Curriculum Vitae

Profile

Highly skilled designer and mac artworker with over 7 years experience of working in the print industry, as well as over 7 years working in the marketing sector, in product marketing, advertising and financial services. First-class eye for detail. Deadline driven – always seeking to improve working processes with the aim of improving team/individual ability to meet targets. Dedicated to maintaining high standards and ensuring agreed service levels are achieved by prioritising workload. Outstanding team player with a proactive attitude and ability to work unsupervised. Excellent verbal and written communication skills.

Major achievements

Single-handedly designed a 108 page Design and Make Up Guide in two weeks from scratch to print.
Raised design revenue from 5% to 12% in the first 12 months in Kall Kwik
Successfully created and implemented a scheduling system for all production work to enable visibility and clarity of priorities for the whole marketing communications department
Effectively coordinated studio art workers, proof readers and in-house print team through a complete company re-brand of over 300 items of printed and electronic literature for delivery on 1st January 2008, enabling seamless role out of new branding across Europe
Proactively managed and reported on department costs each month to ensure accuracy of data for each sector of the business and enabling visibility of £300,000 profit throughout 2007
Spearheaded company adaptation and implementation of Aprimo marketing package to automate workflow processes and company-wide signatory processes which allows extremely accurate version control and audit trail for regulatory enquiries, as well as documenting the company’s efforts with any regulatory requests.

Relevant skills and experience

Over 7 years experience in an in-house design/studio environment working up from basic assistant through studio artist to supervisor, gaining knowledge of Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator and Quark Xpress on both Mac and PC platforms
2.5 years administrative experience in a busy studio environment utilising MS Word, Excel and Powerpoint on a regular basis, whilst enhancing organisational processes and communication skills to all levels
Scheduling and job trafficking skills in a busy in-house studio department of a large financial services company, using Microsoft Excel to accurately track job process from start to finish
Working knowledge of the following packages: Microsoft Office 2003 including Outlook, Word, Powerpoint and Excel, Microsoft Visio, Open Workbench, Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Adobe Type Manager, Quark Xpress, InDesign and basic knowledge of Dreamweaver
Ability to create both Word and Adobe Acrobat PDF forms as well as creating press ready print files and files for electronic distribution
Experience working in a busy call centre dealing directly with the end customer

Career history

Feb 12 - Present Graphic Designer, Marketing department, eFlorist

Creation of peak collateral (posters, counter cards, make up guides, catalogues etc) for annual peaks (Valentines day, Mother's day and Christmas) and standard seasonal ranges (Spring, Summer and Autumn)
Image manipulation of new product ranges for use in collateral as well as online sites, including sundries and floral products
Creation of new Marketing collateral for use at annual events
Online updates including "ticker" announcements, banner artwork and product administration of our eflorist.net platform

June 11 - Feb 12 Graphic Designer, Marketing department, Skandia Investment Group

Updated and amended various forms, information sheets and data sheets for the various products showing up-to-date financial information that was market and time/date critical with tight deadlines
Amended graphs and other illustrations from external sources to align with the brand guidelines
Amended online data via CMS with time/date critical data and aided in the construction of the new website by providing correct data and helping with organising the links and page flow to ensure accurate disclaimers were shown and correct data was provided

Dec 10 - May 11 Graphic Designer, Marketing department, eFlorist

Created peak collateral (posters, counter cards, make up guides, catalogues etc) for annual peaks including Valentines Day and Mother’s Day
Image manipulation of new product ranges for use in collateral as well as online sites
Created new Marketing collateral for use at Bloom
Updated online "ticker" announcements, banner artwork and product administration of the eflorist.net platform

Nov 09 – Dec 10 Graphic Designer, Marketing department, The Pen Warehouse

Amending annual catalogue with new products and updated information
Image manipulation of new product ranges for use in catalogue as well as online catalogue
Creation of new product catalogues as requested
Designing marketing material for each new product, including artwork for printed samples, flyers for advertising, email shot artwork and website banners

Apr 08 – Oct 09 Designer, Studio department, Kall Kwik

Designed a range of material, including flyers, adverts, brochures, stationery suites and brand identities, for new and existing clients
Carried out initial client brief meetings to establish design requirements
Produced concepts and proofs and progressed ideas to finished designs
Advised on stock and print options and cost implications
Amended existing artwork
Created files for lithographic printing
Digital output of finished artwork, ensuring minimal paper wastage and optimising profit
Finishing including trimming, folding, binding and packing

May 05 – Mar 08 Studio Co-ordinator, Marketing Communications, Skandia Life Assurance Limited

Prioritised and co-ordinated the workflow through the department to ensure all deadlines were met
Maintained optimum use of resources and ensured enough staff cover during busy periods
Produced monthly cost information reports for management
Maintained the scheduling/planning database for all current and urgent work
Made amendments to existing artwork in both Quark, MS Word and PowerPoint
Produced PDF files for internet and print usage
Partial project management of various ad hoc projects.

May 05 – May 07 Page Make-up artist, Studio department, Trader Media Group (AdTrader)

Part time evenings

Planned and designed the layout of the paper twice a week ensuring correct position of paid advertisements
Ensured adverts were in the correct section and visually pleasing positions on the page
Checked pages for errors and organised files for print.

Aug 02 – Apr 05 Studio Supervisor, Studio Department, Trader Media Group (AdTrader)

Produced visually pleasing adverts within set deadlines
Amended existing artwork as requested by the end client
Oversaw the training of new and existing members of staff
Liaised with the Production Supervisor to make sure any problems/errors with the paper were corrected as soon as possible, keeping refunds on advertisements to a minimum
Supervised the flow of work through the production department.

Mar 02 – Aug 02 Studio Artist, Studio department, Trader Media Group (AdTrader)

Created and amended advertisements for new and existing customers
Made sure error levels were kept to an absolute minimum.

May 01 – Mar 02 Production Assistant, Studio department, Trader Media Group (AdTrader)

Planned and designed the layout of the paper twice a week ensuring correct position of paid advertisements
Created and amended advertisements for new and existing customers
Made sure error levels were kept to an absolute minimum.

Jan 01 – May 01 Home Loans Trainee, Global Home Loans

Data input of new applications for Woolwich mortgage products
Liaised with brokers to ensure swift completion of mortgage applications

Jan 98 – Aug 99 Customer Service Operator, Trader Media Group (AdTrader - then Diamond FreeAds)

Customer services
Data entry

Education

Totton College

2002-2004 HNC in Graphic Design – Pass (Merit)

Studied subjects: Computer applications in art and design, historical and contextual referencing,

professional studies, ideas generation, critical study, ideas in context, advertising campaigns, art

direction for advertising, image manipulation applications and working in the digital environment

1997-1999 Psychology, A-level, Grade B

Film Studies, A-level, Grade C

General Studies, A-level, Grade D

Law, A-level, Grade E

Mathematics, AS-level, Grade D

Text & Word Processing, RSA Stage II, Distinction

Regents Park Girls School

1993-1997 Child Development, GCSE, Grade A

English Literature, GCSE, Grade A

English Language, GCSE, Grade B

French, GCSE, Grade B

Spanish, GCSE, Grade B

Mathematics, GCSE, Grade B

Science (Double), GCSE, Grade BB

Information Technology, GCSE, Grade B

1996 Statistics, GCSE, Grade B

Additional information

Full UK driving licence and car.