Kris Harrison Email & Phone Number

Halifax, United Kingdom

For over four years I have been Head of Creative Studios, leading a team of in-house print and digital designers and technical staff to produce creative solutions for both internal and external clients. We provide internal support in the form UI/UX design for our software development team as well as creating all digital and printed marketing collateral. Our clients tend to be from the Education sector with my team specifically providing branding, prospectus design, photography, websites and bespoke learning platforms.I am still heavily involved in design work and take the creative lead on key internal design projects such as the suite of corporate brochures, new product branding (and launch materials) and also future UX requirements. I lead by example and on a day to day basis demonstrate my creative abilities to the rest of the team.Performance management is a key aspect of the role and as part of this I regularly sit and review past, current and future targets to ensure that my staff are challenged and have regular goals to achieve. In addition to this I also have to provide up-to-date and accurate management information reports to my line manager and senior management relating to future income, current workloads and internal/external project timescales. Based on the reports I create I have to make regular suggestions how our level of performance can be improved.Prior to 2014 the teams primary focus was websites and bespoke learning platforms, over the last 12-18 months I have put in place a number of new services with supporting marketing collateral related to branding, photography and prospectus design to grow our school orientated services portfolio.The new creative services have meant that I have had to mentor and oversee the personal development of different staff members to ensure that these new options can be delivered to a high level of quality.

Halifax, United Kingdom

In addition to the remit of being 'Graphic Designer' (see previous role) the senior role allotted me further responsibilities these are detailed out below:- Order/quotation processI was in charge of managing schools though the bespoke design order process. With either a new client or an existing client I had to gather their requirements and put together proposals based on what was possible. I had to estimate possible costs and include timescales and business impacts into any documents sent to the client. I was also required to report back to our accounts team on receipt of PO and also work completion.- Training (onsite)With the setup of some bespoke platforms and websites it was sometimes a requirement to provide specific training for their solution. Sometimes on a one-to-basis but on occasion to groups of users, usually (between 6-10).- Creative contact for MarketingWith the development of the Senior Designer role I began working with marketing to fulfill their creative requirements. I took the creative lead on design for the company brochure and updating the various product information literature. Each year there were multiple exhibition events that the company attended that required graphics and marketing collateral. Artwork needed to fulfill print-ready requirements and be of the highest quality.In addition to the above the following responsibilities were key to the SD role...- Lead through example by demonstrating outstanding design skills.- Think creatively to produce new ideas and solutions- Evolve brand styling ahead of current trends- Create close relationships with key internal team- Successfully manage/deliver multiple internal and external projects to the highest quality- Support and guide other team members including coaching new startersA further year after taking on the SD role my manager (Design Team Manager) moved positions within the company. I was then promoted to team manager based on outlining my future vision for the team.

Halifax, United Kingdom

I joined Frogtrade as a member of their Design & Implementation team, working alongside 4 other graphic/web designers.My primary remit at Frog was to create bespoke learning platforms for schools using the company CMS that is developed by the in-house development team. I was to look after the customer post sale to gather requirements for both the visual look and feel as well as what functionality they wanted creating in the platform (within the constraints of the CMS).Customer interaction was either onsite at school or via phone. At all stages of the design and build process the customer was to be made aware of the project status.Typically I was working on anywhere between 3-7 school projects concurrently at any one time. All time on projects had to be logged to ensure that design work was taking place in allotted timescales.As a member of staff working closely with schools I became involved in feeding back regular updates to the development team as regards product improvements and proposals for future features to meet customer requirements. As the CMS itself was akin to a basic development platform it was also possible to use pre-created elements in conjunction with each other to create various aspects of custom functionality, in conjunction with the pre-created elements bits of CSS and HTML could be employed to further push the software possibilities.Due to my aptitude to provide solid design/functional solutions I became regularly involved in projects exploring the possibilities of the CMS with new markets, this included developing bespoke solutions for 11-14 portals, a new primary product and various other commercial ventures.The team grew and took on two more graphic designers - this increase made it necessary to implement a structure into the team. I was then promoted to act as one of the senior designers in the team. Programs used:Microsoft Office SuiteAdobe PhotoshopAdobe IllustratorAdobe FlashAdobe InDesignFrog CMSCoding:HTMLCSS

Rochdale, Lancashire

I moved to UK Car Group in order to become a design member of their marketing team that created the print and digital collateral for the company sub-brands, the two most well known brands were Carcraft and WeBuyAnyCar.com.Shortly after joining the company I became the sole designer due to a wave of redundancies that affected the team. This then meant I was solely responsible for creating artwork and designs and reporting into the Marketing Director alongside the various company Brand Managers. I regularly had to put together designs for email marketing campaigns and then create the HTML and setup the email blasts using a program called CheetahMail. In addition to this I also oversaw a redesign of both the WeBuyAnyCar.com and Carcraft website styles. In conjunction with these two brand updates I had to create new artwork for the various printed marketing and advertising collateral. During my time at UK Car Group I was left to manage my own time and had to provide updates regularly to senior managers over when work would be completed, deadlines always had to be met and I was always good at meeting even the tightest schedules.I decided to leave the company as I felt that I would not have been progressing my career any further by remaining there. An opportunity at a local company presented itself that I saw as having greater developemnt opportunities.Programs used:Microsoft Office SuiteAdobe PhotoshopAdobe IllustratorAdobe FlashAdobe InDesignCheetahMail

Keighley, West Yorkshire

During my time at Coopers Visual Media I worked as their sole graphic/multimedia designer. My work there involved a range of different project types including; brochure and catalogue design, website design, POS and packaging design. On a regular basis I was required to work independently producing work for clients with minimal supervision from the Creative Director.The work won by the company was mainly completed on an open tender process for which I regularly created proposal designs that were submitted to a prospective client.Core to the role was to manage the projects to ensure that the customer was kept updated and that time allotments to projects were not exceeded. I had be proficient in both face-to-face and phone contact with customers on a day-to-day basis.Clients included:Glue Dots EuropeEngland WorthsideAdvanced CouplingsCarta SportPowell Industries (US)Switchgear & InstrumentationPrograms used:Adobe PhotoshopAdobe IllustratorAdobe FlashAdobe InDesignQuarkExpress

Bachelor Of Arts (Ba), Web Page, Digital/Multimedia And Information Resources Design

Activities and Societies: University Rugby League Team2:1 received on completion of course.

A Levels, Geography, Art, Maths

Activities and Societies: Member of the Crossley Heath 1st team Rugby Squad