Greg Holkan

Senior Graphic Designer & Illustrator

Greg Holkan is a seasoned graphic designer and illustrator with more than 20 years of hands-on experience. Greg has worked at all levels of the industry, from small design and marketing companies to large corporate environments handling million dollar brands.

With a proven track record developing merchandise for retail sale, Greg is comfortable in both B2B and B2C environments. Greg has developed merchandise for sale in Walmart, Target, Walgreens, Hot Topic, and Toys R Us. He has handled brands from Marvel, Lucasfilm, and WB.

EXPERIENCE

Bioworld Merchandising

Oct 2020-Present

Graphic & Product Designer — Heroes & Villains

Heroes & Villains is a consumer-facing brand that sells tasteful merchandise aimed at adult pop culture fans.

Duties

Package design, product design, trend research, prepress, materials research, illustration, branding


Bioworld Merchandising

May 2017-Feb 2020

Packaging Designer/Product Designer

Bioworld creates merchandise for some of the world’s most amazing brands.

Duties

Package design, die line creation, product design, trend research, prepress, materials research, factory communication, product design


Goliath Games, LLC

Oct 2014-May 2017

Senior Graphic Designer

Goliath Games creates board game and skill & action games for mass market and specialty retailers.

Duties

Package design, illustration, logos, documents, game components, catalogs, prepress, trade show graphics


DRC / Engility

Mar 2012-Sep 2014

Multimedia Designer

Engility provides services to Federal, State, and Municipal government. (DRC merged with Engility Jan 2014)

Duties

Website design, photography / videography, illustration, logo design


The Morrison Group

Mar 2011-Mar 2012

Graphic Designer/Illustrator

The Morrison Group serves the c-store industry with foam cups, POP displays, branding, fixtures, and more.

Duties

Large format design, POP design, merchandise design, disposables design, collaboration, client presentations, R&D, client communication


Ingenux/CSL 

Dec 2009-Jan 2011

Design Manager

Ingenux (Later, Custom Software Lab) was an award-winning web and software development company with offices in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Duties

Website Design/Layout, Print Design/Layout (includes brochures, banners, trade show displays, business cards, etc.), Logo Design, Branding, Color Management, file prep, Illustration, Photo retouching /  compositing, UI design, file maintenance, vendor / client communication


Seed Technologies

August 2009-November 2009

Print Designer/Web Designer

Seed Technologies is a Tulsa-based web design and programming company.

Duties

Print design, photo retouching, special effects and compositing, web design / development using HTML, CSS, and Drupal, vendor / client communication


Directing Design

Jan 2006-July 2009

Print Designer/Web Layout Artist

Directing Design is a small, two person design studio specializing in graphic, web, and branding solutions for small business.

Duties

Print design, logo development, publication design, email design, website design, UI design, prepress, light coding (HTML/CSS)


OKC Community College

June 2005-May 2008

Adjunct Faculty, Graphic Communications

Oklahoma City Community College is a local community college focused on helping the community and stimulating the local economy. Classes taught include Photoshop I and Cartooning.

Duties

Lesson plans, assignment creation, test writing, evaluations, constructive criticism


EDUCATION

Oklahoma City Community College

Graduated May 2005

AAS Graphic Communications


SKILLS

Operating Systems

Apple Macintosh OS X, Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 8, Windows 10, Ubuntu Linux


Programs

Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Indesign, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Bridge, Adobe Premiere, Adobe After Effects, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft Powerpoint, Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Teams


Web Design

HTML, CSS, Responsive Layout


Background

Figurative Illustration, Technical Illustration, Editorial Illustration, Bindery, Prepress Offset Printing, Prepress Silkscreen Printing, Typography, Materials Research, Packaging Design, Branding, Logo Design, Publication Design, Process, Client Communication, Vendor Communication, Layout, Web Design, UI Design


ACHIEVEMENTS

The Misery Index

Created the look and feel for the card game Shit Happens / The Misery Index. This was used as the visual basis for the game show The Misery Index on TBS.


Oregon Trail

When tasked with creating game assets for the Oregon Trail Card Game, the licensor had no assets. I created assets from scratch, and the licensor then used those as the foundation of their style guide for the property.


Custom Illustration

Created custom illustrations approved by licensors such as Disney, Marvel, Lucasfilm, Wizarding World, Nickelodeon, and Paramount.