May 2010 – Present:Creative Artworker – Totem Communications.
I’ve taken a role as a Creative Artworker at a small sized communications agency down in Walsh Bay. This role is a great place to start my first permanent role in Australia. I will have the opportunity to develop my skill base at the same time learning new skills from the people around me. It is very much a hands on role with responsibilities ranging from: retouching. typesetting/typography, design/layout/concepting, print management, photography etc.
January 2010 – April 2010: Freelance Finished Artist/Creative Artworker.
Since arriving in Sydney, at the beginning of 2010, I have had the opportunity to work on a freelance basis in a number of studios. Working on various projects including: advertising, direct mailing, brand development/guidelines, and various other print items. I am currently available on a freelance basis whilst I look for a full-time Studio Manager role.
1999 – December 2009: London Based Global Advertising Agency.
At the beginning of 1999, after finishing my visual communications degree at Middlesex University, I joined a London based global advertising agency as a junior member of the artworking team. I have worked my way up through the ranks in the studio, taking the steps from junior to senior artworker. In 2005 I took on the role of Studio/IT Systems manager. This role consisted of looking after the day-to-day running of the artwork team, and also the job of setting up and maintaining the hardware/software for the creative department. I work closely with our creative services manager to organise and plan workload and scheduling so that deadlines are met and our clients are kept happy.
Over the years I have had to opportunity to use a lot of different software. I was a QuarkXPress user for over 10 years, seven of those professionally, before moving over to InDesign, which is now my weapon of choice; Integrating this with the rest of the Creative Suite including Illustrator, and Photoshop.