Chris Davies

25, Tipton Street,Sedgley, DY3 1HE
e-mail:
Mobile: 07780001517

Features writer, copywriter, graphic designer anddegree-qualified artist with more than 10 years'industry experience in a wide range of sectors.

Link to online portfolio

Feature writing/copywriting

Skills

  • More than four years'experience on a large regional newspaper producing supplements and magazines to be published in print and online.
  • Extensive experience writing and sub-editing articleson a wide range of topics, from daily news stories to live music and food reviews, interviews, travel, technology and education.
  • Good knowledge of SEO, with experience writing blog posts, original articles and rewrites.
  • Fluent in Quark, InDesign, Photoshop and all Microsoft packages.

Achievements

  • Securing interviews with musicians and leading figures in the art world, such as former New Order bassist Peter Hook, indie guitar legend, Johnny Marr, dance music pioneers, Magnetic Man, Tate National director, Caroline Collier and internationally renowned former art dealer, Anthony d'Offay.
  • Utilising social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook to generate stories and interact with readers. This has since been adopted as common practice at the newspaper.
  • Revising layouts of publications to produce supplements and magazines with greater appeal and impact.
  • Showing colleagues how to improve upon their layout skills to create better-looking pages.

Graphic Design

Skills

  • More than six years' experience working in the production department of a large regional newspaper, producing adverts and troubleshooting files received from outside sources.
  • Fluent in Quark, InDesign, Photoshop, Acrobat and Illustrator. Experience using Flash, Dreamweaver and Fireworks.
  • Experienced typesetter with a keen eye for accuracy and detail.
  • Full knowledge of four-colour printing process and technical specifications, i.e. Postscript levels, bleed, transparency flattening and font embedding
  • Extensive experience designing backgrounds for social media sites, web banners, logos and producing animated gifs. Good working knowledge of Wordpress and slider images.

Achievements

  • Producing a technical specification sheet for use by outside agencies supplying artwork to the newspaper.
  • Demonstrating how automated processes can be used to replace repetitive tasks, such as batch processing of images in Photoshop. This has since become common practice at the newspaper.
  • Proving files which did not print correctly in the newspaper had been incorrectly supplied, thereby saving the company from paying out credit notes to advertisers.
  • Producing a wide range of work which clients have been completely satisfied with.

Career History

Current

  • Freelance journalist, features writer, artist and graphic designer, writing gig reviews for the Express & Star, press releases for Local Buzz Marketing, articles for Drawing Coachand music reviews for the Whiteboard Project and producing a wide range of graphics for numerous clients including Evolution Dome.
  • Portrait painter and mural artist with my own website, Paws to Paint.
  • Editor of hyperlocal news site,Sedgleyscene, which is dedicated to community events taking place in and around the village of Sedgley, UK.

October 2007 – June 2011

  • Express and Star features editorial - see skills and achievements listed above.

Jan 2001 – October 2007

  • Express & Star production assistant. Daily duties included:
  • Advert Make-up
  • Electronic Media including: Adfast, ISDN, e-mail
  • Troubleshooting received filesfor potential repro errors
  • Providing up-to-date technical specifications
  • Extensive use of all major relevant software
  • Chasing copy and advising clients on how to supply files

Jan 2000 - Jan 2001

  • Clarke & Evans Printers
  • Copywriter andgraphic designer
  • Coming up with new ideas for clients including The Burlington Hotel, Birmingham.

October 1998 - Jan 2000

  • Lion Press Printers
  • Mac operator andgraphic designer
  • Ensuring print deadlines were met

October 1994 - October 1998

  • HMV Uk Ltd
  • Customer service
  • Soul anddance CD buyer
  • Singles buyer

Education

Sept 1991 - Sept 1994

University of Wolverhampton
BA (Hons) Fine Art

Sept 1989 - July 1991

StourbridgeCollege of Art and Technology
BTEC Foundation Diploma in Art

Sept 1984 - July 1989

NorthBromsgroveHigh School

A Levels
Art, music, German

O Levels
Art, biology, English language, English lit, German, maths and music

Hobbies & Interests

  • Travel, cookery and real ale. I speak good conversational French and German and have visited numerous towns and cities in Europe.
  • Music, including going to gigs and creating my own.
  • Art, films and reading - recent books include:
    Johnny Come Home - Jake Arnott
    Straw Dogs - John Gray
    Sex Lives of the TV Masterchefs - Irvine Welsh
    A Million Little Pieces - James Frey
    Kafka On The Shore - Haruei Murakami

At Home – Bill Bryson