Lisa Graf comes up with the right concept for your book cover because she invests the time necessary to build an intuition about your work. Not many graphic artists do this, and it shows!"

– Tom Fitzgerald

Lisa Jeanne Graf has been working as a long-term freelance designer for the Media Services Department at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) for the past 5 1/2 years. During this time I have been consistently impressed by both her design skills and her professionalism and commitment to our organization.

While working for BIDMC, Lisa Jeanne has established herself as our most senior designer, taking on projects that require both high levels of creativity and technical skills and frequently working under very tight deadlines. Some examples of the type of work she has been responsible for include illustrations, invitations, newsletters, reports and posters/displays. She is fluent in all the appropriate graphic design software and has shown initiative in learning new skills and expanding her talents outside of traditional print-based media.

Lisa has impressed our clients with her (often surprising and whimsical) creativity and also with her consistent and timely communication skills. Future employers should feel confident that their requests and communications will be addressed in a timely manner and with consistent quality. Lisa’s proven commitment to the work at our organization I am confident will transfer to her work with any future clients or employers that may seek her services.

Lisa has always been willing to offer her assistance to her clients and her co-workers. She has developed an excellent rapport with the many constituents served by our office including marketing, communication and development professionals, along with clinical workers and administrative support staff. She would be an asset to any employer and I recommend her for any endeavor she chooses to pursue.

Sincerely,

Jane Hayward
Graphics Team Leader, Media Services
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
617-667-0262
jhayward@bidmc.harvard.edu

To whom it may concern,

In my capacity as publisher and editor in chief of SATCH Publishing's premier print magazine, Positive Teens, I am pleased to write this reference letter on behalf of Lisa Jeanne Graf. In 1999, Lisa was hired by me as a freelance designer to do design and page layout for the third issue of Positive Teens magazine.

Up to this point in time, we had been best served by workers for hire on a project-by-project basis, but hadn't yet found the right designer for our needs.

Previous to hiring Lisa,  I had to sort to find professional consulting advice on the magazine's layout. I relayed this to Lisa when we first spoke. She understood that the look of the magazine might change, but was more than willing to work with any consultant on a new layout. I liked her attitude and decided to also give her a try designing the next issue too. The 3rd issue, designed by Lisa, primarily followed the same design and outline as the previous issues.

She designed Issue 4 with the new look we'd worked out with the consultants. Thanks to her work and positive attitude, Positive Teens became more visable to the public in the competitive teen market. During the next few years, PT's circulation grew to include not only individual readers and subscribers, but also public and private schools and libraries, non-profit and for profit businesses in over 24 countries around the globe.

While Lisa worked for SATCH Publishing, Positive Teens went from a two-color publication to a four-color publication. During the next four years, she designed 24 magazines. She also designed media kits, and ad copy for the company.

The four years that we worked together, was a joy. For me, it was wonderful to have a person involved that understood the mission of the magazine. I could see that reflected in her ability to made the material 'pop' on the pages - photographs, artwork, contributers' writings, interviews, and advertisements. We worked well together. And I personally appreciated her abillity to critique the magazine's content before it went off to the printer. She was a hard worker and dedicated to ensuring that along with the editor-in-chief and others, each issue of Positive Teens looked professional.

Yours Sincerely,

Susan Manning
President, SATCH Publishing
Publisher/Editor-in-Chief, Positve Teens magazine

 To whom it may concern,

This is a letter of reference for Ms. Lisa Jeanne Graf, whom I have successfully employed several times during the past decade as a freelance graphic artist for both print and electronic media. As Director of the World History Center at Northeastern University I engaged her for graphic design on Migration in World History, 1500-2000 (Wadsworth, 2000), and instructional CD-ROM, in 1998-99. Her biggest task on that project was the openning splash screen for the CD, with a complex and very attractive layering of images. In the years to follow I called on her for other design work, including some rather complex diagrams of family structure. In 2003-04 she drew nearly a dozen black and white maps for my book, Migration in World History (Routledge, 2005). Most recently in 2007 she designed the cover of my book, Global Practice in World History: Advances Worldwide (Markus Wiener, 2008). This cover, artfully superimposing maps of the continents on a stock photo of a boy, was characterized as "stunning" by the publisher.

In all her work Ms. Graf has been thourough but prompt, very imaginative in her design, and clean and sharp in her execution. She pays very close attention to directions and is ready to reformulate until she achieves the desired effect. I recommend her highly as a skilled, dependable, and imaginative artist working in several arenas of the graphic arts. Please contact me for further information.

Yours Sincerely,

Patrick Manning
Andrew W. Mellon Professor of World History
Phone: 412-648-7478
Email: pmanning@pitt.edu

To whom it may concern,

It is a pleasure to write this recommendation on behalf of Ms. Lisa Jeanne Graf, since I am convinced that she will be an asset to any professional seeking her services in computer arts, design and illustration.

Lisa Jeanne showed self-initiative from her first contact with me shortly after I requested a designer to work on our website update. At subsequent meetings, it was clear that she was an organized person, capable of setting demanding but realistic goals for the project. A sizable undertaking, with dozens of photos, heavy text and a total of more than 20 htl’s, Lisa Jeanne immediately understood the marketing concept, added some novel ideas to it, and completed it on schedule with better than expected results. Flexible enough to adapt to changes as they were proposed, she very willingly accepted new ideas throughout the project’s development.

Lisa Jeanne is a creative, dependable and capable professional artist. For all of these reasons, I give Lisa Jeanne Graf my strongest recommendation without hesitation.

Sincerely,

Brian Dumont
EC of Maine/ Mature Camp Director 

To Whom It May Concern:

Lisa Jeanne Graf has been employed on the Human Genome Project Web site at MCET, as a Web Animator since January 1997. While working on this Web site(www.mcet.edu/humangenome) she has produced interactive graphics that included animated gifs, and illustrations.

Her three dimensional capabilities are best viewed in the work she did related to the Present Day subsection in the History and Origin section of the Zone. For this interactive story, Lisa developed the enviroments, and the characters. In addition, she positioned the characters for the graphics only version, and animated two of the scenes.

Ms. Graf has demonstrated her proficiency in Photoshop, Poser, Illustrator, and GIF Builder throughout her tenure at MCET. While working here she has demonstrated her ability to be a team player, and provided input throughout development meetings regarding the design, layout, and overall presentation of the site. The creativity demonstrated by Lisa is obvious in the design of the icons used to represent the four major sections of the Web site, and the front page of the Zone.

Working as part of a team, it was essential for Lisa to be capable of interacting with different people, and using different software packages on a regular basis. Her attention to detail was often noted at meetings, as Lisa's work has always been viewed as exceptional. Her organization of the work she performed allowed others access to necessary files, even if she was unavailable.

It is my pleasure to recommend Lisa Jeanne Graf for a position in computer based art. She is a hard worker, with a keen eye for presentation and appearance. Her skill set is diverse, and her experience broad. Please fell free to contact me if you have any further questions.

Best Regards

Deborah Strahs, Project Director
The Human Genome Project

Matt Harter
Computer Area
School of the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Lisa has been working in the Mac Area for the last year. She efficiently performs many technical tasks including installing and updating software, setting up Appleshare user accounts, designing informational handouts, and handling the paperwork necessary for the daily operation of the area. She has also taught workshops as well as one on one training. She is liked and respected by the students and conveys knowledge in a understandable fashion.

Matt Harter