iBESTT illustrations

Posted by on Feb 15, 2016 in Illustration, Recent work | No Comments

As part of my work on the iBESTT app at the University of Washington, I create illustrations and graphics for use in the app’s training videos.

The iBESTT app is designed to help school teams working with students by training teachers to identify and modify problem behaviors. Because it can be difficult to film children exhibiting problem behaviors in a realistic manner that protects their privacy, we decided to use illustrations to demonstrate problem behaviors.

The process I use to create these images starts out with a rough sketch showing what the various characters are supposed to be doing in the video. Then I create the images using Adobe Illustrator and Photoshop. The final images are added to the training videos by our videographer.

These sample images are taken from the iBESTT videos and show teachers and coaches working together with children to improve behavior problems in a school setting.

Daily Sketching

Posted by on Jan 11, 2016 in Illustration | No Comments

Octopus 1.4.16

One thing I’d like to do more of in this new year is to make time to draw or sketch — purely for my own enjoyment.

Drawing was something I loved doing as a kid. I would spend hours drawing people, animals, plants, landscapes… anything I saw or imagined.

This changed once I started taking art classes in high school and college. Instead of simply drawing for the pleasure of creating images that I enjoyed, the “act” of drawing took on a new purpose — drawing to fulfill a class requirement or specific design need. I was also becoming increasingly critical of the quality of my drawings. Although this critical assessment was intended to improve the quality the final images and my skills, it took quite a bit of pleasure out of the act of simply drawing.

Since the new year began, I’ve been trying to sketch each day for about 30 to 60 minutes. The subject matter is completely random… objects around me, images found in photos, books or online. The only thing all of these sketches have in common is that they are created simply for the pleasure of drawing.

I’m really enjoying drawing again!

The iBESTT Process

Posted by on Jun 2, 2015 in Illustration, Recent work | No Comments

The iBESTT 5-Step Process

Working for iBESTT has given me the opportunity to use more of my illustrations skills that I don’t often get to use. This infographic was created to help explain the process used with iBESTT, which begins with a teacher identifying a student that would benefit from iBESTT’s individual-student behavior supports.

Behavior support teams within the school manage teacher requests for help, and iBESTT coordinates each step of the process. Each person involved (teacher, team coach, team coordinator, and administrator or observer) has role-specific access to the steps needed to guide implementation of the intervention. Each step must be completed before continuing in the process.

During the next few months, most of my work for iBESTT will involve creating illustrations that will be used in our training videos.