Gordon McAlpin

4907 N. Talman Ave. Apt. 2, Chicago, Illinois 60625
email me@gordonmcalpin.com

Recent Work Experience

Freelance Graphic Design and Production
Self-employed • January 2003 – present

  • Publication design and production (print and digital), interaction and information design, and other graphic design; illustration, cartooning, and 2D animation; and photo retouching for a variety of clients and publications, including Beadle & Grimm’s, MCDM Productions, Fablevision Studios, Hunters Entertainment, and Land O’Lakes.

Freelance Game Design and Editing
Self-employed • April 2019 – present

  • Writing, TTRPG game design, and editing for clients such as Anthony Joyce-Rivera (various Dungeon Masters Guild projects), Gamehole Publishing (developmental and copy editing for The End of Everything), NeverEnding (character options for Anansi’s Tapestry of Lives), Twin Drums (editing for The Wagadu Chronicles), and Evil Hat Productions (copy editing for Apocalypse Keys).

Adjunct Lecturer
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities • Fall 2016

  • Graded assignments, lectured (via videos and online posts), and developed additional course materials introducing Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, and Adobe InDesign to prospective College of Design majors for the online DES2101 Design and Visual Presentation course.

Graduate Instructor/Research Assistant
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities • Spring 2012 – Spring 2016

  • Shot and edited video interviews on the Design Graduate program as a graduate assistant for the department chair (Spring 2016).
  • Graded assignments, lectured, and developed course materials introducing the Adobe Creative Suite to prospective College of Design majors as graduate instructor for the online DES2101 Design and Visual Presentation with Jessica Harjo and Dr. Sauman Chu (Fall 2015).
  • Graded assignments, lectured, and lead discussions and critiques as graduate instructor for DES1311 Foundations I: Drawing & Design (Spring 2013 – Spring 2015).
  • Wrote, produced and edited video content for a massive open online course (MOOC) as a research assistant for Dr. Hokanson (Summer 2013 – Summer 2014), currently offered on Coursera.
  • Wrote, reviewed literature, and collected & analyzed data for a research paper on the semiotics of design elements in video games as a research assistant for Dr. Sauman Chu (Summer 2014 – Summer 2015).

Graduate Teaching Assistant
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities • Fall 2012

  • Graded assignments, lead discussions of course readings, and otherwise assisted Dr. Brad Hokanson as a teaching assistant for two sections of DES1111 Creative Problem Solving (Fall 2012).

Production Artist (full-time freelance)
National Geographic School Publishing • October 2007 – February 2010

  • Development of book design templates for the National Geographic Science program to ensure efficient production by a team of page layout artists. This included the creation and documentation of all required paragraph styles, object styles, and master pages to ensure a consistent look and feel across dozens of templates and hundreds of titles.
  • Print production and illustration work for a range of packaging, textbooks, and supplemental materials.
  • Cover and packaging concept work and development for NGSP’s award-winning National Geographic Science grade 4–5 program.

Digital Artist (October 2006 – September 2007)
Graphic Artist (August 2005 – October 2006)
Upshot • August, 2005 – September 2007

  • Digital production/pre-press work on in-store signage, posters, out-of-home, and a wide variety of print products, for Miller Brewing Company, Disney Vacation Club, Procter & Gamble, Finish Line, and other accounts.
  • Create illustrations and retouch, color correct and/or composite photographs to art director or client instructions and printing requirements.

Selected Work

The High Magic Sourcebook (D&D fifth edition supplement). Writer, illustrator, and graphic designer. Dungeon Masters Guild, January 2022.

Feats Don’t Fail Me Now (D&D fifth edition supplement). Lead designer, illustrator, and graphic designer. Dungeon Masters Guild, August 2020.

Death by Goblins! (D&D fifth edition adventure). Writer, illustrator, and graphic designer. Dungeon Masters Guild, May 2020.

Multiplex 10: The Web Series (animated web series). Co-writer, executive producer, director, animator, editor, sound design, sound editing, and voice actor. Chase Sequence, January 2018–July 2020.

Multiplex 10: The Animated Short (short film). Co-writer, executive producer, director, animator, editor, and voice actor. Chase Sequence, January 2018.

Multiplex: The Revenge (comic strip collection). Writer, illustrator, and book designer. Chase Sequence: June 2017.

Multiplex: There and Back Again (comic strip collection). Writer, illustrator, and book designer. Chase Sequence: March 2014.

Multiplex: Enjoy Your Show (comic strip collection). Writer, illustrator, and book designer. Chase Sequence: September 2010.

Multiplex (webcomic). Writer and illustrator. Chase Sequence, July 2005–April 2017.

Stripped Books (webcomic). Writer and illustrator. Chase Sequence, October 2004–April 2006.

Selected Awards and Nominations

FirstGlance Film Festivals – Philadelphia (Philadelphia, PA), October 12–14, 2018. Official Selection (for Multiplex 10: The Web Series). Nominated in six categories, including Best Director – Web Series (Gordon McAlpin) and Best Comedy.

Minnesota WebFest (Minneapolis, MN), September 28–29, 2018. Winner: Best Animation/Puppetry (for Multiplex 10: The Web Series).

International Academy of Web Television (IAWTV) Awards (Los Angeles, CA), August 24, 2018. Finalist, Best Animated Series (for Multiplex 10: The Web Series).

Monmouth Film Festival (Red Bank, NJ), August 10–12, 2018. Winner: Best Web Series (for Multiplex 10: The Web Series).

2017 Student Design & Scholarship Excellence award recipient
2015 Student Design & Scholarship Excellence award recipient
2014 Student Design & Scholarship Excellence award recipient
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities College of Design.

2014 Gold medal for Graphic Novel/Drawn Book–Humor/Cartoon
Independent Publisher Book Awards (for Multiplex: There and Back Again).

Education

Master of Fine Arts in Graphic Design (Interactive Design track)
University of Minnesota–Twin Cities (St. Paul, Minnesota) • September 2012 – May 2016
Moving Image Media Studies minor

Bachelor of Science in Studio Art (Graphic Design)
Bradley University (Peoria, Illinois) • August 2000 – May 2001

Bachelor of Science in Studio Art (Drawing) +
Bachelor of Arts in English (Writing, Creative Writing minor)
Bradley University (Peoria, Illinois) • June 1992 – December 1996

Skills

  • Expert design and production skills with Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe InDesign, and Adobe Acrobat Pro.
  • Strong knowledge of Final Cut Pro X, Flash/Animate, Microsoft Office, HTML, and CSS.
  • Extensive knowledge of printing methods, digital prepress, information design and typographic conventions, dielines & templates, color management, and other areas in print and digital production.