About me

With over 12 years experience working with some of the worlds best known brands, I have developed a strong interest in what makes a brand successful.

From humble beginnings working for an Electrical Wholesalers, my challenge was making sure that over 150 different manufacturers were happy with their entries into the 300+ page product catalogue that I put together twice a year. I introduced the concept of Hero/feature pages, that allowed deep pocketed suppliers to make their latest products 'stand out' from the others, allowing the likes of Dyson, Sony, Philips, Morphy Richards, Panasonic and many more to have their products stand out. This approach resulted in suppliers paying for most of the brochures production.

My experience has led me to work both as part of a team, and as an individual. At Pikapak, I was the designer, the art worker, the Studio leader. I was required to source print, exhibition gear and digital services, liaise with other studios within the business and make sure everything was delivered on time and on spec.

At Williams Lea and subsequently, Charterhouse, my role has been somewhat more specific, working in a small team to produce top quality artwork and cover for the Studio Manager. Being a very fast paced, high traffic studio, it is often difficult to plan too far ahead. I pride myself however on a can-do attitude and flexibility and have to learned to manage client expectations in order to make sure that the level of satisfaction is always high.

Whilst at Charterhouse, I have worked across all three of BMW Group's Brands, BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce. My skills have been extended across a wide range of design applications, from vehicle liveries to exhibition design, unique giveaways, brochures, DM, web pages and many others. I have learned a huge amount about print production and providing an integrated service to our client. During my time here I have also spent time working on other brands including Infiniti (part of Nissan), Waitrose, Royal Opera House, Musgrave (Budgens/Londis) and Signet (H Samuel/Earnest Jones).

I have also had to consider other brands while designing for BMW, including a new sponsorship with the RFU and major involvement in the London 2012 Olympic games, working on car liveries for the 3,000+ vehicles supplied by BMW as well as all their hospitality collateral and sponsorship as a Games partner.

Right now, I feel the time has come to make a step forward with my career. I feel ready to take on the full time responsibility of my own studio, having now had plenty of experience running a small yet very busy operation.

I have good customer facing and organisational skills, an improved eye for detail and an extensive knowledge of Adobe Creative suite. I am also interested in developing my skills as a designer for online applications. I am looking for a role that allows me to use my knowledge of print to provide a better creative/artworking service and to develop my skills at managing a studio further.

Skills

- Excellent pre-press knowledge, conceptual & creative ability applied across a wide range of print & digital applications., - Strong Creative Suite knowledge, including advanced image retouching skills., - Managing workflow , allocation of projects & assisting artworkers & designers to achieve the tasks required of them., - Brand awareness & adhesion to Corporate/Brand Itentities, - Understanding of Colour Management using ICC profiles., - Excellent customer facing & all round communication skills., - Solution focussed, - Competent with applications within the Microsoft Office suite., - A good ‘residual’ knowledge of Quark Xpress., - Good understanding of design for web, with very basic knowledge of Adobe web design software., - Effective copywriting skills.

Sector Experience

Charterhouse Marketing: Jan 08 - Present, Senior Creative Artworker / Creative Support - BMW, MINI, Rolls-Royce, Supporting other accounts when required, including Signet (two month secondment) Royal Opera House, Waitrose, Nissan/Infiniti, Musgrave (implementation)., Williams Lea: July 07 - Dec 2007, Creative Support - BMW , PikaPak Home Electrical: Apr 01 - June 07, Senior Mac Operator

Awards

9/96 - 6/99, UEA University College Suffolk: BA (Hons.) Art & Design (2:1), 9/95 - 6/96, London College of Printing And Distributive Trades: Foundation in Media (Merit), 9/93 - 6/95, BETHS Sixth Form, (Kent): A levels; (B),(D) As Level; (C), 9/88 - 6/93 BETHS Grammar School: GCSE (4xA), (2xB), (3xC)