A career artist all his life, Brian Acquaire started out doing portraits and caricatures before finding work as a mechanical artist on such magazines as Star magazine, W, Super Market News, and the Sun. Then moving on to an Art Director postion at the Brooklyn Courier as well as working for The Herald News and The Record.
Never giving up his love for comic illustrations he found his way to the Joe Kubert School of Cartooning and Graphic Arts in the mid 90's. and later the Chubb institute for Graphic Design.
Brian's work has been seen in such magazines as Genesis, The Enquirer, Star, Field + Stream, Tattoo Magazine, and Dragon among the many. As well as being the Illustrator for Joe and the Squirrel (a children's book), In The Treehouse (a children's book), Favata's Heaven and Hell (adult fantasy books), and non-profit businesses like Newark's Future Projects and Paterson's Women Learning Center. Along with contributing art work to the "Friends of Danny" foundation.
In his spare time Bri is an avid doodler and enjoys playing or watching football, pool, tennis, music, working out and strangely enough...anything else artistically creative!
Experienced, detail oriented artist, with a broad range of skills and knowledge having had success working within a team or on solo projects as the lead artist/designer or part of a joint effort. With abilities to learn more on the fly and handle multitasking, planning, implementing, and problem solving in a strict deadline driven atmosphere. ♤ Hands-on experience leading all stages of development from concept to production, print or web, pen & ink, or hand painting
♤ Outstanding leadership abilities, able to coordinate all phases of a project while managing, motivating and leading project teams
♤ Strong hand illustration skills with styles ranging from cartooning to photo realistic
♤ Adept at creating, editing, and designing in either vector or bitmap based graphics
♤ Extensive experience at photo-retouching, corporate logo design, ad art, mechanicals, airbrushing, mural paintings, portraits
CORE COMPETENCIES
HTML Coding Logo Designs Flyers and Brochures Airbrushing Comicbook Pencils & Inks Javascripting Business cards B&W or Color Ad layouts Store Front Signs Layouts Animation Letterheads Children's Illustration Billboards Story Boards Mural painting Banners Portraits Tattoo Design Gag Cartoons
TECHNICAL PROFICIENCIES Platforms:
Mac and PC proficient Programs:
ADOBE CS SUITE, Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign, ImageReady, Premiere, QuarkXpress, Flash MX, Dreamweaver, 3ds Max, Microsoft Office, Word, Excel, Nero, NeroVision Express, GoldWave audio mixing, Axialis, various other niche programs. Other:
Stat Camera machine operator, Xerox and Fax Machine, Scanners, NEG camera operator
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
1993 to present
Self employed - northern New Jersey Freelance artist Recruited for many different jobs either in the private sector or by non-profit businesses or other well established businesses. Contracted primarily for jobs such as corporate logo design, brochures and flyer or business mailers. Stationary designs as well as promotional banners newspaper and magazine ad designs. Web graphics, company window signs, outdoor billboards, and murals, in-home mural paintings. Photo retouching and manipulation for advertisements. Children book illustrations, along with other illustrations for use in books. Local band and club logo designs and mailers. Some key works included: ♤ Logo design, billboard, brochures and flyers for Future Projects of Newark and Haledon, N.J. ♤ Logo design, Stationary and flyers for Greater Faith Church of the Abundance in Paterson, N.J. ♤ Promotional Designs for "Tattoo Magazine" logo redesign for key chains, mugs, and T-shirts ect. ♤ Band logo design and cover art for Kings Harem, The Dead Kill, and A Rock in a Hard Place ♤ Designing Logos and Uniforms for the 6 team semipro football league AAAFIL based in Chicago, Il ♤ Illustrated 10 B&W washes for children's book "Joe and the Squirrel"
2010 to 2013
North Jersey Media Group - Woodland Park(West Paterson), N.J.
Graphic Designer, Ad Builder
1992 to 1993
Brooklyn Courier - Sheepsheadbay, N.Y. Art Director Hired on full time to manage a 5-6 man team as art director and ad layout specialist. Duties included managing, motivating, and leading 5-6 other mechanical artist, meeting with clients and other editorial heads, design client ads and ad page in a pleasing manner that kept within the papers guidelines. Choosing the design of the cover and implementing it, as well as the type setting. Occasionally writing and drawing a gag cartoon for fillers. All while meeting strict weekly deadlines!
1990 to 1992
Self employed Freelance Mechanical Artist / Camera Operator Layout and design work as well as paste-up and mechanicals for various magazines, as well as camera work and ad layouts Some key Magazines worked for: ♤ "Star Magazine" Mechanical Artist and Camera Operator ♤ "Supermarket Weekly" and "SW" Mechanical Artist / Page Layouts / Camera Operator / Ad Builder ♤ "W" Magazine Mechanical Artist ♤ "Sun Times" Mechanical Artist / Ad Builder
EDUCATION AND CREDENTIALS Professional Training, Certifications, and Diplomas
PCCC Passaic County Community College - Deans List - Graphic Arts
Chubbs Institute - Parsippany, N.J. later Anthem Institute GDA Diploma,
Joe Kubert School of Cartooning and Graphic arts - Dover, N.J.
Certificates in Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop
High School Graduate John F. Kennedy High School in Paterson, N.J. Commercial Art major also enrolled in Marketing and Distributive Education (DECA) Studying Advertising / Outdoor Advertising
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