Marie Schulz

Marie Schulz

Freelance Graphic DesignerLondon, United Kingdom
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Marie Schulz

Marie Schulz

Freelance Graphic DesignerLondon, United Kingdom
Projects
  • My Illustrator super skills
    My Illustrator super skillsAfter 12 years as an in-house senior designer, I’ve recently moved on to setting myself up as a freelancer. Because the most recent entries of my portfolio showcase mostly branded work – hang in there, the ‘proven track record’ is coming very soon – I’ve started a series called ‘My Super Skills’ to show the full breadth of my experience. My desire to be super creative has fired up and here is the first outcome of my labour of love. My boyfriend lent his face to one part of the job and I’m really chuffed with the outcome. I love working with Illustrator but didn’t get much of a chance to bring it into my last job. Nevertheless I stayed up-to-date with new developments, so my skills are far from rusty and I’m proud it shows.
  • Tourettes Action
    Tourettes ActionThis project contained of a series of three DL leaflets, a Powerpoint template and an ID card that I redesigned for Tourettes Action. The brief was to freshen up all these files and documents according to the charity’s design guidelines. In the process we discovered that, although there was an existing colour palette, colours and typefaces had not been applied consistently in previous files and the printed leaflets had differed in look and feel immensely. I cleared up the house colour palette and provided the client with new, consistent logo files to be used in future. Similarly, I drew up leaflet versions with different fonts and advised on the best choice. We agreed to go with Franklin Gothic, a classic, legible typeface which is also installed on the client’s PCs and can therefore be used on Powerpoint presentations and in Word files in-house. Once colour palette and typefaces were decided on, I freshened up the design of the old leaflets, introducing pull-quotes, more photos and generally a tidier layout. The Powerpoint template followed the cleaner design approach and now includes several master pages for the client’s different needs. The ID card design was set up in very basic card software but I managed to give the card a clean, professional look. I also negotiated print quotes for the leaflets and dealt with the print process. The client loved it and I’m looking forward to many more projects with Tourettes Action.
  • ICSA – corporate design guidelines
    ICSA – corporate design guidelinesThis is the big one of the last 12 years: the thorough rebrand of ICSA. Senior management, marketing team and brand experts worked together to decide on the core values, mission statement and brand strategy for this professional membership body and I was right in the middle of it all. As in-house designer, I was in charge of the visual translation and implementation of this project which culminated in a consistent, clean look and feel of ICSA and detailed corporate design guidelines. The typographical logo in the primary house colours (blue = trust and authority) tops ICSA’s clean and modern identity. The coat of arms of the Royal Charter is used as a footer device to link to the organisation’s rich heritage. Equally, the typefaces Frutiger and Plantin Italics underline the same visual concepts respectively. The accreditation marks show the relationships with a wide range of affiliated and partner organisations. These consist of regional branches, chartered secretaries in public practice, subsidiary companies and special interest groups such as registrars. The 45º angles add warmth, depth and texture and enable the brand to use strong blues without being dark, heavy or cold. Photography plays a major role in making the ICSA brand distinctive. Member portraits are used to help convey strong messages that reflect the values and the integrity and character of the company secretary and wider governance profession. ICSA employees are the face of the organisation. Using charismatic people who act naturally in front of the camera is a great way to bring out the personality of ICSA and help engage with its key audiences. Supportive imagery shows corporate landscapes, work environments, hand gestures and conceptual illustrations to keep the visuals interesting. Infographics are being used to illustrate complex ideas in an easily understandable way. All together, consistently applied, ICSA now displays a truly powerful brand and I’m proud of having been the essential ingredient of the visual execution and implementation of it.
Work history
    Freelance Graphic Designer
    After 12 years working as an in-house designer and design manager, I have set up as a freelancer to widen my horizon and explore a different way of working. I found that my passion for design has fired up and I’m enjoying the broad set of task as well as clients and projects that self-employment made possible for me.
    Senior Graphic Designer & Design Manager
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    ICSA is the professional body for governance. It supports its members with a wide range of guidance and activities, from qualifications and technical advice to conferences, training courses and numerous publications. I spent 12 years at ICSA, enjoying the broad spectrum of design projects and treasuring a team of supportive and fun colleagues throughout the company. For ten years I was the only in-house graphic designer, designing a large range of print material and digital artwork. After a thorough rebrand, in which I was heavily involved, I was promoted to Design Manager. I was the guardian of the corporate design guidelines, making sure they were adhered to by other designers and colleagues. For a few years I outsourced excess design work but then became the line manager to another graphic designer. Although design was still a big part of my day-to-day job, I concentrated on project and design management as well as art direction and instructing printers, photographers and other suppliers. Design projects: « Corporate design and branding « Design strategy « Brochures and leaflets « Annual reports « Exhibition stands and displays « Adverts and posters « Book covers « Stationery and certificates « Web banners and imagery « Photoshop comps of web layouts « Simple HTML/CSS files (without javascripts) « G+C magazine and various print and online supplements « Forms « Powerpoint presentations « Word templates Design management: « Implementation and improvement of production processes « Line management of another designer « Instructing photographers, freelancers and printers « Picture research/optimising pictures « Close teamwork with the editorial and marketing team and other departments « Negotiating best print quotes and overseeing the print process
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Skills
  • Branding
  • Print Design
  • Art Direction
  • Production Management
  • Creative Direction
  • Print Campaigns
  • Illustrator
  • Indesign
  • Photoshop
  • Graphic Design
  • Microsoft Office
  • Branding Identity Design
  • Creative Suite
  • Brand Guidelines
  • In-house Senior Designer
Education
    Graphic Design Apprenticeship
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    I was lucky to receive the German equivalent of a university degree in graphic design: a three-year-long apprenticeship which included solid professional training in a design studio and theoretical studies at a design college. I was taught by a senior graphic designer who provided practical coaching on all standard design software. The apprenticeship also included work experience in print and pre-press companies. Important subjects and training: « Design studies and practical design coaching « Marketing and advertising « General business studies « Practical pre-press and print training
    English, German, Sciences
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    The German equivalent to A-Levels is Abitur. I studied the following subjects: « Art « English « German « Russian « Maths and physics « Biology and chemistry Activities and societies: voluntary art course, school newspaper
Awards
    MemCom Award for Best Rebranding
    In my position as in-house graphic designer for ICSA: The Governance Institute, I won the MemeCom Award for Best Rebranding after I had successfully moved the institute's visual identity to a new level.