Desert Elements Design, a Santa Fe-based website development and graphic design firm, brings years of solid design talent, technical expertise, and quality project management to our clients, turning their business goals into creative marketing solutions. We understand that design is about more than aesthetics. It takes a strong sense of business strategy and technical foresight to create a design that works, and we pride ourselves in becoming partners with our clients to achieve their marketing goals.
Specializing in high-quality graphic design and website development services, our mission is to provide professional online tools and print materials that fit the specific needs of our clients at an affordable price.
molly duncan
creative director
Molly, President and Creative Director for Desert Elements, brings 20 years of graphic design and media arts experience to the table. Her creative ideas in defining a look and brand with clients that have helped set Desert Elements apart from others. Molly has kept her website and graphics design skills current with futures and trends in this growing field by applying her MFA in Media Arts and Computer Science. She brings strengths from a diversified background, including architecture, magazine design, designing jewelry, and a successful line of children's clothing. She has also taught as an adjunct professor at the New School in New York, and is a founder of Desert Elements Design.
alisa gariba
web services director
Alisa began spinning webs in the '90s. She has worked for Internet Technology companies as a developer, as a designer, and as a project manager. Her clients have included major arts and culture organizations, financial institutions, tourism industry operations, and small businesses, among others. Additionally, Alisa has served as a volunteer business mentor, IT consultant, and teacher with several development organizations: with the Geek Corps in Ghana, with the Financial Services Volunteer Corps in Macedonia, and with the Peace Corps in China. She earned degrees from the University of Minnesota and from St. John's College in Santa Fe.
vanessa moon
project manager
Vanessa began her career at Dell Computers in 1988 working in client services, sales and eventually project management. Vanessa moved to Mexico and owned an art gallery for 8 years. In 2002, Vanessa went to work as Technical Support Manager for a software company that specialized in Ticketing, Point-of-Sale and Guest Management solutions for Ski Resorts, Park & Attractions and Museums & Non-profits (supporting FoxPro and SQL). In 2005 Vanessa went to work for Brownrice Internet as Technical and Project Manager before recently joining the team at Desert Elements.
kristin quintana
web developer/production editor
While in college, Kristin's interests in language, communication, and art merged into the study of graphic design and web development. Working with a medium in flux is an exhilarating adventure on which Kristin hopes to absorb as much as she can on the subject. Kristin recently graduated from New Mexico Highlands University in December 2007 with a BA in English and a minor and concentration in Design Studies.
john spence
programmer
John, originally from Tucson, AZ, climbed the ranks of the software company Intuit before developing his web programming skills. He has been Desert Elements' lead programmer for three years. John specializes in custom PHP and Java programming as well as database administration. He is fluent in Spanish.
oban lambie
web hosting
Oban grew up splitting time between San Francisco, California and Northern New Mexico. He is an accomplished web programmer, database designer and systems administrator. He has been the lead systems administrator for an ISP, programmed for startups during the dot.com heyday, and built the backend of many enterprise level websites. He currently is the President and Systems Administrator for Brownrice Internet, Inc., a successful hosting, server co-location, and custom programming business.
board of advisors
beth mcrae
Beth McRae has over 25 years of business development and leadership experience. As Global Director leading a multi-billion dollar IBM - Cisco strategic Unified Communications (UC) engagement, she is leading a complex global program integrating UC into IBM GTS service product lines accelerating strategic value for joint customers.
Ms. McRae has led companies to award-winning levels of recognition, market share, and revenue growth. As Vice President, Strategic Alliances & Marketing for Vista Information Technology, a privately-held call center & managed services firm, Ms. McRae was instrumental in establishing the brand, market strategy and sales alliances leading to an acquisition by Avaya.
As a senior member of the Avaya start-up team for Global Business Communications Solutions and Managed Services, Ms. McRae directed the build strategy of a national business development organization to penetrate new markets for Remote Managed Services, On-Demand Hosted Solutions, and VoIP Migration Outsourcing.
Prior roles include serving as Senior VP Business Strategy for docHarbor, VP and General Manager Cirrus Technology Inc. and several marketing and product development roles at Arbitron.
Additionally, Ms. McRae founded C.G. Paris Inc. a business development & management consulting company where she advised multiple start-up companies.
Beth received her BA in Radio, Television & Film and her Masters in General Administration for Management Information Systems from the University of Maryland system. She served on the Board of Directors – University of Maryland, UC Alumni Association for four years and was also a key member, University of Maryland President’s Club Steering Committee. Currently, Beth serves as a hospice volunteer for Providence Hospice of Seattle.
bill mcdow
Bill's broad business, technical, and financial expertise spans the IT life cycle in a mix of independent consulting and private sector companies (startup, turn around, corporate practice). A key thread throughout has been an increased company value, market share, and revenue through innovative business services solutions.
Service innovation disciplines include strategic business communications consulting, enterprise customer interactions, web-enabled content management, converged enterprise infrastructure management, and services-oriented architecture.
Companies were sometimes large (Cisco - currently, Avaya) but mostly small (VISTA Information Technology, docHarbor, LCT, others) - all with an entrepreneurial focus for success.
Bill's key contributions include formulating engagement methodologies, directing systems development and integration teams, seeking and nourishing strategic alliances, and managing to the bottom line for customer delight.
Bill brings a BA from Emory University, a Masters in MIS from the George Washington University plus energy, enthusiasm, and creativity to the table.
press
According to New Mexico Business Weekly, Desert Elements Design is one of New Mexico's Top Web Designers of 2009.
View our listing on New Mexico Business Weekly »
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Desert Elements Design is proud to be a member of the following organizations:
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