THE PORTFOLIO PROFESSOR
”…it’s about doing what I love 02DO.”
- Dwight Alexander, M.A.
GREETINGS!
Dwight Alexander is a Creative Director, Educator, and Content Creator. As a seasoned Designer with over 30 years of expertise in digital and graphic design, Dwight has provided exceptional design solutions for renowned brands such as; Nike, Royal Bank, Sunlife Financial, Manulife, Telus, Corus Entertainment, CBC Kids, Warner Brothers, Netflix, and the Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation (OLG). He has been “Making things Visually Delicious since 1992!”.
Professor Alexander is a firm believer that Creatives are a very select group of individuals who can dictate where their careers go. That direction can be established through a cohesive and purposeful design portfolio. His underlining focus when facilitating a course is Portfolio Development, Career Preparation and Creative Critical Thinking. Dwight’s engaging teaching approach enriches Creatives with the understanding that “A Portfolio without purpose is pointless”.
Dwight has two degrees from Ryerson University (now Toronto Metropolitan University): an M.A. in Media Production and a B.A. in Radio and Television Arts. Dwight also has two diplomas from George Brown College: one in Graphic Design and one in Digital Media, Digital Media and Media/Multimedia. In addition to his university and college accomplishments, he has a certification of User Interface Design from Brainstation Toronto.
Currently Dwight Alexander's area of teaching is the Adobe CC Suite: Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe After Effects, Adobe XD, and Adobe InDesign. Facilitating courses such as Digital Media Production, Web Design, Branding, Typography, Digital Branding Strategies, Prototyping for Discovery, and Digital Technology. With his entertaining, engaging, and inspirational classes, he is quickly being known as the “Portfolio Professor”.
I Create Brands, Worlds and Experiences for Business, Entertainment and Education.
Sincerely,
Dwight Alexander, M.A
IN PERSON
There is an emphasis on understanding how important a creative environment is. Courses are facilitated in a way to change a student’s perspective of what education in design can be. There is a clear format to each class. This includes both opening titles and end credits. With this simple change students are at ease, and ready to learn. Creating the perfect environment to develop their creative confidence.
By applying years of expertise, the students begin to understand the limitless possibilities when they are developing their own projects. During the course it is often made clear that the animations, graphics templates and visuals are all created using the programs and skills they are developing. This shows the proof in what is possible as they continue to develop.
Creating an engaging and inclusive environment is key from day one. In that understanding here is a fundamental shift in the student’s performance by around the third class the course. More importantly, their creative confidence is reflected in the level effort and skill applied to their assignments. This results in a better quality of work with each submission.
With that focus of engagement and inclusion the in-person experience changes from a traditional classroom to
“A Collective of Creatives trying to make something cool”.
ONLINE/REMOTE
An integral part of my approach to delivering courses to ensure class engagement is to understand the audience. Courses are delivered in a similar format of a YouTube or Twitch stream. This method of media consumption is familiar to today’s students, and they are excited to participate. The format is entertaining and educational at the same time. There is a focus on not only participation but being recognized when a contribution is made.
Like Twitch, students can participate via voice only; on camera chat; or responding and asking questions in the Discord or Zoom chat. All forms of engagement are live and depicted on screen. This approach works well online but is equally implemented when courses are facilitated in person.
Understanding that each student consumes content differently, the entire course uses closed captioning for students who are more comfortable reading instructions can also follow along.
Lastly, to ensure engagement the course is delivered in the highest level of passion and excitement. I believe that the beginnings of a design career are integral to its longevity. Courses are not only an example of what the student will learn, but how far their creativity can take them.
An excellent execution of Educational Entertainment.
SKILLS
Creative Direction
Graphic Design
Brand & Identity System Design
Digital Media Instruction
UI UX Design
Motiongraphics
Content Creation
Digital Design
Creative Career Counseling & Mentoring
Design Portfolio Development
EXPERIENCE
Adjunct Professor - Digital Media, Bachelor of Digital Experience Design – School of Design, George Brown College – 2024 – Present
Adjunct Professor - Graphic Design, Bachleor of Design – Faculty of Media & Creative Arts, Humber Polytechnic – 2022 – Present
Adjunct Professor - Digital Media Production – The Creative School, Toronto Metropolitan University (formerly Ryerson University) – 2020 – Present
Creative Director – Doodle Design Incorporated – 1998 – Present
Senior Graphic Design Specialist – Ontario Lottery & Gaming Corporation – 2013 – 2022
Art Director, Production Assistant – RTA School of Media – 2009 – 2013
Senior Interactive Designer – Rich Media – 2001 – 2011
EXPERIENCE (CONTINUED)
BRANDING 1 - GDES 207 - GRAPHIC DESIGN, HUMBER POLYTECHNIC FACULTY OF MEDIA & CREATIVE ARTS
Brand strategy involves recognizing the special qualities that make a brand stand out in the market. It also means learning about the competition in that market.
DIGITAL MEDIA PRODUCTION - RTA 103 MEDIA - PRODUCTION, TORONTO METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY, THE CREATIVE SCHOOL
Welcome to our 12-week course on Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, and Adobe After Effects. You will be guided through the world of vector graphics, photo editing, and motion graphics, teaching you the skills needed to create professional-quality designs.
DIGITAL TECHNOLOGY 2 - DESN 153 - GRAPHIC DESIGN, HUMBER POLYTECHNIC FACULTY OF MEDIA & CREATIVE ARTS
The course will delve deeper into creating vector files, teaching you how to have more control over your creations. You will also be introduced to digital prototyping software and multi-page layout software..
PROTOTYPING FOR DISCOVERY - BDES 1502 - USER EXPERIENCE, HUMBER POLYTECHNIC FACULTY OF MEDIA & CREATIVE ARTS
In this hands-on course, students will learn about prototyping, generating ideas, creating models, testing, and making improvements based on feedback.
TYPOGRAPHY 2 - DESN 156 - GRAPHIC DESIGN, HUMBER POLYTECHNIC FACULTY OF MEDIA & CREATIVE ARTS
Building on the fundamentals taught in Typography 1, students work with increasingly complex projects involving hierarchy and long-running text to continue learning how to effectively manage, select, space and size type.
DIGITAL BRANDING STRATEGIES - MMDD 254 MULTIMEDIA DESIGN & DEVELOPMENT, HUMBER POLYTECHNIC FACULTY OF MEDIA & CREATIVE ARTS
Building on the fundamentals taught in Typography 1, students work with increasingly complex projects involving hierarchy and long-running text to continue learning how to effectively manage, select, space and size type.
BRANDING 2 - GDES 257 GRAPHIC DESIGN, HUMBER POLYTECHNIC FACULTY OF MEDIA & CREATIVE ARTS
You will discover how to create a visual identity for a company, organization, or service. You will utilize your design, typography, and color theory skills, along with your technical abilities, to apply your understanding of brand strategy in constructing a brand identity.
WEB DESIGN - RTA 963 DIGITAL MEDIA PRODUCTION - RTA 103 MEDIA PRODUCTION, TORONTO METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY, THE CREATIVE SCHOOL
Welcome to the "Introduction to Web Design" course, a 12-week online program designed to help you develop critical creative thinking skills, present case studies, and advance your career as a creative professional.
GRAPHIC COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGIES – GCM 111 – GRAPHIC COMMUNICATION MANAGEMENT TORONTO METROPOLITAN UNIVERSITY, THE CREATIVE SCHOOL
This course offers an in-depth examination of the technologies and processes used to design, process, print and output jobs for a variety of end-use applications.
TRANSMEDIA (CROSS-CHANNEL) – BDES 3603 – DIGITAL EXPERIENCE DESIGN GEORGE BROWN COLLEGE SCHOOL OF DESIGN
Students will apply emergent theories and practices of transmedia to create useful, aesthetically pleasing, meaningful, and functional digital experiences via an interactive storyboarding assignment, and will have opportunities to critique their work and the work of others throughout.
SPEAKING
I’d love to enhance the visual communication of your audience through a presentation or workshop at your event. My goal is to craft distinctive visual narratives that resonate, inspire thought, and prompt actionable responses, creating a visually engaging and memorable experience.
To book me, please send me an email with the details of your event and the goals you have for your audience.
Topics I can speak about
Portfolio Development: How to Make a Portfolio.
Creative Career Planning: Finding your creative voice and navigating your career.
Creative Critical Thinking: Stacking your Superpowers to your advanage.
Creating Content Quickly: Designing using modularly methods to maximize your output.
Creative Process: Turning Idea Sparks into Creative Bonfires.
Humber College, 2023
COURSE RATINGS & COMMENTS
“The class has to be a solid 12/10. The engagement between you and the class was great. Some jokes here and there made it seem like it wasn't a class. You stopped to help those in need and did a good job leading everyone through what you could.”
“The course's rating out of 1000000/10. You made the class so fun and explained everything perfectly. You had a perfect energy and I was always so excited to work on projects for this class and to go to class! The only issue I had was that sometimes the audio was laggy or the video was blurry but that doesn't really matter. ”
“10/10 It was a very fun course and I learned a lot in just a few weeks! I am excited to make more things in After Effects and was so glad to learn how to use the program!”
“Dwight is an amazing professor. He was my last class of an eight hour day but his energy always made his last class worth it to attend. He truly cares about his students and works to make sure that they succeed. “
YOU CAN CONNECT WITH ME ON VARIOUS DIGITAL PLATFORMS
@doodledesign02