About me

I'm Ellie, a graphic designer with a background in several media design industries including 3D animation, film-making & post-production/VFX. My strengths lie in my communication skills and in lateral creative thinking. I'm fascinated with technology and really enjoy figuring out faster, more innovative ways to get things done. I'm a motivated team-player who thrives in a busy collaborative environment, but I am just as happy working on my own. Turning concepts into beautiful designs is my passion.

Previous Work Experience

ACG Education/UP Education

Inhouse Graphic Designer • Nov 2018 – Present

Designed a variety of assets for printed and digital marketing collateral for a variety of brands including ACG schools, ACG Pathways/International, Vocational Schools, and later, UP Education (all with their own brand guidelines and tools

Widened the scope of my design ability to encombass many different mediums, from pull-up banners to posters, flyers, animated html5 ads, digital and print billboards and wayfinding signage on buildings and on footpaths.

Research and delivery of key insights from across the marketing department to implement an overhaul of the design and brief delivery workflow across the entire company

Learned a lot about how the graphic design workflow fits into the rest of the marketing team and the company as a whole.

Design implementation of a complete marketing re-brand from ACG Education to UP Education, including creation of all-new assets for use. This included campaign collateral, branded assets and templates for further staff use (Powerpoint, Word etc)

Worked with a creative agency in bringing the new brand to life as well as creating brand assets from scratch

Expanded my skill set in designing templates for staff outside the marketing department to use (word templates, themes, headers and footers, powerpoint templates) as well as designing and delivering instructional documents for their implementation.

Assisted the Digital and Social teams across all brands in the creation of both static and animated collateral for Online campaigns using a variety of tools.

Used tools like Trello, Excel and Microsoft Teams to stay in constant contact with teams Learned new software like CC Animate to create HTML animations for digital advertising

Developed skill in collaborating with a variety of stakeholders and team leads simultaneously to juggle multiple jobs for different brands ahead of tight deadlines.

South Sea Cruises

Inhouse Graphic Designer • NZ & Fiji • Jan 2018 - Oct 2018

Design of assets for printed marketing collateral for a range of brands

Developed a thorough understanding of, and how to keep track of, marketing across all brands including their target demographic, look and feel, brand message and colour palettes. This included creation and maintenance of current brand guideline documents across all brands

Learned to thrive on constructive criticism and consistently use it as a tool to improve the quality of my work output.

Creation and delivery of a wide variety of artwork across different mediums (e.g. folded cover inserts, door-hangers, coasters, outdoor signs etc)

Learned how to create and deliver artwork for these mediums, troubleshoot on the fly the best practice and new/better ways to deliver on tight deadlines.

Creation and implementation of functional design work-flows to streamline the process from brief to delivery, as well as fail-safes and checklists for version control and error reduction

Learned to identify and take responsibility for my mistakes and come up with more effective strategies that were preventative, rather than reactionary

Up-skilled me in creating functional work pipelines in the form of checklists and editable forms/PDFs for my own use, and for use throughout the company.

CBRE

Marketing coordinator, Graphic Designer & Admin • Mar 2017 – Nov 2017

Maintenance and some design of branded templates

Further strengthened skills in Adobe software like InDesign and Photoshop

Gained understanding and skill in designing to strict brand guidelines - learned the importance of this and of knowing a brand inside out and the prevailing message it is trying to convey.

Coordination of Individual Marketing Projects

Picked up generalist marketing skills, improved organisational and multi tasking skills and communication when liaising with stakeholders.

Advertising Account Coordination

Gained a good foundation of understanding for design and delivery of material for print companies - colour management, file types, print terminology

Developed skill with budgeting and balancing invoices for accounts.

Administrative support for all the Auckland Marketing teams

Developed a good understanding of both the marketing and real estate industries while honing communication and organisational skills.

Design of marketing collateral in a varfiety of mediums for corporate events

Assisted the Senior Marketing Manager with the new content management system of the New Zealand website

Introduced me to basic HTML and the creation of simple pages using the CMS systems for both the internal and external websites for CBRE.

Training of new members in current processes and helping to develop new ones – including designing and creating training documents

Learned to create documentation to provide others with a good understanding of the business and its marketing processes – for example, creating thorough handover documents.

Smith & Smith Glass

CSR, Admin & Booking Specialist • Feb 2016 - Mar 2017

Responsible for delivering consistent Customer Delight from first contact to booking confirmation

Developed an ability to work through difficult, sometimes confrontational situations without taking things personally and maintaining a positive, professional attitude

Discovered a knack for diffusing these situations through calming strategies and perseverence to find the solution with the customers.

Used a range of CRM and product-identification systems to log customer information, track down and order the correct product, schedule jobs and troubleshoot current customers who had appointment queries.

Developed an ability to quickly pick up and work with new, unfamiliar computer systems

Became excellent at multitasking, with many different systems needing to be used simultaneously while communicating clearly and listening to a customer

Had to learn a range of scripts and information on products, processes and systems used by the technicians in the field.

While at this branch, researched and pitched a project for Environmental initiative called 'Flushwaste' to the company heads, and came runner-up

Allowed me to thoroughly research all facets of a topic and present the ideas in a logical fashion to clearly illustrate my idea

Provided me with good experience in pitching ideas to a group in a high-pressure enviroment.


Skills & Software Proficiency

Years of design software experience
Adobe Photoshop
5 years
Autodesk Maya/Mudbox
5 years
Adobe CC Animate
1 year
Adobe InDesign
4 years
Adobe Illustrator
3 years
Adobe After Effects
4 years
Adobe Dreamweaver/HTML
1 year
Various CMS Systems
2 years
Microsoft Powerpoint
2 years
Microsoft Word
5 years
Adobe Premier/Final Cut Pro
4 years

Education & Qualifications

Bachelor of Art & Design
Media Design School - Feb 2011 - Nov 2014
Diploma of Video Post Production - Advanced
Natcoll Design Technology - Jun 2009 - Apr 2010
Diploma of Digital Video Post Production
CPIT - Jan 2008 - Nov 2008
Diploma of Film & Television Production
New Zealand Broadcasting School, CPIT - Jan 2006 - Nov 2007

Workplace & interpersonal skills

Excellent verbal & written communication skills
Good at requesting/receiving constructive feedback
Good at generating new, innovative ideas
High level of productivity
An avid self-learner interested in new & emerging technologies
Good attention to detail
Committed to creating positive workplace relationships
Marketing, admin and customer service experience
Varied media background and experience
Great team player who also works well autonomously