bio

who is walt irby?

Raised in Norfolk and Sandbridge, Virginia, I moved to Boston after high school to study and pursue my filmmaking passion. After shooting and co-producing a feature-length film, in addition to many shorts, I spent five months exploring Australia before graduating from college, moving to Los Angeles, losing my mother to cancer, and marrying my beautiful wife, Gretchen.

For six months I freelanced on film shoots in LA as a grip, gaffer, camera assistant, camera operator and teleprompter operator. Upon discovering the freelance lifestyle was just not for me, I took a part-time office assistant job with a national cinema club, which quickly evolved into a full-time Operations Director position when the company's owner recognized my strong organizational skills and meticulous attention to detail.

There, in addition to undertaking office management, I sharpened my web and graphic design skills that previously I had only pursued as a hobby. In the process of designing flyers and brochures and learning how to code websites (and being paid to do so!), I discovered a real passion for teaching myself how to accomplish what I see displayed on the web and in marketing materials all around me every day.

A change in company ownership and a desire to move back east brought Gretchen and me to Washington, D.C., where currently I am working at The Avalon Theatre and The Cinema Club in operations, marketing and web & graphic design.

timeline

education and experience
 

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download my résumé in pdf format instead

web

I am self-taught in designing websites. I love learning how to accomplish new tricks, particularly when they increase attractiveness and functionality. I designed this site using HTML 5, CSS 3, PHP 5.2 & JavaScript 1.8 (jQuery in particular). I also have a working knowledge of MySQL and WordPress geek speak and I prefer using Coda as an editor and Navicat with databases, but I also have experience using Adobe Dreamweaver.

graphic

I am self-taught in graphic design, but I've been praised (and paid) for my designs of tri-fold brochures, flyers, large-format posters, large-format vinyl banners, postcards, business cards, letterhead, newsletters and various other forms of signage. I prefer using Adobe Creative Suite 5 (mainly inDesign, Photoshop & Illustrator), but I also have experience using Quark. Below are just a few examples of my work.

  • Cinema Club Brochure
  • Weekly Washington Post Printed Ad
  • Large-Format Theater Lobby Display
  • Avalon Theatre Solicitation Letter
  • Bethesda Magazine Ad (program logos also by Walt Irby)
  • Renewal Flyer
  • Newsletter
  • Event Invitation
  • Avalon Brochure
 

click the image to download a PDF of that example

contact