About Me
I left school with a passion for art and design and the idea that I wanted to do something creative, but without any clear idea about what form that would take. A BA Degree at art school seemed like a logical next step on the journey. I knew that I felt drawn to the potential of the creative arts to engage with the world and to communicate ideas, so I chose a Degree course in Communication Media, which enabled me to explore and learn about the theory, history and practice of the applied visual communication arts.
I graduated still unsure of what direction I might take but then I saw a job advertisement for a Picture Researcher at one of the leading stock photo libraries in London. Reading more about picture research as a career, the prospect of being able to look at photographs all day and get paid for it seemed rather marvellous, so I applied, got the job, moved to London and commenced a career as a Picture Researcher and Picture Editor which ended up keeping me busy and occupied for over 15 years. During this time I worked for a number of stock photo libraries, ranging from the biggest (Getty Images) to the small, specialist and quirky, before moving into the world of print and online media and working on the Picture Desks of various national weekly and monthly magazines and daily newspapers. I loved the fast pace of these working environments and soon became adept at decision-making and working rapidly to tight deadlines. One of the most important gains from these roles was an understanding of the power of images and words in combination together - the two together are almost always so much greater than the sum of their parts. A great image can arrest and inform far more than words alone can, and conversely, well-chosen words can add the necessary depth, detail and context to an image. I learnt a huge amount during this period about how to capture the attention of different audiences with well-chosen words and images.
Following a relocation from London to the north of England I decided to take a career break for a number of years to focus on raising my children (during which time I developed skills of multitasking and patience at levels previously unimaginable to me).
Over the last couple of years I have taken on part-time roles which have improved my skills and experience in digital marketing, visual design, content creation and administration. (See Portfolio pages for examples of recent work). I am also working on improving my knowledge and keeping up-to-date with the aid of online self-study courses, including Digital Marketing, UX Design, SEO and Google Analytics. I am still inspired by the power of great images, powerful visual design and well-chosen words to communicate messages, convey moods, sell products, campaign for good and generally influence all of our lives. I believe they are more relevant now than ever in the rapidly evolving Digital world. My goal is to keep agile and keep learning and take the skills I have already gained into new challenges in the future.
I graduated still unsure of what direction I might take but then I saw a job advertisement for a Picture Researcher at one of the leading stock photo libraries in London. Reading more about picture research as a career, the prospect of being able to look at photographs all day and get paid for it seemed rather marvellous, so I applied, got the job, moved to London and commenced a career as a Picture Researcher and Picture Editor which ended up keeping me busy and occupied for over 15 years. During this time I worked for a number of stock photo libraries, ranging from the biggest (Getty Images) to the small, specialist and quirky, before moving into the world of print and online media and working on the Picture Desks of various national weekly and monthly magazines and daily newspapers. I loved the fast pace of these working environments and soon became adept at decision-making and working rapidly to tight deadlines. One of the most important gains from these roles was an understanding of the power of images and words in combination together - the two together are almost always so much greater than the sum of their parts. A great image can arrest and inform far more than words alone can, and conversely, well-chosen words can add the necessary depth, detail and context to an image. I learnt a huge amount during this period about how to capture the attention of different audiences with well-chosen words and images.
Following a relocation from London to the north of England I decided to take a career break for a number of years to focus on raising my children (during which time I developed skills of multitasking and patience at levels previously unimaginable to me).
Over the last couple of years I have taken on part-time roles which have improved my skills and experience in digital marketing, visual design, content creation and administration. (See Portfolio pages for examples of recent work). I am also working on improving my knowledge and keeping up-to-date with the aid of online self-study courses, including Digital Marketing, UX Design, SEO and Google Analytics. I am still inspired by the power of great images, powerful visual design and well-chosen words to communicate messages, convey moods, sell products, campaign for good and generally influence all of our lives. I believe they are more relevant now than ever in the rapidly evolving Digital world. My goal is to keep agile and keep learning and take the skills I have already gained into new challenges in the future.
