I was born in Rio de Janeiro/Brazil and when people ask me why I left the paradise land to live in the US, my answer was simple: “I was a financial refugee just like many other people back in the 90’s.” Unlike many other immigrants however, I did not come to the US for a quick buck, I came for a fresh start and to live the American culture.

I realized that the United States is a great nation and it was no surprise for me how much in common I have with the local way of life. Basically, work hard, invest your time in education, strive for perfection, and never forget to give back. After residing 5 years in New York (my boot camp in American life), I met my wife and moved to Jacksonville/Florida in 2003, where I currently reside and work.

Today I divide my time between my career as a graphic designer, my College education (Yes, I went back to school!), and my family life as a husband and father. My most recent project is a children’s book that I just published at lulu.com. This is a project that was rewarding in itself, just for the fact that I had the freedom to write, illustrate and design all from scratch.

So basically, advertising and design are not just my job, they are my hot coffee in the morning and my red wine with cheese on the weekends. I enjoy them, and consequently they are what I do best.

                                                                                                                                  Artur Nistra

Be engaged on new challenges, creative projects, and interact on a team work environment.

Making my employer excels among the competitors is my drive.

EDUCATION/DEGREE 

• Florida Community College - Currently pursuing an A.S Degree in Graphic Design.  Graduation in December 2009;

• Florida Community College - Associate in Arts with UNF transfer to advertising.  Graduated in May 2008;

• Technology Center for the Chemical & Textile Industry- Rio/Brazil, Technical Degree in Textile Science.  Graduated in 1992.                                                                                                   

RELATED EDUCATION

• Quark Xpress and Adobe Illustrator advanced courses - New York, Fashion Institute of Technology, 2002;

• Spanish course, Instituto Cervantes - New York, 2001 (4 months);

• Retail Merchandise  & Advertising Graphic Production - The Commercial Apprenticeship Office - Brazil.; 1996-1997.

PROJECTS/PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Book Design Project - Jacksonville, FL. (2008)

• Writing, Illustrating, designing, and self-publishing a children’s book named: “The Dragon, The Pig and The Red Tiger”

   The book has 30 pages and was published at Lulu.com website by May of 2008.

Journal Community Group - Jacksonville, FL. October/2003-present (Production Designer)

• Responsible for organizing, building and composing five full page classified sections in 3 different weekly publications (The Clay Today, Clay Leader & The  

  Ponte Vedra Recorder), winning in 2006 the “Second Best Classified Theme Page in Color” by The Florida Press Association;

• Meeting deadlines and posting via File Transfer Protocol & Xpense-Mactive site an average of 120 ads posted on The Car Connection Magazine,   

   Visitors Guide, Clay Today Newspaper, Clay Leader, Ponte Vedra Recorder and other seasonal publications;

• Create, manipulate or rebuild ads, logos, brochures and other promotional material by request;

• Helping the sales representatives, publishers and journalists by listening to their needs and offering them practical solutions.

Ditto Digital Lounge - New York, NY.  2001 to 2003 (Printer assistant)

• Responsible for production workflow, pre-printing tests, organizing and updating digital library;

• Organizing legal documents, scanning, printing and converting to PDF files;

• Making over size prints or reductions by request;

• Attending directly to the public and making sure that the customer expectations would be exceed.

PROFICIENCY  &  SKILLS

• Adobe In-Design CS2, Quark Xpress 5, Adobe PhotoShop CS2, Illustrator CS2 and Acrobat 8;

• Microsoft Word, Power Point, and great Windows Network navigation ability ;

• Microsoft Windows and Mac OS systems;

• Micromedia Flash MX (learning!);

• Fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese and good comprehension in Italian;

• Good photography skills in both digital and old manual cameras;

• Great ability to manually create and reproduce illustrations in color and black & white.;

• Self motivated, resourceful, organized and welcoming new challenges.

AWARDS

• Second Place on the Estate of Florida as “Best 2006 Classified Page in Color“, by the Florida Press Association;

• Scholarship Awarded In 2006 for academic performance by FCCJ Academic Achievement Foundation;

• Scholarship Awarded In 2007 for academic performance by Henri & Linda Landwirth Foundation;

• On the FCCJ President List with an overall GPA of 3.6.

MEMBERSHIPS

• Member of the AIGA - American Institute of Graphic Arts;

• Member of Google Art  Bistro;

• Member of the Masonic Association of Jacksonville.