- Curriculum Vitae -

Mia Sparrow

Graphic and Web Designer

Personal Statement

I believe what sets me aside from other candidates is that I have both creative and technical strengths, and as I have always been interested in pursuing something that compliments both I know that since entering the Web Design industry, that I have found something that suits my aptitudes to a tee. This means I enjoy the entire process of Web Design, from creating a unique design and feel to figuring out how best to develop and produce that design into a finished product.
I take great pleasure in making a website look both beautiful and engaging, while also functioning cleanly and efficiently, by keeping in mind the users experience and interaction. I take pride in my attention to detail, whether it be ensuring my code is written precisely and methodically, or creating my own custom graphics, guaranteeing each of my websites is uniquely tailored to the clients desires and users needs.
I also enjoy organising, problem solving and thinking on my feet, and due to the variety of work experience I’ve had prior to Web Design I have acquired a wide range of expertise. Namely my work in finance and the accounting course I’ve completed, meaning I can therefore understand the commercial aspects of any site I am designing.
I am a fast learner and always eager to master a new skill, especially in an industry that is constantly growing and evolving.

Experience

THE MINIMART, London – Senior Front End Developer

Aug 2016 – Current

Duties and Skills included:

Summary

As well as all the duties and skills outlined in my previous position, currently being the sole member of the digital team has meant I’ve had to branch out and take on more responsibility to fulfil my role within the agency.
This has primarily meant being the digital and technical consultant on all projects that required my knowledge and guidance. Whether it be ensuring images being taken on a photoshoot are correct for the website in question and will work responsively, or advising on the best hosting packages to meet our agency’s and client’s needs, I have enjoyed contributing where I can and being involved on all our projects in different ways.
I have especially enjoyed putting my UX knowledge to good use, as I have had to advise on a number of projects, most of which required thorough assessments, analysis and recommendations to ensure our clients were given the best possible result.
As the digital and technical consultant it has also meant that it is my responsibility to ensure everyone, most importantly our clients, have a full understanding of every process and our role within it. This has meant often being client facing which has given me a chance to build and refine my sales, presentation and training skills.

LAUNCHSITE, Cape Town – Senior Graphic and Web Designer

Nov 2014 – Jul 2016

Duties and Skills included:

Development

Thorough knowledge of the inner workings WordPress
Broad plugin library knowledge
Ensuring a site is strongly protected from potential security threats
Ensuring a site is protected from potential spam
Ensuring a site has basic SEO setup
Very strong HTML and CSS skills
Basic PHP and JavaScript
Very strong troubleshooting capabilities, especially within code
Ensuring all code was written cleanly and efficiently, allowing others to understand and edit if need be
Ensuring a websites images and graphics are optimised for fast loading speed
Tailoring a theme/creating a child theme using custom code to present a site that is unique
Ensuring a website is functional and responsive across all platforms using @media queries
Responsibility of comfortably moving a site to its final domain, either from a staging domain or localhost (E.g. MAMP)
Working well within FTP programs such as Filezilla
Working confidently within phpMyAdmin and MySQL

Design

Building design briefs from clients needs and specifications
Ensuring a design/website is UX friendly in accordance with user research
Ensuring a design/website is UI friendly in accordance with the clients needs
Ensuring any design theme is consistent throughout the website
Ensuring any layout is clear and simple while still be eye-catching and inviting
Keeping informed of current trends and new design ideas for inspiration
Advising clients of current trends to ensure their website doesn’t appear outdated
Very strong capabilities in Adobe Photoshop, Illustrator, InDesign and Final Cut Pro
Creating vector graphics if required, such as logos and custom icons, using Illustrator and/or Photoshop
Creating brand images if required, such as adverts and leaflets for printing purposes, using InDesign, Illustrator and/or Photoshop
Creating animated banner adverts in all varied/required dimensions, using Photoshop or Google Web Designer
Editing compiling videos from raw footage
Strong attention to detail

Management

Forming, building and maintaining client relationships
Finding solutions to offer to clients if there are limitations, such as budget
Ensuring all deadlines are met, by both myself, my team and the client
Overseeing, assisting and teaching all juniors
Ensuring all payments due by the client are paid promptly
Keeping organised and efficient records of all media and content used for a site
Keeping backed up copies of all site files and databases
Possessing strong organisational and time management skills
Comfortable building relationships at all levels
Ability to deal with unexpected changes and initiative to solve problems independently