I have been lucky to enjoy a long career in my dream field of graphic design and art direction. A dream that started when I was about 8 years old, creating little books from scratch, writing stories, and illustrating them with colored pencil drawings.

I’m still playing with colors, fonts, graphics and photos, and still loving it. I have worked in many types of companies, and created designs for marketing campaigns, corporate materials, print publications, web promotions, and much more. When I’m not busy designing, I enjoy spending time with my family and our mini-doodle Brownie, reading, gardening, traveling, and occasionally hiking with my son’s Boy Scout troop.

“There are three responses to a piece of design – yes, no, and WOW! Wow is the one to aim for.”

— Milton Glaser

Areas of Expertise

Art Direction
Graphic Design
Project Management
Marketing
Photography

More about me:
I hold a Bachelor of Arts degree from Washington University in St. Louis, and a Graduate Certificate in Publishing from Emerson College in Boston. I have also taken continuing education courses in web design at Kennesaw State University. I have lived in New York, Puerto Rico, Missouri, Texas, Florida, and now Georgia, and have traveled for leisure to Spain, Turkey, Costa Rica, Italy, France, Dominican Republic and Mexico. Since graduating from Wash. U., I have worked for newspapers, advertising agencies, marketing companies, and magazines. For over 9 years I have been Design Director for Atlanta Magazine Custom Media, working on a wide range of projects, such as visitor guides and lifestyle magazines, business publications, ads, web graphics, and a glossy travel publication called Southbound, which has won numerous awards since it’s first issue was published in the Fall of 2013, including the prestigious Gold award from the Society of American Travel Writers (2022) and, most recently, the Silver award (2024).

My professional skills include:
• Advanced knowledge of Adobe Creative Suite
• Experience managing direct reports and contractors
• Strong oral and written communication skills
• Experience commissioning and negotiating photography/illustration and directing photo shoots
• Outstanding photo research, page layout, color, typography and print production skills
• Strong proofreading and copy editing skills
• Experience creating and coordinating successful promotions
• Excellent business, organizational, problem-solving and decision-making skills
• Project management skills and ability to prioritize tasks and meet deadlines
• Experience managing marketing and design budgets
• Fluent in Spanish

Full resume and references upon request.

I’m also available for freelance design work. Email me for a free design quote, or just to say hi, at cristina.hazar@gmail.com.