Mike saunders

About me.

 

I have over 25 years of commercial experience in artwork, studio, systems and production management, client liaison and project management.

 

I’m an experienced user of Adobe Creative Cloud. I’ve managed or followed direction in teams of all sizes across many disciplines; including advertising, digital, interior design, finance, retail, internal comms, leisure, branding, packaging, education and press/digital banner advertising.

 

As a hands-on Heavyweight Creative Artworker. I’m excited by working with good creatives and I really enjoy executing design across multiple shapes and formats. I take pride in building trusting working relationships with my clients and colleagues, and I like to be thought of as easy-to-work-with, cooperative, proactive and helpful.

 

 

My track record.

 

 

Freelance – Saunders Artwork Ltd

(2010 to present)

 

Working for clients in London, Bedfordshire and Milton Keynes, I enjoy a variety of work – from interior design for a Taipei hotel to multi-lingual  print advertising across Africa. Clients included Brand Communications, FourIV, The Marketing Store, 300 million and Kinnersley Kent Design.

 

Bonfire Creative Intelligence, Ampthill (2014 to 2018)

Studio and Production Manager

 

A proactive role in recruitment, policy formation, IT management and general operations, as well as large volumes of creative production. Clients include Whitbread, Bosch, Youngs, Charles Wells, Marstons, Greenpeace, Survival International, Argos and various local authority clients.

 

BMB Ltd, Luton (2001 – 2010)

Head of Production

 

BMB was an integrated agency based in Luton, employing over 100 staff. Clients included: Vauxhall Motors, Saab, Chevrolet, Cadillac, Parker, BAA, and Caterpillar.

 

I joined BMB as Artwork Manager in 2001 briefed with building a new team to match BMB’s growth. Being promoted to Head of Production in April 2005 meant overall responsibility for 2 Production Managers, the Proofreading Department, the Artwork Team, Print Buying and Retouching – 16 people.

 

I learned a lot about management at BMB, but I never lost touch with my core practical skills, while staying open to new process ideas, I helped introduce production systems including a multilingual, remote, European brochure production system and a client-facing online advertising build and delivery system.

 

The Partners, London (January 2000 – February 2001)

Senior Creative Artworker

 

Ensuring the quality of digital output and corporate identity for clients including: McKinsey & Company, The Association of Photographers (AOP), fj Cleveland, Hill & Knowlton, Clifford Chance, Telstra, Octagon, Unilever, Lewis Silkin and Wedgwood.

 

Lapot Ltd, London (July 1999 to January 2000)

Senior Artworker and Systems Manager

 

Systems management and artwork creative support for clients including: Abbey (now Santander), British Airways, Cable & Wireless, Fairbridge (a youth charity), Citibank, Ernst & Young, BBC and McDonalds.

 

Concept Associates, Berkhamsted (November 1996 – July 1999)

Mac Bureau Manager

 

Built a new, in-house production team to cut the agency's out costs – I recruited and managed 3 Artworkers to service clients including Motorola, RBS Trust Bank and Pegasystems (USA).

 

City of Westminster College, London (1996)

Graphic Designer

 

Design and production of marketing & teaching collateral, systems management and cover teaching HND design students.

 

University of Bedfordshire, Luton (1992 to 1995)

Desktop Publisher

 

Marketing collateral for internal and external use, serving over 1,000 staff and 14,000 students at the time.

 

Herald & Post Newspapers, St Albans (1990 to 1992)

Ad Make-up Operator

 

Ad and page make-up – 11 titles per week to tight deadlines, working 13 hour night shifts. I gained a good grounding in the use of Macs to produce large volumes of work very quickly.

Skills.

Adobe Creative Cloud main apps (Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, Acrobat)

Team management skills

Secondary apps (Muse, Microsoft Office, Google Web Designer)

Creative IT system design and management