I'm an Art Director for Farshore, an imprint of HarperCollins UK. I manage designers within the Brands team, working on a diverse range of licenses including Mr Men Little Miss, Winnie-the-Pooh, Beano, Minecraft and Pokémon. I have nearly 20 years experience working in children's publishing and have gained broad knowledge of licensing, picture books, fiction, non-fiction and print production. Before my life in publishing I trained and worked in interactive media, including animation and web design, so I have a broad understanding of many facets of graphic design.
Work history
F
F
Art DirectorFarshore Publishing
London, United KingdomFull Time
• Overseeing design work across a wide range of licenses, particularly pre-school licenses. Personal responsibility for design for Mr Men Little Miss and Beano titles.
• Planning, scheduling, prioritising and delivering design workloads across the Brands & Licensing and Special Sales departments, managing a team of designers to create books to a high standard, on time and on budget. Manage process from original concept to final, print-ready files. Checking all design work to ensure design consistency and adherence to both licensor and internal styleguides.
• Developing internal styleguides as required and managing files internally (structure/naming conventions etc)
• Outsourcing work to agencies/illustrators/packagers/paper engineers, managing schedules and freelance budgets.
• Relationship building with licensors, managing expectations and developing/requesting assets.
• Creation of sales materials, and liaising with the Marketing department as necessary
• To help develop my reports and support the Creative Director in their work. Constructively challenge them and help them work towards their personal goals and those of the company.
• Driving communication between the B&L creative team and the rest of the company.
E
E
Senior DesignerEgmont Publishing
- London, United Kingdom
+ Show more
Skills
- Adobe Indesign
- Adobe Photoshop
- Art Direction
- Publishing Design
- Book Publishing
- Book Layout
- Adobe Illustrator
- Project Management
- Cover Design
- Book Design
Education
C
C
NVQ Level 5 Apprenticeship in Management and LeadershipCorndel
- London, United Kingdom
Passed with Distinction. In-job training with HarperCollins UK: Developed skills in strategic planning, strategic change and business process design alongside core leadership and management abilities such as inspiring colleagues and delivering results.
C
C
CMI Management and Leadership Level 5Chartered Management Institute (CMI)
- London, United Kingdom
Passed with Distinction. In-job training with HarperCollins UK: Principles of Management and Leadership in an organisational context; Principles of developing, managing and leading individuals and teams to achieve success ; Managing stakeholder relationships; Managing projects to achieve results; Managing change; Creating and delivering operational plans; Managing finance.
+ Show more