The story so far...
I am currently working as Web and Multimedia Co-ordinator with The Design Unit, in-house at City College Manchester in the UK. My portfolio of work includes projects for a range of clients, many within the education sector, local business, the music industry and the arts.
Before getting involved in new media design, I was a fine artist/photographer/printmaker working within the fields of fine art and art education. I have also dabbled in the music and club industries, working as a professional club DJ and promoter throughout the 1990's.
After graduating with a BA Hons Degree in Fine Art, I spent the early 90's continuing my activity as an artist, producing and exhibiting my work, which mixed traditional printmaking processes such as silkscreen printing and gravure with photography and, what were then new, digital imaging techniques. This was my first introduction to the personal computer and photoshop. To help fund my practice as a 'new media artist' I worked as a part-time lecturer at Staffordshire University teaching digital imaging, photography and printmaking. In 1993 I helped set up the University's Digital Imaging Centre and was one of several artists exhibiting in 'Beyond The 'Wow' Factor', an exhibition of digitally manipulated art, which was shown at New York State University, The Royal College of Art and Staffordshire University.
During this time I was fortunate enough to be able to collaborate with other artists on projects that were exhibited both nationally and internationally, usually working as a screen printer, darkroom technician or digital artist.
By the mid 90's I was working full-time in the Art & Design School at Staffordshire University whilst juggling involvement in running a successful club night and DJing. It was a combination of my growing knowledge of digital imaging software and artistic flair that led me to design the clubs flyers, posters and advertising, whilst at the same time getting involved in the design and production of the Art & Design School's publicity materials. Thus began my transition from fine art and photography to graphic design and desktop publishing.
I continued in the same vein of work through the late 90's, developing my skills and experience in graphic design, desktop publishing and computer software. By 1999 the world wide web had made a huge impact on everyone's lives and after being asked to assist a friend with the design of a record shop's web site, I got the opportunity to design for the web and never looked back.
In 2001, after designing web sites for a band, record label and management company, I landed a full time job as a web designer with The Design Unit, where I am busy working on web sites and multimedia projects for schools, colleges, local government and businesses. Recent projects include online learning resources, promotional DVDs, intranets and commercial web sites. I also have ongoing involvement in the development of the main City College Manchester web site, which was nominated for a Heist Award in 2007. Recent directions in work have led me to become involved in digital video editing and DVD authoring.
