About – JZRDesign

Hi! I’m Jessica Zirkel-Rubin.

For over 20 years, I’ve been creating print and digital media for a wide variety of clients, from Bar Mitzvah boys to bar-certified lawyers. Combining imagination and precision, my work is aesthetically appealing, user friendly, on time, and fairly priced. My process says no to buzzwords, b.s., and bossiness, but a big Yes to clarity, creativity, and collaboration.

I’ve always loved a project and enjoyed learning new tools and techniques to get it done. My background includes a comprehensive education in art, design, and instructional technology, refined through hands-on practical experience.

➽ While pursuing a traditional B.A. at the University of Pennsylvania, I took extracurricular desktop publishing classes. The myriad design options offered by the then-new, computerized approach to print layout blew my young mind compared to high school newspaper pasteup (as much as I missed the rubber cement). Soon I used these skills as an intern at the Institute for Contemporary Arts and a freelance catalog designer for a record distributor.

➽ Continuing to embrace digital design as a grad student in educational technology at Lehigh University, I created my first website in 1994.

➽ Excited by the creative potential of the Internet, I earned a doctorate in instructional media and technology at Teachers College, Columbia University, designing educational interactives for WNET/Thirteen, the New York Eye and Ear Infirmary, and the National Baseball Hall of Fame along the way.

➽ Owing to a budding interest in usability/user experience, I then served as the Senior Research Manager for MaMaMedia, a pioneering children’s educational website.

Download résumé (PDF)

➽ After the Silicon Alley bubble burst, I became the Manager of Web/Multimedia Development for The Newark Museum of Art, reconnecting with my love for museums while developing digital educational and promotional materials.

➽ Following stepping away from the screen to help raise my young kids, I worked as the Design Director for New Frontier, where I created a wide variety of marketing materials, both digital and print, and found a niche in logo design.

➽ Right before the pandemic, I started my freelance graphic and web design practice, JZRDesign, dove deeper into WordPress web development, and completed the Nielsen Norman Group’s user experience training program, earning UX Certification with an Interaction Design Specialty.

➽ My current clients include the 9/11 Memorial and Museum, Global Philadelphia, and several small businesses, solo creatives, nonprofit organizations, and maybe you? Let’s talk.