Summer Dawn Reyes is a communications specialist from Jersey City, N.J., who excels in building brands, writing clear and expressive content, and creating beautiful visuals. She started as a journalist for digital and print media (NJ.com, The Star-Ledger, The Jersey Journal, The Jersey City Independent).
She has since worked as a copy editor (Time Inc., Sports Illustrated, People, This Old House) and copywriter. Her clients come from various industries: arts, healthcare, business and Spanish marketing. She's managed social media channels for small theaters, entrepreneurship nonprofits, news publications, arts organizations, venues and more.
Her communication skills have helped her excel in multiple fields:
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Well-designed posters, social media promotion and advertisements helped her sell $200,000 in event sales for a small arts venue
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Strong, engaging writing; video editing; and graphic design have helped her craft theater and ELA lessons as an award-winning teaching artist and ESOL educator
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Branding strategy, social media, web design, graphic design, publishing and client research helped her expand her original theater show into a full-fledged arts organization which has served 20,000 audience members and 350+ artists around the world
See samples from select projects below.
Guests dancing the night away at IFC Arts Fest. Photo by Richard Ryals
Summer was the founder and director of In Full Color, an arts organization that empowers women of color. She used her communication skills to full effect in growing the company.
Here are a few assets from their last large-scale project, IFC Arts Fest, a multi-arts festival marking their 10 year anniversary in June 2025. It was a blast!
Each element shows Summer's intentionality in crafting an authentic, dynamic and warm voice for IFC and in engaging with its target audience. While the graphic assets communication clean and professional, they are also colorful, fun and inviting.
brand snapshot
compassionate + creative + tenacious + brave
unity+ community + compassion + justice + empathy
audiences: women of color, liberal white folx, LGBTQ+ folx
colorful, fun, clean aesthetics
main font: mr. eaves
pink (#e95fb4), purple and orange accents. pastels.
IFC Arts Fest print poster
Design, direction and copy by Summer Dawn Reyes
Includes elements by Shirin Vazir-MacCormack
Adobe Photoshop
A horizontal print banner for outdoor display, Eventbrite horizontal banner and other virtual graphics were also made from this design. Each asset was modified for its format and purpose.
Mailchimp Email Campaign: Meet the Cast
Part 1 of a multi-week cast spotlight campaign
Click image to see full work sample
(Psst! IFC's Mailchimp averages ~30% opens and 2% clicks)
Instagram campaign
Our primary social media platform is Instagram, where Summer posted materials for weeks including artist spotlight reels (click on the image to the left to see full sample).
She also recorded an informal reel (below) explaining the new festival format. This video was done as a direct-to-camera speech to add a personal touch to an otherwise highly polished campaign.
Audiences respond well to and engage with more authentic content! As a dynamic actor and host, Summer shines on camera.
Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Premiere Pro
IFC Arts Fest Event Website
This Wix-based page acted as a digital program (promoting on-site accessibility for low-vision audience members!) and as a center for general information both before and after the event.
Click image to explore!
In Full Color's Website
Summer also designed the general website for In Full Color, which is a Wix-based page.
She credits IFC's dynamic website, diverse visuals and passionate copy for much of their success with corporate and educational clients. She also has experience with Wordpress and Squarespace websites, often maintaining websites built on those platforms for others.
Summer interviewing Marc Anthony for The Jersey Journal.
Photo by Reena Rose Sibayan
writing
Summer began working right out of high school as a journalist. She's worked for print and digital, dailies and weeklies, newspapers and magazines. She's also a skilled creative writer, producing monologues, short stories and plays.
Award-Winning Arts Coverage: 10th Anniversary of September 11
The Jersey Journal's coverage of this milestone received a New Jersey Press Association special issue award. As the team's arts writer, Summer interviewed local artists to examine how the event affected local arts and culture. She also interviewed family members of people whose lives were lost in 9/11 and wrote profiles on their loved ones
Magazine Editorial: The Future of a Historic Movie Palace In Doubt
The people of Jersey City have taken great pains to preserve the Landmark Loews Movie Theatre, but its future as a venue and continued community space is dubious
Newspaper Feature: 'Heavyweight' Rachael Yamagata Headed to Hoboken
Summer interviewed musical artist Rachael Yamagata about her album "Heavyweight" in advance of her performance at Maxwell's, a music venue within her hyperlocal region of Hudson County, N.J.
Business Profile (Copywriting): Procel Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu
Corporate clients like the Brunswick Center have had Summer write profiles for small businesses like Procel BJJ.
Artist Profile (en español): RescuePoetix
Summer interviewed Puerto Rican poet and arts advocate RescuePoetix about her fight for artist rights, arts access and more. ¡Ha escrito la entrevista completamente en español!
Want to see a creative writing sample? Just ask!
graphic set: IFC2020
A visually cohesive and dynamic graphic set promoting a multi-night virtual event. Summer was especially pleased she was able to include everyone’s headshots! Adobe Photoshop
Click any of the graphics to see the event website for IFC2020.
video
Mary Magdalene: Summer was contracted by United Women in Faith to write, produce, shoot, direct and edit a series of videos for one of their virtual conferences. Featuring actor Alicia Rivas.
Sony a6000 and Adobe Premiere Pro
Testimonials: Summer edited this video featuring artists from IFC’s 2023 mainstage show talking about their experiences with the organization. This was used as part of the organization’s intro during corporate performances. Samsung S24, Adobe Premiere Pro
Manifest Destiny: Summer cut together footage from Lunar New Year celebrations in New York City, a Chinese specialty store in Quito, and video from Vero Verano's photoshoot with photographer Voxigma Lo to create this lyric video. She also styled Vero's look and designed the hand-beaded cowboy hat. Song by VSHY, Vero Verano and BABYBOYBLUE. Samsung S24, Adobe Premiere Pro
pitch decks
In Full Color Sales Deck (School Edition) 2022-23
Adobe Photoshop
Microsoft Powerpoint
Canva
Highlights:
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Successfully propelled us to our highest earning year ever. We helped artists earn ~$21K through 52 events
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Tailored for school audiences
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Clean, colorful graphics
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Clear storytelling with mission and values
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Strong data and narrative copy
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High-quality photos reflect diversity of artist roster and programming
In Full Color Annual Report 2022
Same tools as above
Highlights:
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Pushed accent colors to the front to distinguish 2022 from previous years
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Fun, colorful shapes
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Bold design
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Strong, concise, playful copy
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Balance of information and negative space
venue branding
Summer was the Events Director of LITM from 2016 to 2019. Her comms skills helped make $200K in event sales for this bar, restaurant and art gallery -- accounting for a third of their total income!
Summer created graphics, social media posts, menus, advertisements and more.
As a freelance events coordinator, Summer has also put her communications skills to use. For instance, she designed a brochure and menu for O'Hara's Downtown's Yelp Elite event.
publishing
Summer has self-published her own books and has collaborated with artists and writers to publish several books for In Full Color. She has used Adobe Creative Suite tools like Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and InCopy.
The wellness journal, left, was created by IFC in collaboration with several illustrators. Summer created all graphics for non-illustration pages, wrote all the copy and laid out the book for publication.
The book on the right is a collection of her short stories, featuring a cover designed by Summer herself.
what people are saying
"If there were a hall of fame for hardworking, diligent and creative people, then Summer would be in it."
- Gabe Miller, Copy Chief, Sports Illustrated
"Summer is bilingual in Spanish and English, and this has proven to be an asset...She is thorough in her preparation and a great collaborator...She will undoubtedly add a lot to any professional situation that she takes on."
- Chris Heller, Director, Learning English and Drama Project,
Lincoln Center Theater
"You always took on WAY more than expected of you and did it all phenomenally. You have such a warm and positive energy, and I truly loved working with you."
- Matthew Palmer, Stage Manager, Storme
(a play directed by Summer, written by Carolyn Brown)
"Wow, her writing brings me to tears -- both of sorrow and joy! Looking upon her graphics and watching her videos are salves for tired, jaded eyes. Her hair is lustrous, her laugh contagious.... She has made my life better in every way possible."
- Everyone, probably