Hi, I’m Kendra Flores, a freelance Graphic Designer & Web Designer specializing in shopping center, retail and small business design and marketing services.

My journey began in 2000 at The Art Institute of Portland, Oregon where I studied Apparel Design. While attending school I worked at Nordstrom in sales followed by Byzantium, a high end womens’ boutique in Portland’s Pearl District. A few months before graduation in 2003 I obtained an internship with up-and-coming Portland fashion designer Michelle DeCourcy (best known for Norah Jones wearing her dress to the 2003 Grammy’s). After a brief internship and quick hire onto Michelle’s team I was able to delve into the wholesale side of the apparel business and learn how to build a business from the ground up. After about a year on the wholesale side, Michelle decided to open her first retail store with me by her side. With this store being Michelle’s first retail experience, I stepped up to the plate and created and managed store operations, assisted with buying, marketing, hiring and training staff, and helped keep up the wholesale end as well. My experience with Michelle was also my first taste of web work–maintaining the company’s e-commerce website was a daily task, and I loved it!

After three years managing the store and its operations, I got hired on with CenterCal Properties at the stylish, new Bridgeport Village Shopping Center in the Portland suburb of Tigard in 2007. A lifelong shopping addict, I felt right at home at the high end shopping center, working in the Guest Services department assisting mall shoppers. While working in Guest Services, I also managed the Guest Services staff, assisted the mall marketing department, managed the content of the center’s website, and revived the center’s Tour & Travel program with neighboring hotels. After about a year, I became Bridgeport’s event planner, planning all events from the famous Summer Concert Series, to Santa, to charitable benefits, and more. In this position I was able to work with the mall merchants on both the store marketing level as well as the mall marketing level, helping to boost sales and awareness to the Bridgeport Village customer and beyond.

In 2008 I also began working more closely with mall marketing under Betsy Penson, Regional Marketing Director, and creating marketing collateral for Bridgeport Village and five other CenterCal shopping centers including e-newsletters, merchant newsletters, signs, banners, brochures, and event postcards. Next, a new website for Bridgeport Village and the other CenterCal Properties was in order. The thought of designing a website from scratch was exciting yet daunting, but with a stylish eye, I designed the look of a new website, in select colorways to match each of the six shopping centers. The decision was made–Betsy loved it and the new websites were created. Although I had been working in website content management for several years, I knew I didn’t have the experience or knowledge to take her new website from a design in Illustrator to HTML files. It struck a chord with her.

In late 2009, my husband Waylon and I were relocated to Houston, Texas for Waylon’s job in the natural gas industry. I continued to work for Betsy and CenterCal Properties from afar, designing signs, ads, brochures, and all other mall marketing collateral, and managing web content and Facebook pages for Blackhawk Plaza in Danville, California and Valley Mall in Yakima, Washington. In August, 2013 I received my Web Designer/Developer Certificate at Lone Star College in Houston.

In the fall of 2012 I began working with Heritage Mall in Albany, Oregon, a property of Vintage Real Estate located in Los Angeles. Working with Heritage Mall meant creating a whole new brand, logo, and style to refresh the center and create a positive and welcoming image in the community. I still work with Heritage Mall to this day, designing everything from signs and barricades to email blasts, event collateral, directories, marketing materials for mall tenants, and more.

In 2014 I began working with Vintage Real Estate on corporate projects such as leasing flyers and materials, barricades, and signs and then in 2016 began work with Vintage Real Estate’s portfolio of shopping centers to include 4 other major centers: Wenatchee Valley Mall in Wenatchee, Washington; SouthBay Pavilion in Carson, California; Southlake Mall in Morrow, Georgia; and The Mall at Whitney Field in Leominster, Massachusetts. That same year I was asked to design a complete branding guide for Vintage to use portfolio-wide to create a consistent look across all of the centers. This project, the largest in my freelance career, was a notable and proud accomplishment. I continued to work with Vintage Real Estate and their portfolio of shopping centers designing signs, barricades, event collateral, directories and email blasts for each center until the company restructured in 2018, selling all of the centers in their portfolio. Even after this major change I still continue to work with a number of the shopping centers to this day including Heritage Mall, SouthBay Pavilion and Wenatchee Valley Mall. I also still work with my first freelance client, Blackhawk Plaza, on a regular basis. I love that my clients have had such a great experience working with me over the years that we continue to work together and maintain such a great working relationship.

Throughout my past 14+ years working with these notable clients, my client list grew from two to over 50 businesses by word of mouth and excellent referrals to which I am grateful.  Some companies hired me for a project or two, others hired me on retainer for ongoing design services with whom I’ve been working with for years. I have always been happy helping clients no matter how large or small their needs may be.

I currently work from my home in Portland, Oregon as a freelance Graphic Designer and Web Designer, working with clients in a variety of industries such as retail, dentistry, real estate, aesthetics, architecture, and beyond.

In 2017 my husband and I moved back home to Oregon and welcomed our first child, a son, in November, 2018. Although that little guy keeps me busy I am happy to be able to continue my freelance business, maintaining the relationships I’ve made over the past 14+ years and welcoming many new local clients in the Portland and Salem areas.  In 2021 I formed an LLC and became Kendra Flores Design LLC! I love that I’m able to serve the local community and also work with so many wonderful clients nationwide!