Jan 2023 to Now

As a Junior Designer at Balcony8, based in Dubai with a satellite work office in Somerset-Wes, Cape Town, I am entrusted with a range of responsibilities for both our portfolios.

Within our Branding portfolio, I study and acclimate myself to handed-down brand strategies, enabling me to develop enticing visual concepts that problem-solve creative strategies. I then present these visual concepts fully mocked up to clients and expand on them with fully-fledged brand look-books. Additionally, I roll out creative material for print if needed. Our clients are luxury food & beverage companies, such as Hilton Hotels & Resorts.

When it comes to our Ad-hoc portfolio, I develop key visuals based on handed down objectives. Typically advertising campaigns.

My technical skills are a significant asset to my role. I am proficient in Adobe Creative Suite (Illustrator, Photoshop, InDesign, Premiere Pro, After Effects, AdobeXD, etc.), Microsoft Office Suite (Outlook, Word, etc.), and collaboration and communication applications (Zoom, Teams, Miro, etc.). Additionally, I am skilled in AI content generation, utilizing platforms such as ChatGPT.

Agility is one of my key attributes, as I frequently shuffle between projects under tight deadlines, developing creative solutions for both portfolios. As a multiskilled Graphic Design Specialist, I problem-solve and produce solutions for complex creative challenges. The creative solutions are not always the typical graphic design products. For example; designing/editing brand ‘look-books’ in video format to communicate rich storytelling. Creating interactive e-publications to break the typical editorial style of communicating large bodies of copy. The list goes on.

In summary, my current role at Balcony8 as a Junior Designer has so far allowed me to build a diverse range of skills and experiences in both our Branding and Ad-hoc portfolios. Being able to grow and work for this amazing team, makes workdays as exciting as weekends.

Duties – Branding Portfolio:
• Research & develop visual concept(s) for brand strategy(s).
• Research, experiment and prototype first draft of visual concept(s) image generation.
• Develop first draft presentations for colleagues and clients.
• Upon approval, take the first visual concept draft and expand on it by applying it to a full rollout of mockups (expand visual library).
• Design and present the identity’s final draft through a well considered and unique lookbook PDF as well as an expressive full video, showing the entire final identity to the client.
• Upon approval, ship all content to the rollout team. Help out with dielines of niche print finishes (specialized coasters, menus etc.) if necessary.
• Rinse and repeat, with changes depending on client requests.

Duties – Ad-Hoc Portfolio:
• Research & develop visual concept(s) for ad-hoc briefs strategy(s).
• Research, experiment and prototype first draft of key visuals or image generation.
• Apply and prototype key visuals to flat applications.
• Upon approval, ship KV’s to the rollout team. Help out with dielines of niche print finishes if necessary.

Key Attributes or Responsibilities Associated With Duties:
• Team communication; Never be quiet, always inform.
• Tech savviness; Willing to learn new tricks of the trade (and software) on a constant basis.
• Agile working; There’s no time to lose, work quickly. Be willing to drop a project for a high priority one. Plan accordingly.
• Multidisciplinary design; If you don’t know how to do something, figure it out and do it. As a primarily Graphic Designer, I also produce video, motion, digital content etc.
• Take responsibility; If mistakes are made, own it and move on.
• Apply Crit; Don’t take it personal, discuss crit, apply it and keep things going.

Software Used:
• Adobe Illustrator
• Adobe Photoshop
• Adobe Indesign
• Adobe Premiere Pro
• Adobe After Effects
• Adobe Creative Cloud
• Adobe Acrobat
• Miro
• Monday
• Slack
• Onedrive
• Outlook

Note: Showcasing the portfolio of evidence of this position is not possible at the moment due to NDA’s.