Hi, I’m a design student currently in the final year of my degree in Graphic Communication & Typography at the University of Reading. My main strengths are in typography and web design. I love what I do and I work hard. As well as designing I also front end develop and build mobile first responsive websites. I have strong skills in the Adobe Creative Suite software and more importantly know when to use them. I’ve got a good knowledge of HTML5 & CSS3 and know a fair amount of PHP and jQuery. Did I mention I’ve met the Queen? Oh, this is my floor, I’ll tell you about that another time. You can find my contact information below.
August 2011 – Present
I’ve worked freelance as a web designer and front end developer whilst at University. It’s been really good experience to work with real clients and has been a great way for me to progress both as a designer and developer. I’ve worked on a variety of projects, ranging from full design and build to development only projects. You can see my website at designbyjake.co.uk
September 2012
After working on a small project with the fffunction guys earlier in the year, I went into their Bristol studio on a month internship at the end of the summer. Whilst there I worked on a redesign for a global charity website and the design and build for a multi-language wordpress site. The website was for a nature reserve in Tajikistan and needed to work in English, Russian & Tajik. It was great to learn how they take projects from start to finish and I took away a new way to approach UX design. I also learned just how powerful wordpress can be.
July 2012
As part of a one month internship I worked on email newsletters, client websites and online iterations of annual reports. It gave me insight into how a design agency works and I enjoyed working with a great team of designers.
June 2011 – June 2012
I worked as a Student Designer for Reading University Student’s Union throughout my second year of university, producing posters, flyers and plasma slides for events which were displayed around campus.
Second year: 1st class honours BA Graphic Communication
A Levels: 3 A’s in Art, Maths & Photography
For achieving the top coursework mark in the second year at the University of Reading I was awarded the Vince Ma Prize by Design Portfolio Marketing Services.
POINT London 2013
Industry Conference 2013
Responsive Day Out 2013
New Adventures in Web Design 2013
TYPO London 2012
Brand Perfect Adventures in Retail 2012
Ampersand 2012
Future of Web Design 2012
Making Magazines 2012
Critical Tensions 2011
TYPO London 2011
Email: excitingemail@jakegiltsoff.co.uk
Twitter: @designbyjake
Skype: jake.giltsoff