Hard Skills
What I use to create designs that impress thought to act.
Adobe Creative Cloud
InDesign – This would be my most used app where I create anything from brochures and flyers to 120-page annual reports. It’s also got the feature to be able to manipulate vectors within.
Illustrator – is great for creating anything from vector images and logos to flyers, posters, conference banners and artwork.
Photoshop – Used for image manipulation and the removal of backgrounds from product images. Also a great app for creating web media and images.
Acrobat – As well as creating general PDF files for users, I also managed interactive forms that could also be filled in by users and then sent as an attachment direct to a specific email address with the click of a button.
Dreamweaver – Got much use out of this app in the earlier days where HTML websites were the rage. Now I use this for HTML or CSS inclusion on WordPress, Drupal, SquareSpace, Shopify, sites.
Microsoft Office 365
Word – Designed and prepared all documents required by an organisation. Including anything from preparing templates, agreements, and tenders to setting up forms with fields to be filled in and mail merge documents.
Excel – Created price lists with interactive pricing, connecting formulae to achieve results. Great at solving layout issues and making the spreadsheet look professional and presentable.
PowerPoint – Created investor presentations, interactive video presentations, user templates with smart layouts for pillars and departments, and the general go-to person for fixing layout issues.
Outlook – Set up the standard email naming protocol, email signatures and managed compliance of bulk mail-outs.
SharePoint – Part of the initial installation team for the company intranet. Set up the sitemap navigation standard and design layout for all basic pillar and department sites.
Teams – Have to admit basic knowledge of Teams, but I have created backdrops for use in video conferencing for a unified and corporate look.
Publisher – This app is what started my graphic design career. Created all sorts of flyers and posters, even order forms.
Creativity, problem-solving, aesthetics, user-centricity, typography, color theory, composition, prototyping, communication, adaptability.
These are the skills used in design.
Other Apps
Affinity Photo – App by Serif similar to Photoshop but without the price tag. I use this now as a freelancer to keep the costs down.
Affinity Designer – Similar to Illustrator, same-same-but-different. As above I now use this instead of Illustrator as the software package does not come with the high price of a subscription.
Affinity Publisher – InDesign alternative. I’m finding this a bit clunky, but able to produce awesome documents – for instance my portfolio was created using this application.
Google Docs – Using the Google suite is a great way to collaborate with clients as there is easy access via Google Drive where you can share and work together on the one doc.
Google Sheets – Similar to Excel, this online app is free to use and you have the added benefit of sharing files with clients so the content is updated immediately and all can view at the same time.
Google Slides – Same as PowerPoint and free. Possibly doesn’t have the breadth that PPT has, but if you are after free software/applications, then you can’t go past the Google Suite.
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