Benjamin Smith Email & Phone Number

Burton Upon Trent, Staffordshire, United Kingdom

Planters Garden Centre bucked the industry trend of using external design agencies and created an internal role that would encompass my key skills. At PGC, I looked after the marketing for 3 busy garden centres, 8 card shops and an e-commerce website Seeds by Post. I was based at the Garden King branded centre and provided in-house graphics design for all of the in-store POS and manage store campaigns from design through to implementation.I worked with trusted trade partners to deliver high quality marketing materials at the best possible price. I co-ordinated newspaper advertising, online advertising, direct mail and in-store promotion.

Needwood, Burton Upon Trent

Looking for new challenges and experiences, I joined i2i Europe (part of Weedon PSC) as a Junior Artworker. I2i Europe design packaging and POS for the major UK supermarkets. During my time here I artworked retail ready packaging and corrugated POS. Speed, accuracy and strict adherence to range and brand guidelines were essential. Producing artwork for screen print at the Weedon factory, artwork elements, layers and images had to follow strict production guidelines.

In 2009 our Prontaprint centre left the franchise network and became an independent design/print centre. I developed the Trent Creative brand and with my colleague Kathleen we provided the "front of house" for Trent Creative. I continued to design artwork for a wide range of companies large and small. To develop the brand and gain new business, I undertook field sales and called into local businesses, offering a face-to-face service. I discussed requirements with the client and established where Trent Creative could help them out.

Before becoming the Creative Designer, I was the junior at Prontaprint Burton and covered holidays and afternoons. At Prontaprint, I gained a wealth of knowledge about digital print, large format and litho at this busy on-demand print franchise. I was trained in a variety of print-finishing techniques and built relationships with trade partners.

Btec National Diploma, Information Technology

Education record