I'm Angi Yowell and I teach students the art of visual communication. I am passionate about teaching, visual media, typography, and technology. The most rewarding part of teaching graphic design is when the light bulb "turns on" with a student and they finally "get it" - their understanding of conceptual thinking is clear and their creative juices flow automatically! Inspiration and concepts come easy at that point.

Certifications+Certificates = Makin' it real!

• State of Missouri
  Department of Elementary & Secondary Education
  Career Education Teaching Certificate
  Trade and Industrial Education Division
  Graphic Design, Commercial Art and Illustration
• Adobe Photoshop CS4 Certified
• Adobe Dreamweaver CS4 Certified
• AutoDesk 3DS Max 2010 Certificate
• Technology Safety and Security Certificate
• Preventing Child Sex Abuse Certificate
• Preventing Sexual Harassment Certificate
• Preventing Bullying Certificate

Professional Organizations+Circles = Keepin' it real!

• SkillsUSA: South Central District, RTI Local Chapter, Lead Advisor
• SkillsUSA: Missouri State, Advertising Design Contest Co-Chair
• SkillsUSA: Nationals, Advertising Design Contest, Nat'l Ed Team
• Missouri Association for Career & Tech Ed (Mo-ACTE)
• Missouri Trade and Technical Association (MTTA)
• Mo-ACTE: MTTA Program Planner, Graphics Division
• Technology Educators Association of Missouri (TEAM)
• RCTA Member
• Design Academy, Director and Creator
• RTI Building Tech Contact + Technology Trainer
• iTEACH Participant & Member
• RPS 3-Year Technology Plan: Teacher Prep, Co-Chair
• Rolla Photography Group
• Parent Teacher Organization (PTO), President, Newburg School District
• Follower of Sir Ken Robinson (Twitter, Facebook, TED Conferences)
• Advisory Board Member, Waynesville Career Center, Graphic Design Program
• Advisory Board Member, Dallas County Career Center, Graphic Design Program
• RTI Community Ed: Photoshop, lllustrator and Design Basics Instructor
• Member of several national "technology in education" online collaboration groups

Workshops+Conferences = Professional Development

• July 2012
  Missouri ACTE Conference • Springfield, Missouri
  Presenter: Gear Up for SkillsUSA - What your students need to know to compete in Advertising Design, Promotional Bulletin Board, Pin Design, and T-Shirt Design at State and Nationals
  Attended: Vinyl Sign Making Contest at SkillsUSA (presented by Chair of State Contest, Deb Zoglmann)
  Attended: Photography Contest at SkillsUSA (presented by Chair of State Contest, Dorothy Loges)
  Networking: Screen Printing Contest Chair at Skills State and Nationals, Bryan Schafener; networked and mentored new graphics instructors attending conference through NTI program (due to dissolution of state mentoring program).
  Program Planner: 2012 Conference; and will be 2013 Conference Program Planner for Graphics Cluster in the MTTA Division of Mo-ACTE
  Photographer: Asked to serve in this role during the MTTA business meeting

• July 2012
  Design Academy Summer Camp • RTI
  Organizer and Lead Teacher
  40 student mentoring hours; collaboration with RMS art teachers
  Camps taught: Intro to Animation; Graphic Design & Vinyl Sign Making; Photography & Photoshop Editing

• June 2012
  SkillsUSA Nationals Leadership & Skill Contests • Kansas City
  National Education Team Member: Advertising Design Contest
  Also served as chaperone for 11 RTI student competitors in attendance!
  Tech Prep Showcase Post-Secondary Student Team Member = 3rd Place!
  Promotional Bulletin Board = 4th Place

• March 2012
  SkillsUSA State Contest • Linn Tech
  Chair: T-Shirt Design Contest
  Chair: Pin Design Contest
  Co-Chair: Advertising Design Contest
  Advisor: Promotional Bulletin Board Contest

• February 2012
  Midwest Educational Technology Conference • St. Charles
  Technology Workshops

• November 2011
  National ACTE Conference • St. Louis
  Keynote: Sir Ken Robinson

• October 2011
  Midwest Instructional Tech Conference (MITC) • Lake of the Ozarks
  Co-Presenter with Ralph Sellers: Blended Learning - Success Using Online Course Delivery Methods Roundtabl

• September 2011
  The WAY and HOW of Differentiating Instruction with Layered Curriculum
  Dr. Kathie Nunley • Springfield

• July 2011
  Creativity in the Classroom • Illinois Institute of Art, Schaumburg
  Workshop: Storyboarding for Visual Media (6 hours)
  Workshop: CAD for Interior Design (6 hours)

• July 2011
  Missouri ACTE Conference • Springfield, Missouri
  Presenter: Math Embedded Credit Projects for Graphic Design
  Presenter: How to Teach Graphic Design Students to Think Conceptually
  Attended: Digital Photography Workshop by Donna Groves (Vivid Impressions Owner)

• July 2011
  Design Academy Summer Camp • RTI
  Organizer and Lead Teacher
  15 student mentoring hours; collaboration with RMS art teachers

• June 2011
  SkillsUSA Nationals Leadership & Skill Contests • Kansas City
  National Education Team Member: Advertising Design Contest
  Also served as chaperone for 14 RTI student competitors in attendance!
  Advertising Design Post-Secondary Student = 1st Place!

• March 2011
  SkillsUSA State Contest • Linn Tech
  Co-Chair: Advertising Design Contest
  Participant: Lead Advisors Meetings & Roundtable

• February 2011
  Midwest Educational Technology Conference • St. Charles
  Technology Workshops

• July 2010
  Creativity in the Classroom • Illinois Institute of Art, Schaumburg
  Flash for Animation: 2D Cartooning Using Flash (6 hours)
  Award Winning Layouts & Typography Using InDesign (6 hours)

• July 2010
  Missouri ACTE Conference • Springfield, Missouri
  Workshop: Vinyl Cutting Techniques
  Workshop: Incorporating Embedded Credit Projects
  Roundtable: Mo-SkillsUSA Advertising Design Tech Info Contest Re-Write

• July 2010
  AutoDesk 3DS Max Training • Star Training Institute • Tulsa
  Animation Software Training (3 days)

• June 2010
  SkillsUSA Nationals Leadership & Skill Contests • Kansas City
  National Education Team Member: Advertising Design Contest
  Also served as chaperone for 9 RTI student competitors in attendance!
  Advertising Design Post-Secondary Student = 5th Place!

• March 2010
  SkillsUSA State Contest • Linn Tech
  Co-Chair: Advertising Design Contest
  Participant: Lead Advisors Meetings & Roundtable

• February 2010
  Midwest Education Technology Conference • St. Charles
  Technology Workshop: Moodle Configuration
  Technology Workshop: What's New From Apple
  Technology Workshop: There's an App for That!
  Technology Workshop: iPod Touch in the Classroom
  Technology Workshop: Apple - What's New with iLife and iWork
  Technology Workshop: Using Macs in a Windows Environment
  Technology Workshop: User's Guide to Open Source and Freeware
  Technology Workshop: Mac OSX Snow Leopard Client
  Technology Workshop: Mac OSX Snow Leopard Server
  Technology Workshop: Picture This! Using Multimedia to Engage Students

• July 2009
  Missouri ACTE Conference • Springfield, Missouri
  Workshop: Textile Printing A-Z (4 hours)
  Industry Tour: Transport Graphics (Vinyl Applications & Vehicle Wraps)

• July 2009
  Creativity in the Classroom • Illinois Institute of Art, Schaumburg
  Advanced Applications of Flash: ActionScript 3.0 (6 hours)
  Digital Photography: Studio Lighting and Color Management (6 hours)
  Flash for Interactivity: Adobe Flash (6 hours)

• April 2009
  Teacher Lecture Series • Illinois Institute of Art, Schaumburg
  Graphic Design Faculty Presentation
  Tour of facility and discussion of articulation agreements

All+Work+Play = Makes Angi a creative person

I studied graphic design and marketing at (Southwest) Missouri State University in Springfield, Missouri under my adviser and world-renowned designer, Cedomir Kostovic. With the BFA in Design with the Emphasis in Graphic Design, there was no need for a minor. However, I declared an Individualized Minor in Marketing with the Emphasis in Advertising and Promotion because I realized early on that anything designed (regardless for profit or not) would need to be marketed to the specific audience.

I needed to fully understand Marketing and how it worked (completely) in order to become a successful designer. Knowing the entire scope of a project is crucial in planning and implementing the concepts from the very beginning. Since marketing plays a huge role in graphic design, I completed 18 hours of marketing classes (everything from advertising design to personal selling - yes, I know salesman tactics and I can really skew survey results if I wanted!).

Design+Experience = My History

In my senior year in high school I was hired part-time as the secretary for the local newspaper and printing office in my hometown in southwest Missouri. After graduating high school I continued to work at the newspaper office full time for about 2 years, spending all my 'free' moments helping with layout of the paper (trimming, waxing and burnishing!), proofreading, and assisting the pressman in the back with collating, binding, stuffing, and any other labor intense jobs in the printing department. This is where I really was introduced and became knowledgeable of the Mac computer, using Aldus PageMaker (yes, it was owned/called Aldus before it was owned by Adobe!)

Though the computer revolution was starting to take shape in the design industry, the paper was still shot with a big process camera and film was produced and plates were made from the film for the press. I soon enrolled in college in Springfield and was accepted as a graphic design student. (Yep, I typed 'accepted' because at [S]MSU, you have to go through several faculty portfolio reviews in order to declare a major in graphic design!) It was here where I learned how to think conceptually and apply those ideas to communicate visually, under the European influence of my design instructors.

Even though the first years of design school taught me the processes of the manual way of doing layouts, preparing on Bristol board manually marking crop/trim marks and shooting for a PMT for critique, I was also taught the computer-side of design. I learned Photoshop at a very young age (well, Photoshop was very young -- version 2.0 was the latest and greatest at the time!). InDesign wasn't on the scene yet because PageMaker was now owned by Adobe Systems and QuarkXPress was the leading layout software.

During my junior year at (S)MSU, I was employed by Medical Consulting Group as an entry-level graphic designer. Being mentored by my bosses (one was the art director and had previous experience at an ad agency in Dallas, the other was the owner, who was a previous marketing instructor at [S]MSU), I gained extensive experience with clientele identity branding, working with clients in the fields of ophthalmology and cosmetic/aesthetic surgeons across the USA, creating marketing collateral such as patient information brochures, catalogs, logo design/identity, as well as radio and television commercials. I even handled annual advertising budgets for clients and how to 'spend' that money in the most effective manner. This experience was invaluable because I worked closely with a contracted media group who assisted me with traffic and flight schedules for those radio and television spots.

After 3 years of employment with MCG, I relocated to St. Louis and was hired as a graphic designer for the St. Louis Convention & Visitors Commission (CVC) where I was responsible for designing marketing materials for the CVC in an effort to promote tourism to the city of St. Louis. A year later I married my husband and we relocated to Rolla.

I was hired as a Communications Specialist (public relations and graphic designer) at Missouri S&T (previously known as University of Missouri-Rolla) for the civil, architectural and environmental engineering department. My primary responsiblities at the university included marketing and public relations of the department, along with maintenance of the department's website and the biannual newsletter.

In 2003 I opened Angi Yowell Design Co, LLC and soon left MS&T to operate the company on a full-time basis. In the summer of 2007, though my business was still booming, I wanted to teach design. I went back to MSU to work on getting a teaching degree. Coincidentally, this was the same time the graphic design teaching position at RTI opened up and I applied for the position.

Initially when I moved to Rolla I was asked to be a board member on RTI's graphic design program advisory committee. I was also asked to serve as the proctor for the Missouri State SkillsUSA Advertising Design contest. I held both positions until I was hired as the instructor at RTI. I now co-chair the SkillsUSA state contest and am also actively involved on the national level with SkillsUSA serving on the National Education Team for the Advertising Design contest.

Design+Portfolio = Some great visual eye candy!

Is that redundant (visual eye?)... I don't think so, but I'm not 100% certain! Past projects include identity branding, overall concept & logo development, printed literature and brochures, promotional displays, website designs, posters, radio and television advertisements. Several design projects can be seen online at angiyowell.

Local design projects also include:

• Rolla Public School District website (before employment with the District)
• Missouri S&T (various marketing materials for several different departments)
• Pi Kappa Alpha chapter at Missouri S&T (website and Kapers newsletter)
• Rolla Area Chamber of Commerce (previous website and various marketing materials)
• The Dance Studio (website and various marketing materials)
• South Central HOMES Magazine (website)
• Elgin Surveying (website and logo identity)
• Langston Interiors (websites, logo identity and various marketing materials)
• Red Door Gifts (websites, logo identity and various marketing materials)
• Ann's Dancers (website and various marketing materials)
• Newburg Public Schools (website)
• Waynesville Public School District (website)
• Cabool Area Chamber of Commerce (website)
• The Zone Skate Center and Kokomo Joe's (website)
• Action Signs & Graphics (previous website)
• Immanuel Lutheran School of Rolla (website and complete identity branding materials)

Accomplishments+Achievements = Additional braggin' rights!

Leadership+Skills = National Winners!

I am a very active teacher with regards to our student organization, SkillsUSA. In 2009, I attended Nationals for the first time. RTI took 3 students to Nationals that year. Two of those students were mine! The next year (2010), RTI had 9 students attend & compete at Nationals - 4 of the 9 were my students! In 2011, RTI had 13 students attend & compete at Nationals - 4 of those students were my students.

At the 2011 National Contest, my student competed in the SkillsUSA National Advertising Design Competition. She took the GOLD medal, placing 1st in the nation in the competition. One of her many prizes included a full year's tuition to the Art Institute of her choice! I also had a promotional bulletin board team that consisted of 3 students that competed and they placed 6th.

In 2010, I had a student compete at the national level in the advertising design contest, placing 5th; a 3D animation team of 2 students that placed 8th; and another student competed in the prepared speech contest and also placed 8th.

In 2009, I took a team of 2 in promotional bulletin board to SkillsUSA Nationals and they placed 8th. That same year RTI's drafting student placed 3rd, taking the bronze medal.

My students are the ones who worked hard. I just offered guidance and helped them stay "somewhat" organized and on track! The best part about preparing for contest is that it gives the students a real-world experience of what it is like working against a deadline. And, when you reach that deadline, it's showtime! Your piece has to be spot-on, flawless. There were many nights we were in the lab at school late in the evening so they could finish up their projects for contest. Fun times! And, if you asked those students today what they remember and enjoyed the most about SkillsUSA contests, they will more than likely tell you the hard work they put in at the school after hours working on their projects getting them to perfection