Various
Renaissance - Nov 2012
Designer | Analyst | Front end developer
Between 2001 and 2012 my roles varied quite a lot. I started out as a web designer back in the early middle ages, as well as doing some design work. Mostly these were new logo’s for clients and leaflets.
My big change came when I started out at Cisco Systems, getting into coding more, and user interaction. I ended up working as a Web Analyst there, over-seeing a team of off-shore developers who updated the Cisco website.
I eventually left Cisco to go on a World backpacking trip for a year in 2007. Not because of the work, but as it was a life’s dream of mine and I had to do this while I could still shoulder a backpack. On my return I settled down for what was my work passion, front end development. The roles varied, from permenant to contracting.
Various web design | web analyst | front end work
The web work was very varied, as were the company's I worked for. Ranging from small, medium to large businesses. Thinking back,it horrifies me now as my first role at Supply Serve I relied on outputting html, css and javascript via Adobe's ImageReady. Sites and functions soon broke, so I very soon got into hand coding. I even got to be a dab hand at Macromedia's Flash & Actionscripting.
The role at Cisco Systems was my big break. It was the basis of all work to come: great team, teamwork, lots of coding, big corporation, tight deadlines, regular client meetings, pixel perfect sites and varied web work.
Challenges
The most challenging role I had was as a Web Analyst. I had to adjust my mindset from being hands-on, to managing a team and the client. The time difference between the off-shore team and myself was also a bit tricky, but easy to adjust to.
Proudest of
Learning new skills after relying on Abobe's ImageReady too much. I learned the hard way and it had to be quick, so it was the best way to learn in the end.
Various print & logo work
Most of my print and logo work was done while I was working for Supply Serve, and then Financial Express. I even managed to design and implement some van artwork. Quite a challenge as I had to adjust to using Pantone colours. Needless to say I had quite a few calls from the printers about colour discrepencies. The overall print work varied: van designs, logos, leaflets and sometimes business cards.
Challenges
The biggest challenge for me, apart from using Pantone colours for van designs was trying to create unique logo's for clients. I'm my own worst critic, so it was quite a challenge.
Proudest of
My favourite of all the print work is the Edible Systems logo. Somehow, I'd inadvertently created a logo that showed both the 'E' and the 'S' for Edible Systems as a plug. The client loved it. Although if I could re-work it, I'd change only the colours.
