
iconic properties at NBC Universal. I’ve
had to come up with a series of creative
concepts for the global marketing of
Fast & Furious and Universal Monsters,
work on a bunch of Dreamworks TV
properties, and tweak some
dinosaur layouts for the Jurassic Park
franchise. I found it simply irresistible
to keep honing my design skills on stuff
so utterly cool!
Silicon Valley Videos
I established a great relationship with
a team of Silicon Valley entrepreneurs
who worked with the biggest names in
high technology. We collaborated on
the creation of corporate videos for
Salesforce, Cisco, Hewlett-Packard,
and others. Usually I had to start
with a raw script, zero assets and
minimal amount of direction. Then
it was up to me to implement my
creative vision, jump through rounds
of approvals, and deliver the goods.
Milken’s Conference
Milken Institute’s yearly conference has
been a “who’s who” gathering of the
global elite’s top power players. For
three years in a row, I designed and
produced the conference program’s
briefing book. During ten days before
the event, I was in a war zone of constant
revisions coming from myriad sources.
I designed the intricate typography,
invented procedures to streamline the
editing, and fought all the way to deliver
a perfect manuscript by the deadline.
TESTIMONIALS
Rad is always my first choice when I’m in need of Franchise presentation designs. From basic Keynote slides to high-quality, professional and engaging animated presentations, Rad always delivers beyond my expectations, and always on time. He’s worked on materials across a variety of NBCUniversal & DreamWorks TV brands including Fast & Furious and DreamWorks Spirit Riding Free. My colleagues are always impressed at how great my brand materials look, all thanks to Rad!
Jennifer Loef Forlano
Strategic Brand Marketing Leader
I had the pleasure of having Rad on my team at Dell, for over 2 years. He is an amazingly multitalented individual. During his tenure with us, he created security marketing white papers, videos and animations for security events, and contributed to web design efforts on our Trust Center. He’s got a keen eye for detail and somebody I trusted to get any task complete in a timely fashion. Rad’s diverse skillset and teamwork mentality make him a great addition to any company.
Paul Salazar, PMP, PSPO
Consultant, Project/Program Management at Dell Technologies
I highly recommend and endorse Rad as a very talented designer who also has advanced technical skills. He was crucial in helping put together a huge presentation for Warner Bros. Consumer Products in preparation for Licensing Show. There was a massive amount of material to organize and bring together on an almost impossible time line. He made it look amazing and did it calmly and with a smile on his face. I was extremely impressed with his professionalism, work ethic and design skills.
Brian Deputy
Executive Creative Director, The Creepy Company
I would highly recommend Rad for any job that requires a high-level skill set. During our time working together at Dell, Rad demonstrated exceptional capabilities in handling any task assigned to him, proving to be highly reliable and competent. Notably, Rad provided total support for all marketing communications materials needed by our cybersecurity team, including whitepapers, videos, websites, and presentations, and everything he did was executed flawlessly. Rad’s commitment to excellence and ability to handle just about any challenge make him a truly invaluable asset to any organization.
Fernando Calvo
IT Security at Dell Technologies
Being a great graphic designer is more about compelling, convincing and captivating communicating than it is about solely being “artistic” and talented, although those are important qualities. Rad delivers all that and brings both a strategic and a tactical communication view and tight focus to his work.
He has the extremely rare ability to see the big picture (“telescopic view”) of the vision I need and want… and then to see and cover the tinest details (“microscopic view”) that affect the way my presentation, brochure, DVD or other project must have. If you want raw creativity, superb execution and top notch results, he’s the guy who’s going to make your project shine!
Ray Anthony
Game-changing “Innovader”, Speaker & Author
Rad has helped produce several marketing videos for our clients for diverse applications such as product launches, sales kick off events and websites. Rad is a perfectionist when it comes to attention to detail and production quality, and visually imaginative when presenting complex ideas. At Mainstay we are looking forward to many more creative projects with him in the coming years. I want to wish him all the best and for any of you considering working with him, I have no reservation in recommending him strongly — he is one of the very best in his trade.
Lakshminarayanan Venkatraman
EVP, Business Value and CIO Advisory at The Mainstay Company
