I mean as a kid being a designer was drawing things to getting out of being beaten up as well, I was a large kid and sadly that was my get out. So, design has always been a big part of my life and something I have always clung to. We all need design inspiration, and it’s not easy to keep work looking fresh and feeling relevant. 

What a roller coaster of a year. During the global dark times of COVID-19, the beauty and colour of good graphic design has been needed and I have tried to provide

More about me on Linkedin. The name is Jamie, I’m a Kent lad through and through. So I started my career here, at home, some 18 years ago after gaining my qualifications. I’ve been broadening my experience in that field ever since and also learning new marketing skills along the way. 

I have put out over 1000 resumes and hundreds of letters etc… looking for work attempting to establish myself in my career field, or even something closely related where my skill set fits. 

When I try for anything else on an introductory professional level, like an entry-level management trainee, I am told that my skill set is too specialised! OR, you are not the right fit for the position at this time.

It really doesn’t help that every John and Joe, who picked other fields in college that didn’t work out, suddenly label themselves as designers. Just because they sort of know Photoshop. Suddenly, the job opening with 10 qualified applicants in a geographic area now has 150. Legitimate, college-educated and real designers typically can’t even get interviews nowadays.

Another thing to consider – Web Design is dead. So even Print Designers who felt the need to learn/embrace the web years ago, are finding there are no longer jobs. WordPress themes, ThemeForest and pre-made everything has killed the web design field. Even worse, the term “Web Designer” is now archaic to most employers, and they insist on saying “UI Designer” or “UX Designer”…however, neither of these is Web Design. 

UI Designer is the closest; in that it focuses on the graphics and front-end look of a site…but you’re expected to know a LOT of HTML and CSS nowadays, far more than ever before. Even with that, UI Design jobs are few and far between, because it’s JUST designed. UX Designers are basically front-end Web Developers, and people are expected to know a bunch about CSS, JavaScript, HTML5 and even far-reaching stuff like SEO and Google Analytics. Those jobs are in demand…but that’s NOT design.

What do you think?

Don’t judge a designer just by his cv. The name is Jamie, I’m a Kent lad through and through. So I started my career here, at home, some 17 Years ago after gaining my qualifications. I’ve been broadening my experience in that field ever since and also learning new marketing skills along the way. 

Social media… The dark side. Does anyone still remember a world without social media?

It is hard to believe that only a little over a decade ago, our way of life was really different from the way it is now.

I am not a huge fan of social media myself, partly because I prefer to live life in the real world, and partly because am naturally a private individual. And yet here I am, using social media to let you hear my opinion on social media. The benefits of social media are very hard to ignore.

The social media of present is of enormous risks for individuals, communities, firms, and even for society as a whole.

Examples to this “dark side” of social media include cyberbullying, addictive use, trolling, online witch hunts, fake news, and privacy abuse, and now today promoting the most horrific violence.

People are on social media because they think it enhances their lives. I used to be on Twitter and I did a persona of a Graffiti artist and looking back it’s a nonsense.

Are people really getting on social media to socialize or are they surveying other people and their posts to see what goes on? Are they venting about their dislike of politics or government entities in the world in general?

The fact is: to be a hyper-connected millennial today is to exist in multiple realities. To be both present within and outside of your own experiences, living them while simultaneously observing them; and assessing their shareability.

People are producing daily content to the point that we’re almost convinced that our feeds are a truer representation of ourselves than who we are in real life. It’s smashed the walls between public and private, edited out the messiness, embraced a self-regarding gaze of constant surveillance.

How many likes will this get?

Am I funny enough?

Does this look too edited?

Or too real?

A man who I have followed for years and who is a true genius sums it perfectly – Black Mirror Charlie Brooker with the episode Nosedive If ever there was a message to show how the world is going is this.

But could we turn these examples on their head and use such social-media activity to foresee horrible real-world events? That might seem unlikely, given that such attacks appear to come from out of the blue, carried out by “lone-wolf” individuals with no criminal record. And with billions of online users, detecting who will act sounds like looking for a needle in a haystack – especially as, prior to any attack, each “needle” may be effectively indistinguishable from any other straw of “hay”.

I think as I type this it’s looking like a bleak time and I hope there is a change and soon. As you read this, there are undoubtedly individuals online who are developing the intent and capability to carry out further violent attacks.

Conclusion

No doubt that social media is changing and will continue to change our society. This change is permanent because the upcoming generation won’t even know a world where social media does not exist. This has its advantages and disadvantages, but like everything else, it’s up to the user to decide whether social media can enhance their lives or not and this all depends on how they decide to use it.

Susan Holding the Director of 703 Associated Limited had asked me to design a Logo and branding for the company. 

Susan is an experienced commercial consultant in the cultural, heritage and visitor attraction sectors. Extensive experience in strategic planning and operational delivery of commercial events for iconic cultural institutions including The Science Museum, English Heritage and the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA).

She is a well-respected professional with proven track record of improving revenue and profitability through the creation of evidence-based strategies. 

This was a huge pleasure to work on and I feel the finished product works really well.

Please feel free to contact me for any other design work or to look over my website.

Hi, I’m Jamie Melville

a graphic designer based in Kent, UK.

WEB DESIGN, PRINT & DIGITAL, BRANDING, SOCIAL MEDIA

A personal, great value solution to your design needs.

Hi, I’m Jamie…

I’m a creative designer based in Kent. I offer a highly personalised service to suit your budget whilst taking the time to work with you and fully understand your business. I focus on building an ongoing relationship whilst providing an affordable design.  I can provide the creative solution.

I offer a multi-disciplined and fully integrated service. Having worked on a variety of creative briefs and with clients.

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