Based in the Greater Fort Lauderdale, FL area, Neil Tortorella brings with him over 35 years experience as an award-winning graphic designer, writer and marketing consultant. He has operated his own design and marketing consulting practice, Tortorella Design, for over 32 years. Through Tortorella Design, Neil has worked with several Fortune 500 businesses, along with small to mid-sized companies, to develop pragmatic solutions to their communications challenges. His key strength is blending branding and marketing strategy with memorable visuals and copy to create a distinctive impression in the minds of his clients' audiences. In addition to graphic and Web design, Tortorella provides marketing consulting for independent professionals and small businesses in the service sector, to identify their best target markets and formulate smart, low-cost strategies to reach them and win more business. Neil is a cofounder and management team member of CreativeLatitude.com, a popular web site and resource for creatives and the clients they serve. The site provides information about the creative process, ethical business practices, marketing and promotion and a wide array of articles, links and resources. He is also associated with No-Spec.com, a site that combats the proliferation of speculative work requests. Tortorella is also a member of the GraphicDesign.com Advisory Board. Tortorella is an avid writer on marketing, promotion and business topics. He authors a popular blog, Inside the Marketing Mind. Neil’s writing can also be found on BoDo – Business of Design online, where he’s a founding team partner and author of the Marketing Minute. In addition, Tortorella is a contributing author for HOW Magazine, a leading graphic design publication. His new book, Starting Your Career As A Freelance Web Designer, was published in September 2011 by Allworth Press. His second book, Starting Your Career As A Musician, also from Allworth Press, was published in February, 2013. Tortorella is featured in the book, The Savvy Designer’s Guide to Success, by Jeff Fisher, published by HOW Design Books, Cincinnati, OH and in Creatively Self Employed, by Kristen Fisher. He is also featured in Design Matters: Portfolios, by Maura Keller, published by Rockport Publishers. His work has been featured in Pitney Bowes’ Priorities Magazine and HOW Magazine.