Hi, I’m Kelsey.

I am an award-winning creative director and graphic designer with nearly 20 years of experience in work that connects visual excellence with clear communication. I’m drawn to work that lives at the intersection of useful and beautiful, approaching every project with a strong combination of big-picture thinking and attention to detail. I have taken on leadership roles and responsibilities for over five years, guiding creative work and the teams producing it with empathy and proactivity.

I’m based in Los Angeles, CA, but love experiencing new cities — especially ones with great public transit! — and revisiting favorites like Berlin, Cannes, and New York.

Please get in touch if you’d like to work together!

Professional Profile

Kelsey currently serves as Design Director at the internationally renowned entertainment publication The Hollywood Reporter, where she provides top-level design direction and hands-on creative work for all of the publication’s digital editorial products, special awards-season content (print and digital), and international film festival daily magazines. Her portfolio also includes budget projection and adherence, workflow guidance, and project management.

Kelsey has been promoted frequently over the last decade-plus at THR, ambitiously requesting and owning new responsibilities. Her current role is the result of dedicated advocacy for a stronger focus on digital design at the publication. Since shifting much (but not all) of her focus to digital at The Hollywood Reporter, Kelsey has designed and managed the visual direction of a relaunched THR.com, which engages over 15 million readers monthly, as well as overhauling the design of THR’s social media channels with over 10 million followers.

Kelsey’s work has been awarded and recognized by multiple organizations including the Society of Publication Designers, ASME, and the Los Angeles Press Club.

Outside of THR, Kelsey has designed material for brands including Reebok, Focus Features, Women in Film (WIF), ConvertKit, and more. She expands her creative skills and expertise by initiating projects that integrate design with data collection and research, web development, and political advocacy.

Kelsey began her career in entertainment advertising, serving as an art director on pitches and final art for film, TV, and music clients. She designed pieces for Warner Bros. Records, HBO, Magnolia Pictures, IFC, Fox, A&E, KCET, TBS, and more. Kelsey earned a Bachelor of Fine Arts in Art & Design from Cal Poly San Luis Obispo.

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Professional Experience + Accomplishments

Design Director

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER Los Angeles, CA
June 2022 – present

Oversight and direction of high-quality visual output for all THR digital editorial properties, plus design direction and creative management of lucrative awards season and film festival magazine issues. Responsibilities also include strategically prioritizing creative projects under the digital and special issue umbrellas, proposing new digital editorial ventures, and budget projections and adherence.

Creative Director/Graphic Designer

FREELANCE Los Angeles, CA
February 2012 – present

Creative direction and graphic design of editorial, advertising, and philanthropic projects; clients include Reebok, BOND Advertising, Troika, The Refinery Creative, Yes Plz Weekly, Immigrant Families Together, Women in Film, BetterUp, ConvertKit, Colorspace

Deputy Design Director

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER Los Angeles, CA
July 2019 – June 2022

Creative lead for all digital projects, including website design direction, website story graphics, and social media designs; art department budget projections and adherence; in addition to retaining the responsibilities from my previous positions at THR.

Led full redesign of THR.com: typeface exploration and selection, responsive layouts for all pages and sections of the site, individual brand identities for 7 verticals within the site, commissioned internal redesign of THR podcast artwork, suite of image templates for use by site’s editors and photo team, refreshed digital chart design template, 20-page image best practices guide, thorough and ongoing site quality assurance testing and development requests
Initiated and completed design refresh of THR’s content on traffic-driving Apple News platform
Oversaw production of all special awards-season issues following a nearly two-fold increase in the number of issues per year
Maximized department workflow efficiency by transferring task tracking to robust database platform Airtable and moving many daily tasks from paper-based communication to digital updates
Crafted design system for and oversaw production of new product: special Oscar-season daily issues

Senior Managing Art Director

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER Los Angeles, CA
April 2018 – July 2019

Manage and monitor all art department tasks and deadlines vis-a-vis fast-paced editorial calendar, ensuring efficient distribution of work across the team; perform final print checks and updates on pages being sent to press; in addition to retaining the responsibilities from my previous positions at THR.

Refreshed magazine’s Style section with new typography and templates
Improved THR.com appearance by implementing a new process for displaying art from print stories on the website, including creating templates for photo compositions, illustrations, and charts
Increased department efficiency by setting up visual organization system for monitoring and distributing design workload and deadlines
Completed visual production of all 199 pages of 2019 Cannes daily issues single-handed, including page design, print production, photo research, and task management

Art Director

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER Los Angeles, CA
September 2015 – April 2018

Generate concepts and conduct on-set art direction for product pages, oversee visual production and direction of 15-20 special awards-season issues per year, in addition to retaining the responsibilities from my previous positions at THR.

Spearheaded the first redesign of the magazine in six years, including working with all stakeholders to ensure design consensus, crafting a durable design system, and setting and adhering to deadlines.
Increased overall magazine workflow efficiency by implementing automated photo request tracking

Associate Art Director

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER Los Angeles, CA
July 2014 – September 2015

Attend international film festivals to produce special daily print issues, in addition to retaining the responsibilities from my previous position at THR.

International issue production includes page design, photo research, close collaboration with the international editor, preparing pages for printer, and project/deadline planning

Assistant Art Director

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER Los Angeles, CA
January 2013 – July 2014

Design features (cover stories, photo portfolios, multi-story packages, investigations) and pages in all sections of the magazine for print and interactive iPad editions on a rapid weekly schedule. Craft photo illustrations and collages for individual stories. Conceptualize, commission, and art direct illustrations. Design charts and infographics.

Freelance Designer

THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER Los Angeles, CA
August 2012 – January 2013

Designer

GRAVILLIS, INC. Los Angeles, CA
February 2011 – February 2012

Conceptualize, execute, and refine key art, album covers, and other advertising pieces for film, television, and music clients.

Designed cover and packaging for top-50 album The Dreamer/The Believer by Common

Art Director

BPG Los Angeles, CA
August 2009 – February 2011

Concept, execute, and refine key art and other collateral for a variety of film and television projects.

Advanced from Assistant Art Director to Junior Art Director to Art Director in the span of 18 months.

Also served as In-House Photography Coordinator, with the responsibility to set up lighting, shoot models and objects, and organize schedules, props, and image files.

Graphic Designer

ASSOCIATED STUDENTS, INC. Cal Poly State University
September 2008 – June 2009

Design university-wide posters and collateral for campus events and programs, working closely with printers and event and program coordinators

Graphic Designer

CAL POLY CONTINUING EDUCATION San Luis Obispo, CA
January 2007 – April 2008

Designed quarterly course catalogs, web graphics, flyers, newspaper advertisements, and other print materials to promote the Continuing Education department at Cal Poly. Catalog design included gradual tweaks to improve the content and visual quality, and culminated in a complete redesign and restructuring of catalog format.