About me
Full name:
Sarah Charlotte Gow
Address:
10 Albion Street, Gloucester, GL1 1UE
Contact numbers:
07702981512 / 01452 901375
Email address:
sarahcgow@hotmail.com
Design portfolio website:
www.sarbucksportfolio.co.uk
Date of birth:
24/02/1992
Nationality:
British
Driving license:
Full, clean
I am a musician/singer who has performed in a rock band, and both school and community orchestras. My experiences, playing the flute, also include performing on the stage in Disneyland, Paris. During my degree course, I collaborated with fellow undergraduates to produce creative outcomes and presentations and demonstrated my orientation as a team member. An example of this is when I worked with 7 other students to design and set up our exhibition space for the D&AD New Blood Exhibition. This was very much a team player role which required inter-personal skills to interpret situations and personalities at short notice, and react to them positively.
I am a keen cyclist and member of my local gym, working out on a regular basis. I am also very involved in photography; shooting weddings, band performances and re-enactment events, as well as for pleasure. I have completed graphic design projects on a freelance basis, for a music festival and a record company and was commissioned to produce a CD cover. More recently I have designed and coded websites for a number of new business initiatives and produced all 5 book covers for an author's series. My photographs and work are available for viewing on my website, www.sarbucksportfolio.co.uk/photography.html.
Work history
Html Email Designer & Developer
Employed, full time, by the retail organisation mentioned above, as HTML Email Designer and Developer. My official role requires me to design, develop and code all of the HTML emails sent to their customer base using email platform Oracle Responsys and the email test engine Litmus. This involves the production of weekly email newsletters and campaign emails, usability testing and, in addition, the subsequent analysis of performance and introduction of potential enhancements to improve, both the visual content and the impact, on a wide range of devices. I have experience in a/b testing to maximise engagement and am constantly communicating with CRM managers and changing the design of my emails in order to gain the most effective user experience across desktop, tablet and mobile.
Another large part of my role is the design of digital graphics for the company's website and social media platforms, including thumbnails, web headers and carousels (both desktop and mobile interface), email signature banners (used by employees of Cotswold Outdoor), digital advertisements and large scale animated material such as displays in shopping centres. I currently produce visual solutions for blogs, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, Youtube, Google+ and Pinterest and have experience of creating artwork for other appropriate platforms such as Soundcloud. I also work with film and animated gifs. Additionally I am required to design and code (HTML, DHTML and CSS) online competition forms and static web pages for campaigns and brand promotions, sold in the business.
As part of a small digital communications team, I have demonstrated my ability to work with and support others, contribute fresh ideas during discussions and, also show initiative, having been principal email designer and coder for the business since the start of my role. I have strong organisational skills and am used to a fast paced environment, paying strong attention to detail, composition, layout and typography and prioritising my workload in order to meet very tight deadlines. I frequently have to process multiple emails simultaneously, as well as producing creative work, from concept to completion, for other digital briefs. I am continually updating my knowledge of design software in order to improve the content of my outputs. I am also able to transform the printed version of other designer's artwork into equally aesthetically pleasing and effective digital format.
Skills
- Design
- Illustrator
- Indesign
- Photoshop
- Jquery
- After Effects
- Muse
- Dreamweaver
- Html CSS
- Responsys
Education
BA(Hons) Graphic Design
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The course required completion of modules in ideas and connections, typography, print processes, image manipulation, animation, self-expression, branding and advertising, graphic design history and visual culture, as well as a major research project on infographics, with a practical outcome involving the creation of a transport company with its own logo, website, downloadable application and user friendly pocket sized timetables. I also submitted a number of briefs for design awards including Roses Student Awards and Penguin Student Design Awards, created a poster for Cheltenham Science Festival 2011, for public viewing, and represented the University at the D&AD New Blood exhibition at the end of my final year.
Graphic Design
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A Levels: Grade A* - Graphic Design,
Grade E - Chemistry
AS Levels: Grade B - Photography,
Grade C - Fine Art
GCSE’s: Grade A* - History
Grade A - Geography, English, English Literature, Religious studies, Information
Technology, Science, Additional Science
Grade B - Fine Art, Mathematics
Grade C - French, Music, Mathematical Statistics