2013

SHOWCASE

d e s i g n i l l u s t r a t i o n

Megan Sayerswww.megansayers.com sayers.meg@gmail.com 07765595259

CopyrightAll images Copyright © 2012 Megan Sayers Design - All rights reserved. No commercial reproduction, adaptation, distribution or transmission of any part or parts of this booklet or any information contained therein by any means whatsoever is permitted without prior written permission.

Photograph on page 2 by Nick Eastham www.nickeastham.com

CONTENTS

About ....................................................... 1

Logo Design ...............................................3

Layout Design .............................................9

Illustration .............................................. 15

Web Design ............................................. 21

Testimonials ........................................... 27

1 : ABOUTWhat?Graphic Design and Illustration Services provided for companies, individuals and organisations both small and large.

From logo and branding design, printed marketing materials such as leaflets, posters, flyers and brochures, through to website design and bespoke illustration.

This is a showcase of some of my most recent and successful work, presenting case studies to explain the process behind the designs.

Where?I’m based in Brighton & Hove in East Sussex and work from The Werks (co-working offices) in Hove. Having always lived on the south coast of England I studied Fine Art and Graphic Design at Brockenhurst College in the New Forest and moved east to study at The University of Chichester where I achieved my First Class BA in Media Studies. My career in design started when I worked for Mojo Creative in Chichester in 2004.

Now working as a freelancer, mainly throughout Sussex, I enjoy working for local clients in Brighton as well as few based in London. I occasionally work remotely but I do like to build a relationship with my clients, which is easier in person. I like to at least discuss the brief over the phone initially, and then contact is mainly via email.

Why?Design is what I love to do.

I feel proud to say that I am a Designer and feel confident that my work and testimonials demonstrate that I do it well. It’s taken many years of hard work, development and study to carve the creative and artistic talent that was evident throughout my education into what it is today.

Taking the thing I enjoy doing the most and turning it into a career is one of the most rewarding things I have done with my life, and that is why I take on each new project with the same enthusiasm as if it were my first. Each new client is one more step in building a body of work and experience that I can look back on with pride.

How?I believe the best way to understand a client’s needs is to listen to them talk about the project, what the project means to them and what they hope to achieve by working with me. It is also important to me to get to know the client and their background so I can gauge their own level of knowledge about what I do – this way I can tailor my approach to suit them.

Clients know their company best, but they don’t always know exactly what they want or need from a designer. I work with them to help them build a design brief, the most important stage of a design project.

I’m always transparent about my charges and provide clients with detailed quotes, when needed, prior to commencement. I usually

work to a fixed price per job, or a maximum price quote – meaning if the job takes me less time, I charge less. I like to keep communication lines open and avoid clients feeling nervous of spiralling costs, so if something is going to cost more I always let them know beforehand.

I currently work on a PC (but also have plenty of experience with Macs) using Adobe CS5. My best skills are in InDesign, Photoshop and Illustrator. I create print ready artwork with knowledge of printing processes and colour theory to ensure printing goes without a hitch. Likewise, I rely on my knowledge of web design to create Photoshop files that can be passed easily to a web-developer for smooth implementation.

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ABOUTLogo Design is the starting point of any branding design. It is an emblem for your company and will represent your company to your customers, your competitors and your critics. Getting the logo right is the key to marketing your company to the right people.

Starting a company with an ugly logo filters down and infects the whole brand. Even with the most beautiful packaging, printed marketing and website, if the logo is sub-standard it can ruin it all.

I work with clients to help them pin down exactly what message they want to convey with their logo.

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LOGO DESIGN : 4

5 : LOGO & BRANDING

CASE STUDYTHE BRIGHTON CLEANING COMPANY

The Brighton Cleaning Company came to me as a start-up, looking to create a logo and brand design that would help them stand out from their competitors. They wanted a 50’s Diner feel and had an extremely long, but SEO friendly, company name.

The design solution I created hints at the 50’s Diner theme but uses a clean and fresh colour pallet. To work the long company name into a logo I created a circular emblem style design.

The client was thrilled with the result and enthuses that the livery on the retro style Nissan S-cargo van gets a lot of attention.

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7 : LOGO DESIGN

CASE STUDYPINK COLLAR WORKERS

Pink Collar Workers is another start-up company, creating and selling beautiful and exclusive vintage inspired clothing.

In our initial meeting we had so many words flying around I was scribbling constantly. Steam Punk, 1900-1960, Helena Bonham Carter, ribbons, fabric, thread, sewing machines, collars, expensive, equestrian, etched, industry, and so on. I came away buzzing and eager to get sketching.

The result is a typographic logo with flourishes and embellishments. It was great fun and the client was over the moon.

(See Testimonials on page 27.)

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ABOUTFor me, layout design is about helping a client to deliver a message in a way that is easy and pleasurable to read and also giving the words maximum impact with the use of images and graphics.

It is one of my favourite jobs; once I’ve created the layout design, and I’m really happy with it, I let myself become engrossed in what is essentially a big jigsaw puzzle. I find it very therapeutic to watch the pages of my design fill with skilfully typeset words and beautiful pictures that I have sourced.

Creating design solutions to present detailed information in a sleek, accessible way is so rewarding when you see it printed beautifully.

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LAYOUT DESIGN : 10

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CASE STUDYBLISS

I have worked with Bliss, the special care baby charity, quite a bit in the last year. It started with this 28 page report which they presented in the House of Commons to publicise, and try to stop, cuts to nurses in special care baby units.

I needed to work within the Bliss brand guidelines but they did want it to stand out from their other material. It was lovely to work on and we were all extremely pleased with the result

I continue to work with Bliss providing freelance design relief, and have just recently completed their annual report and accounts.

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CASE STUDYBLACK HORSE INSURANCE

A compliance company who provide Black Horse insurance products to car dealerships was in need of some training documents. I jumped at the opportunity to flex my corporate design muscles and create a design with more masculine appeal.

Not being the kind of design I naturally lean towards I was keen to prove my versatility. The client was really impressed with the results and I found myself enjoying this project much more than I originally anticipated.

I continue to do a lot of work for this, and other clients in the insurance sector.

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ABOUTI once believed it wasn’t possible to be both a designer and an illustrator, which is possibly an attitude picked up from my fine arts teacher at college, who aimed such ideas at those of us who studied both subjects. However since I have developed my computer skills over the last 10 years I have rediscovered my love for illustration.

I always start with pencil and paper, going on to work the illustrations up using vectors in Adobe Illustrator. More recently I have started using a tablet which has enabled me to start developing a freehand style on the computer. It’s great fun, and one of the most creative aspects of my work.

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ILLUSTRATION : 16

17 : ILLUSTRATION

CASE STUDYNOAH

This piece of work seems to have stood the test of time. I created it whilst on a part time college course in 2008.

The idea of the project was to explore creating a logo for a persona of our choice, and then applying the logo to a set of stationary. I wasn’t happy with just creating a logo so I went on to create an illustration that I could use across a full set of stationary.

One of the most important parts of this illustration, and nearly every design project I have worked on since, is the colour pallet. I started looking for colour inspiration in design trends, surface pattern designs and even photography.

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19 : ILLUSTRATION

CASE STUDYBLISS

Bliss asked me to update their breastfeeding booklet, which was illustrated by a set of very dated and poor-quality instructional photos. They asked me to illustrate the steps in a way that was clear and easy to follow.

It wasn’t the easiest of subjects: firstly, new-born babies are actually much harder to draw than you might think and secondly, the subject in question is a particularly intimate one that needed to be approached with subtlety and maturity.

Bliss were very pleased with these illustrations and I’ve also had great feedback about them from members of the National Childbirth Trust (NCT).

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ABOUTIn the early part of my career, creating web graphics was my main role. I also spent a lot of time doing web maintenance in Dreamweaver and started designing and building websites myself. As technology advancs quickly, however, I decided that in most instances web-development is best left to those who specialise in it.

I found myself concentrating on print for a few years, but in the last year I have started designing for web again. It’s been extremely enjoyable and I have discovered that whilst web design was once an area full of constraints, it is now area of full of possibilities.

I have found it an easy transition, and an exciting one.

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WEB DESIGN : 22

23 : WEB DESIGN

CASE STUDYSHOREHAM CHIROPRACTIC CLINIC

Shoreham Chiropractic Clinic needed to be updated and given a fresh, modern image. Having very little marketing strategy at all, the clinic needed an overhaul of their whole brand, starting with their website but also of their social media presence.

I designed the site with a sliding image bar that rotates through the six main sectors of their business. For this we needed some decent photography, so I directed a photo shoot at the clinic to make sure we got exactly the right kind of image for the site.

They have been really pleased with it, and are also now embracing social media marketing.

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25 : WEB DESIGN

CASE STUDYCOMMUNITY SITES

Community Sites provides websites and cataloguing software for museums, archives and not-for-profit organisations. Each of their sites come as a standard and pretty basic template, and I have been designing bespoke skins for each of their clients.

I have been amazed at the variations I have managed to create using the same wireframe; Shown here are two of the nicest designs: Waitrose Memory Store and Fielding & Platt History. Waitrose provided us with the brand guidelines which I had to work with, and they specifically asked for a collage of images in the top bar. Fielding & Platt were looking for an industrial feel.

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27 : TESTIMONIALSBLISS

I am extremely pleased with the design work from Megan Sayers.

Megan was a delight to work with, friendly, flexible and responsive, very thorough and professional in keeping to tight schedules, and producing high quality artwork for original design ideas that are helping to promote our brand successfully. Megan has demonstrated her versatility, delivering illustration work for our Advice booklets series with warmth and sensitivity, communicating the information points clearly and enhancing the friendly and accessible tone.

Richard Swingler Design and Comms Manager

PINK COLLAR WORKERSI’ve just seen the final version of our logo, its perfect, loving it on so many levels. I think the collar you created is genius, you really heard what we were asking for. The logo you have created for us is something we will be proud of and grow with. Well, now we’ll just have to live up to it. Hope we get to work together again in the future.

Joanna Manley Director

PRESTIGE NURSING & CAREWe have been using Megan’s services for nearly two years now. She has been doing a variety of work for us, from artwork for print ads and promotional items, to designing newsletters, brochures, business cards, banners and signs. Its great that Megan has broad skills and knowledge, as we feel we can approach her to do almost anything! Megan ensures work is prioritised and delivered on time and always goes the extra mile to produce artwork of a high quality and standard.

Samina Maqbool Marketing Assistant

d e s i g n i l l u s t r a t i o n

MEGAN SAYERS DESIGN AND ILLUSTRATION

Taking the thing I enjoy doing the most and turning it into a career is one of the most rewarding things I have done with my life, and that is why I take on each new project with the same enthusiasm as if it were my first. Each new client is one more step in building a body of work and experience that I can look back on with pride.

www.megansayers.com