Worked on a variety of projects for Disney Parks and Resorts along side a collaboration of designers, engineers, artists and management leaders. Projects range from environmental graphics, concept art and development, on-site research, logo development, blue-sky project developments and other various graphics and conceptual needs.

I was commissioned to rebrand my hometown of Lincolnshire, Illinois — a small Chicago suburb known for its excellent schools, thriving businesses, natural beauty and strong community. The Village sought a refreshed brand to better compete with neighboring communities, attract new residents, encourage retail growth, boost tourism and position Lincolnshire as a progressive, appealing place for investment and development. The design was applied in 2020.

Concept, research, sketching, design and final illustrator file work for the Swiss Alp Kiosk used during the Epcot Food and Wine Festival. I also painted, illustrated and created custom type for the marquee sign using Photoshop. Art Direction by Emily Davis and production design by Ian Jones.

I worked on a variety of projects for Disney Parks and Resorts in collaboration with designers, engineers, artists and management leaders. Projects range from environmental graphics, concept art and development, on-site research, logo development, blue-sky project developments and other various graphics and conceptual needs.

Art Direction by Emily Davis and production design by Ian Jones. Midnattsol Bakeri marquee design was inspired by Norwegian Rosemaling.

I worked on a variety of projects for Disney Parks and Resorts in collaboration with designers, engineers, artists and management leaders. Projects range from environmental graphics, concept art and development, on-site research, logo development, blue-sky project developments and other various graphics and conceptual needs.

Ikanos, meaning able in Greek, is a magnetic mobile stability device that provides finger-free stability to smart phones by magnetically mounting the phone to a wearable wrist band. Designed with manual dexterity impairments in mind, Ikanos has features that provide strength, flexibility, adjustability and comfort for people to more easily use their smart phones throughout their daily lives.

Erin Rice BFA 2017

Lead was designed over the course of a semester in my 5th year at the University of Notre Dame for the 2016 Housewares Competition as a crate to aid in the transportation of stray dogs off the street to move them to animal shelters. While working with local animal control officers I discovered that due to a lack of other available equipment, officers will use an animal control stick to lift the dog by its neck or physically lift the dog by its body into the control vehicle. This can be dangerous for the control officer dealing with a viscous animal and potentially harmful for the animal as well. My design, Lead, has a hole at the top of the crate allowing officers to walk stray dogs directly into the cage while still on the animal control stick. This makes the dog easier to control, gives the officer more time to get the dog into the van and establishes a distance between the officer and the dog make the situation more safe for both.

I worked through the stages of design, development, prototyping, testing, modeling and rendering. All research, illustration, photography (unless otherwise marked) and design work is mine. 

Paws All-Natural Dog Treats is a line of high-end dog treats that contain carefully researched ingredients to target the specific needs of three different groups, puppies, adult and elderly dogs.

Paws focuses on young dog owners wanting a healthy city life style with their dog. My designing a gourmet line of dog treats that extend through all stages of life, it encourages health-conscious owners to greater understand the needs of their dog as they age. 

Placed second in the 2017 - 26th annual Walt Disney Imaginations competition. The top 6 teams of 336 submissions presented to Walt Disney Executives over a week in Glendale, CA. I was a member of a multi-disciplinary team of engineering and design students that designed a new outdoor space for Notre Dame students and faculty using human-centered design and research. We created digital concepts, storyboards, animation and user experience videos using Solidworks, Keyshot, Adobe Creative Suite and After Effects. I accepted a position as a professional design Imagineering intern in Orlando for the summer of 2017. 

Public Interactive Art Installation
Guests fill in numbered sections to reveal the full design. Art Direction by Emily Davis.

At Disney Parks and Resorts, I collaborated with designers, engineers, artists, and leadership on a wide range of creative projects. My work spanned environmental graphics, concept art and development, on-site research, logo design, and blue-sky concept exploration — contributing to experiences that brought storytelling and imagination to life.

Concept and sketch used as inspiration for wood carvers.

I worked on a variety of projects for Disney Parks and Resorts in collaboration with designers, engineers, artists and management leaders. Projects range from environmental graphics, concept art and development, on-site research, logo development, blue-sky project developments and other various graphics and conceptual needs.

Created for the EPCOT Flower and Garden Festival, these graphics were meant to help guests interact with the space alongside the Honey Bee-stro Kiosk hosted by the National Honey Board. Certain elements of the graphics, such as flat graphic bees, color palette and hexagonal pattern were created by Kim Gombita. Art Direction by Emily Davis and production design by Katelyn Ackley.

I worked on a variety of projects for Disney Parks and Resorts in collaboration with designers, engineers, artists and management leaders. Projects range from environmental graphics, concept art and development, on-site research, logo development, blue-sky project developments and other various graphics and conceptual needs.

School Project - Hue-Go is a toy inspired by my volunteer work at a low-income school in South Bend, designed to teach children color theory through play. Light shines through layers of colored acrylic sheets that can be slotted into the back of Hue-Go’s body, creating new hues as they overlap. A small LED flashlight inside provides the light source, with its button exposed for an easy on/off switch. A Velcro flap allows the flashlight to be removed for battery changes.

The prototype was laser-cut from plywood and designed to fit together like a puzzle, using minimal glue to emphasize simplicity and craftsmanship.

During my position as Graphics Editor at The Observer, Notre Dame's student run newspaper, I led a team of 5 graphic designers to design and create graphics for print, online and weekly specials for Notre Dame’s student-run daily newspaper. I was the first graphics editor to photograph, direct and design weekly graphics on featured football players and team positions for Irish Insiders, working with a team of sports writers and editors. We won first place for “Best Special Section Front/Cover” during the 2016 Indiana Collegiate Press Association Awards.

I served as project manager for weekly special edition features called Irish Insiders that were printed throughout the Notre Dame football season. I worked with a team of photographers, writers and editors to feature a football player or team position throughout the 2015 Notre Dame football season. I would aid in the preparation of the interviews or photoshoot, but my main job was to direct or photograph the player[s] and design a visually striking photo illustration within 24 hours of the shoot that fit the weekly focus. This was an amazing experience that helped me gain leadership skills and taught me to work with people from multi-disciplinary backgrounds. My team with the Observer won an award for "Best Special Section Front/Cover" for one of the editions during the 2016 Indiana Collegiate Press Association Awards (ICPA).

I entered my design into an international shoe design competition for Bucketfeet, an retailer specializing in artist-designed footwear. My design was voted the first place winner is now being sold at mass production online and in several in-store locations throughout the US.

The design was meant to inspire people struggling with ADHD or other learning disabilities to continue to create. I originally sketched the design in a notebook to use creativity and art as a median for my ADHD tendencies. As I encountered random thoughts and things I noticed throughout the day, I sketched a small doodle of it. Instead of allowing these random thoughts be be distractions, I allowed them to become inspiration and art. At the end of the day, my day's worth of random thoughts were documented into a design. I hope by to encourage people struggling with learning disabilities to realize the beauty in how each individual thinks and to embrace it and express it through art. 

Using the same package form to target two different audiences, one through color and imagery, the other using solely typography to design the packaging.

The posters I create are made from a series of techniques including lithography, printing press, photoshop illustrations, hand-coloring, illustrator files and photocollage

Throughout two semesters at Notre Dame, I took an intro and advanced course on 3D Digital Production, covering Maya and Mudbox to model, animate and rig from video. I also have experience using After Effects, Flash Animation and creating stop-motion animation to create 2D animations. I enjoyed the detail-oriented projects during modeling that allowed me to explore character development. This course helped me further understand a 3D form in a 2D space.

In the summer of 2015, I had an internship at Digital Kitchen, a creative digital agency whose focus on experience design, branding and motion graphics gave me great exposure to the use of 3D digital production and animation in the actual field. It was this internship that inspired me to take further courses during my time at the University of Notre Dame. 

I will be taking a motion graphics course in the spring semester 2017 at the University of Notre Dame. 

I worked on a variety of projects for Disney Parks and Resorts in collaboration with designers, engineers, artists and management leaders. Projects range from environmental graphics, concept art and development, on-site research, logo development, blue-sky project developments and other various graphics and conceptual needs.