Erika Small

Working within the B2B department specialising in the fleet and automotive sectors, designing a number of magazines and supplements. Some of these publications such as Fleet News, Automotive Management and Commercial Fleet.

emc Design Ltd is a graphic design studio based in Bedfordshire specialising in book design and production. My role as Middleweight Graphic Designer entails the responsonsibilities of all aspects of book design from initial concept design and layout, text formatting, proof corrections, artwork and photography commissioning to the completion of repro-ready files.
I work on projects for some of the UK’s top publishers, such as Macmillan Education, Cambridge University Press and Oxford University Press, all offering different challenges to the design of their publications.

Responsibilities:
• Book design from initial concepts through to repro-ready files.
• Text formatting for initial layout of publications.
• Proofreading and corrections made to English and foreign language books.
• Working on multiple publications at anyone time and meeting tight deadlines and 100% accuracy to publication proofs.

H Bauer is one of the largest consumer magazine publishing companies in the UK and my role as Graphic Designer entails the design and layout of the UK’s No.1 selling consumer magazine TV Choice and also TV Quick and Total TV Guide.
Our workflow is taken all upon ourselves to complete all editorial pages by our deadline date and we must work with all departments within the team to create the most striking and exciting layouts possible.
Being able to work within a large corporation has given me invaluable experience of working with strict brand styles and guidelines, working with them to create outstanding magazine designs.

Responsibilities:
• Design and layout of TV Choice,TV Quick and Total TV Guide magazine editorial pages in InDesign from concept to production.
• Optimisation of all images used in Photoshop.
• Consistently maintaining the magazines brand guidelines.
• Providing design solutions for other aspects of the magazines i.e. website, TV Choice Awards and redesign of magazines.
• Working closely with other departments i.e. Editorial, Sub-editors, Picture researchers and Production.

Lema Publishing is one of the leading publishers of trade magazines. It encompasses a range of magazines from Gifts Today and Toys ‘n’ Playthings to Picture Business as a few examples of the 11 magazines published.
I have worked closely with Disney and Hit Entertainment to create supplements to work alongside the trade publications. This involved me working on location from the Disney headquarters to work with their consumer products and creative team to adhere to Disney’s brand guidelines.

Responsibilities:
• Design and layout of 8 trade magazines from concept to delivery of press-ready pages.
• Working out-of-office with Disney and Hit Entertainment for supplement magazines.
• Prioritisation of workloads and schedules.
• Design and creation of client advertisements for inclusion in all 11 of Lema Publishing’s publications.
• Completion of proof corrections from editors.
• Providing designs to other departments for company stationary.

Watford Electronics is an IT and electrical E-Tailor. My position as Graphic Designer required me to be creative in all aspects of the business including Watford Electronics subsidiary companies of PrintPod, Redten Internet and Travelfone. My day-to-day tasks included the design of magazine and newspaper advertisements, corporate identity and branding, leaflets, brochures and web graphics.
I was the sole Graphic Designer for the company, which enabled me to work under extreme pressure working to tight deadlines and meeting each and every one of them.

Responsibilities:
• Design and layout of all Watford Electronics magazine and newspaper advertisements, leaflets and brochures.
• Design and creation of website graphics and email advertisements.
• Assigned as Graphic Designer to 3 of Watford Electronics’ subsidiary companies.

Corporate Creations is a creative agency and digital printers. My role involved working on both sides of the company. This offered me the opportunity to work from start to finish on every project and also required me to prepare files for print using pre-press skills. I dealt with clients directly from the delivery of the brief, throughout the development to the end product. From the digital printing side I have gained experience in print buying and quoting, having a full knowledge of the print business.

Responsibilities:
• Design of corporate brochures, websites, stationary, leaflets and packaging.
• Second in charge of running the digital print studio.
• Liaising directly with clients regarding design development.

After completion of my BTEC National Diploma I was offered the position of Business Travel Consultant at American Express Business Travel. My day-to-day duties was to receive and complete bookings for flights, hotel and car hire from American Express Travel clients.
I would often be dealing with clients from many high profile companies such as Hertz, Coca-Cola and Liz Clareborne, offering the best service possible. Whilst working for a business travel agency I was in daily contact with airlines, hotel groups and car hire companies working up a rapport with the teams to enable we offered the best service possible to our clients.

Responsibilities:
• Receiving and completing business travel arrangements including flights, hotels and car hire.
• Dealing with high profile clients on a day-to-day basis.
• Working well within a large team
• In daily contact with airlines, hotel groups and car hire companies