Full spectrum

Complex layouts, cuts, UV masks. InDesign, QuarkXpress -including converting back and forth. Vectors. SmartObjects. Preflight. Chromalins. CMYK, RGB. Bespoke website design. Flash intros and Flash autostart business cards & USB keys. Responsive web. UX. Book layout, section & chapter numbering. Barcodes. Bootstrap, WordPress, OpenCart and frameworks. Presentations. Design for Microsoft Office. Media queries, CSS break points. JQuery.

-a snapshot of my design experience.

History

My first professional design work was undertaken with Macromedia’s UltraDev -a precursor to Dreamweaver -and Flash. Now, if you remember Macromedia by name then you’ll also fondly remember Web Frames (wow, remember those guys?). How about pre-CSS, coding styles inline. Now I’m showing my age but also the length of time I have been designing -here’s a clue, Photoshop 4 (remember how text was rasterised as soon as you added it!?) -yes that’s more than a decade and a half of design.

Trends come and go

Over those years I have seen a lot of technologies -and trends -come and go, both to the digital domain and the printed. I think it is absolutely an advantage, having seen the changes and being within the profession going through them -and working with them.

Expertise

Design is definitely from the heart, but executed with expertise and -ideally -with a knowledge of the best tools available. Like branding, my approach to design is centered around the end user. My production pipeline is based mainly around Adobe software and 3D Studio Max.

Because I am a programmer I am also proficient with designing for frameworks such as WordPress and OpenCart. Understanding the underlying code and MVC structure allows me as a designer to deploy files quicker as a result of being fluent in their structure.

Responsive web

The responsive web is certainly here to stay… though personally I find it a necessary evil. There is a debate very recently about the merits of Adaptive vs. Fluid. vs. Responsive and CSS Regions. I do design with Responsive frameworks -the traceofwind.com website is built on one -though I eagerly watch the trend towards a more refined solution.

Print

I have a large amount of experience designing brochures, businesscards of all sizes including CD-based Flash media, letterheaded paper and stationary, complex layouts for bespoke wallet folders and large format prints such as billboards and exhibition stands. I have moved with the industry away from QuarkXpress to Adobe’s InDesign, though I still maintain a large library of QuarkXpress work.

Gary Hicks

Email: gary@traceofwind.com Mobile: 07414 509157