Kate A. Nakamura is a designer and art director based in San Francisco, CA.
I’m a versatile designer that has extensive experience with book, magazine, and catalog builds, as well as digital campaigns and marketing.
As an art director, I have spent time in a variety of environments, including on-set, location based shoots, and live events.
In addition to graphic design and art direction, I have also taught multiple courses for the Academy of Art University’s School of Fashion covering Adobe CS overviews, Editorial Design, and Fashion Marketing design.
EXPERIENCE
GRAPHIC DESIGNER
Pottery Barn, San Francisco
2021-Present
Creation of layouts and management of assets for seasonal printed catalogs and internal asset presentations. Implemented a new direction for how product copy is formatted in the catalog which was first printed in the Spring 2021 book.
In addition to work on the printed catalog, responsibilities also include working with cross functional partners to develop editorial and presentation of assets for web and marketing teams.
SENIOR GRAPHIC DESIGNER
School of Fashion, Academy of Art University
2015-2021
Designer for all print and digital/social campaigns for annual events (New York Fashion Week, Spring Fashion Show - SF, Spring Show, and in-house events). Design Director for three printed issues of 180 Magazine and forthcoming University Catalog. Created curriculum builds (slides, .indd templates, lectures) covering the Adobe Creative Suite for students in the School of Fashion.
Art Director/Lead Designer for on-site and set photography for the University Lookbook project - intended to create a comprehensive overview of all areas of study at the Academy of Art University.
PRODUCTION DESIGNER
Stella & Dot
2014
Provided InDesign layout support for Creative Team. Clipping and retouching / build-outs of product photography intended for e-comm.
FREELANCE CLIENTS
ACADEMY OF ART UNIVERSITY, SCHOOL OF FASHION
2021 - Present
Fall 2023 Semester: Guest Lecturer/Instructor for FSH 744 - Visual Curation & Branding and FSH 647 - Creative Fashion Product Styling and Typography. Gave online lectures covering layout, branding, and typography to students and created instructional materials (PDF Decks and demos).
Spring 2023: School of Fashion lookbook released at 2023 Graduation Fashion Show - 100 magazine run of 85pg. book with cover.
Maintain 180 Magazine website and design new stories for digital release.
Special event assets including social posts, printed invitations, and one-off large format posters.
SAVITUDE
May 2021 - 2022
Created multiple pitch and crowdfunding video presentations for Savitude, combining elements of recorded footage and animated elements in After Effects.
UX/UI Development for their online body shape quiz.
COLLEEN MAUER DESIGNS
June 2011 - 2022
Developed new layout for CMD Wholesale and retail catalog - implementing new page numbering, color keys for products, and collection specific headers to increase usability.
Created print and social campaigns for marketing and special events.
ELK SPIRIT LODGE
2020
Logo and Cattle Brand design for the Elk Spirit Lodge.
KEVIN ANDERSON & ASSOCIATES
2018
Custom book cover design and interior page formatting for a client.
SKILLS
TECHNICAL SKILLS:
InDesign [GREP styles, .indb, data merge, layout, pre-press]
Photoshop
Illustrator
After Effects
Figma
Airtable
DESIGN SKILLS:
Editorial Design
Social / Marketing Campaigns
Logo + Branding
Photo Editing / Compositing
UX/UI Design
Product Styling / On-set Art Direction
Site-specific / Window Display Design
EDUCATION
WEB DESIGN + NEW MEDIA - BFA 2013
Academy of Art University
San Francisco, California
FINE ART, SCULPTURE EMPHASIS - BFA 2008
California Polytechnic State University
San Luis Obispo, California