Gareth Sissons-Rowe
UX & Brand Design Specialist.
Nottingham, United Kingdom
07380191061
be.net/gravvl
I don’t like to think of myself as just a Graphic Designer, it sounds plain. I think all graphic designers are really just jacks of all creative trades and use their knowledge of these trades to tackle practical problems in day to day society.
My journey to become a designer is probably one many can relate with although maybe for someone my age it would be considered a tad unorthodox - I was only 17 when I began Learning the adobe suite by myself, i’ve always been a practical learner and someone who learns from trial and error, breaking and fixing.
However I was pretty good at it, so good I was getting a following on YouTube for my tutorials as well as a small client base, without which I wouldn’t of been able to afford to travel to my college and afford lunch and so forth - I guess you could say I was pretty self driven and efficient.
After realizing the Game Design industry was an industry I felt wasn’t compatible with what I wanted to create and achieve I began freelancing on a larger scale. As a former competitior in E-Sports I and still to this day get regular contact with E-Sports teams and businessmen that seek my work, but this wasn’t enough to survive on and I felt my knowledge of the Design industry has gaps so I decided after a year out of education to return to it, to study my degree - which I graduated with this year.
It is now time for me to venture into a threshold of new oppotunities and learning curves and explore the working enviroment from a studio perspective and along side this I bring my ambitions to become ever more humble and skilled as a designer, to push E-Sports out of the underground movement it once was and into the mainstream with my skill set and more than ever become to voice of a second opinion, the what if, I want to create that something that makes people stop and think - “Wow, I never thought about that.”
My journey to become a designer is probably one many can relate with although maybe for someone my age it would be considered a tad unorthodox - I was only 17 when I began Learning the adobe suite by myself, i’ve always been a practical learner and someone who learns from trial and error, breaking and fixing.
However I was pretty good at it, so good I was getting a following on YouTube for my tutorials as well as a small client base, without which I wouldn’t of been able to afford to travel to my college and afford lunch and so forth - I guess you could say I was pretty self driven and efficient.
After realizing the Game Design industry was an industry I felt wasn’t compatible with what I wanted to create and achieve I began freelancing on a larger scale. As a former competitior in E-Sports I and still to this day get regular contact with E-Sports teams and businessmen that seek my work, but this wasn’t enough to survive on and I felt my knowledge of the Design industry has gaps so I decided after a year out of education to return to it, to study my degree - which I graduated with this year.
It is now time for me to venture into a threshold of new oppotunities and learning curves and explore the working enviroment from a studio perspective and along side this I bring my ambitions to become ever more humble and skilled as a designer, to push E-Sports out of the underground movement it once was and into the mainstream with my skill set and more than ever become to voice of a second opinion, the what if, I want to create that something that makes people stop and think - “Wow, I never thought about that.”
Work Experience
Diversity Creative Agency
Digital Designer
Designing emailers, one-page marketing websites and other brand-wear for their clients.
November 2017
- November 2017
Nottingham, United Kingdom
GRDigital
UX Designer
GRDigital is a creative solutions agency that work with clients globally to meet their business objectives. GRDigital sourced me from the OWKings project and requested I revised one of their existing projects with client - foreseers. The objective was the redesign their splash page and additionally their news blog and terms pages.
July 2017
- August 2017
United Kingdom
Heathmont
UX Designers
Owned by Crypto-investors & I-Gaming business LuckBox, I was tasked on designing and prototyping Bets.io - an esports betting platform that accepts both normal currency and crypto, gamers can exchange their real money for crypto through the site to which the gamer can use freely between the site and their own personal choices.
Bets features 7 major esport titles, Counter-strike Global Offensive, League Of Legends, Dota2, StarCraft2, HeartStone and Rocket League.
Still in development, the site is currently in Alpha and is set to be released in April 2018
Bets features 7 major esport titles, Counter-strike Global Offensive, League Of Legends, Dota2, StarCraft2, HeartStone and Rocket League.
Still in development, the site is currently in Alpha and is set to be released in April 2018
November 2016
- June 2017
Tallinn, Estonia
Owkings
UX Designer
OWKINGS (OverWatchKings) is a startup business that specialize in teaching gamers who look to gain a fair competitive advantage in Overwatch how to progress quickly up the ranks to become a top competiting Overwatch player.
They provide a frenzy of videos that break down the games’ heroes - how to play them in different situations, little tricks and tips that optimize your gaming experience with those heroes, as well as show players where the best times to execute their abilities.
The Objective for OWKings was to create a community learning HUB for the Overwatch players that sought to become pro-gamers, a place where they could learn from more experienced players and also share their own opinions and thoughts.
My role with OWKings was to Redesign their logo and bring consistency to their branding overal. Among this; I was then tasked to redesign the website which lacked many of the need features they needed to make the site function for user intention.
They provide a frenzy of videos that break down the games’ heroes - how to play them in different situations, little tricks and tips that optimize your gaming experience with those heroes, as well as show players where the best times to execute their abilities.
The Objective for OWKings was to create a community learning HUB for the Overwatch players that sought to become pro-gamers, a place where they could learn from more experienced players and also share their own opinions and thoughts.
My role with OWKings was to Redesign their logo and bring consistency to their branding overal. Among this; I was then tasked to redesign the website which lacked many of the need features they needed to make the site function for user intention.
August 2016
- October 2016
Cardiff, United Kingdom
NiP Gaming
Graphic Designer
An Art worker design role for one of Sweden's largest gaming businesses.
October 2014
Sweden
FM-eSports
Lead Graphics
Lead web and graphics designer for fm-esports - one of the UK's most prestigious, multi- award winning gaming organizations, sponsored by sapphire and razer, providers of high quality PC and gaming equipment.
Role involves updated outdated web, social media and miscellaneous graphics.
Role involves updated outdated web, social media and miscellaneous graphics.
May 2014
United Kingdom
Education
Confetti - Institution Of Creative Media Technologies.
BTEC Diploma - Interactive media and design. ( Game development )
Studies involved learning about the games industry, how it was, what it is now, what has changed etc...
Studies also involved learning the use of 3D simulation software such as: 3DSMAX, Maya and mudbox.
Studies also involved learning the use of 3D simulation software such as: 3DSMAX, Maya and mudbox.
Present
Nottingham, United Kingdom
Nottingham Trent University
BA Graphic Design
June 2016
Nottingham, United Kingdom
Languages
English (Native),
Skills
Adobe Illustrator,
Adobe Indesign,
Adobe Photoshop,
Atlassian Suite,
Branding,
Design Processing,
Graphic Design,
Icon Design,
Identity,
InVision,
Logo Design,
Prototyping,
Sketch App,
User Experience,
User Interface,