Curriculum Vitae

Christopher R. P. Holbrook BA (Hons) ACIM

Personal Summary

  • Although calm, friendly and diplomatic by nature, I am driven by my passion for creativity and have a strong work ethic. I have a breadth of experience that demonstrates my creative and managerial skills. I am highly IT literate and have a CIM Professional Diploma in Marketing.

Professional Experience

  • Freelance Web Developer & Designer: September 2007 - Present
  • Please download my CV above or view the portfolio items on the right and bottom of this page to see examples of my recent freelance work.
  • IT Consultant for CHP Consulting: February - September 2007
  • CHP Consulting is the leading provider of asset finance software and consultancy. In this role I developed software for Halifax Bank of Scotland (HBOS) as well as advised and developed for the Marketing and Product Development teams. I have gained valuable experience in software development, complex IT systems implementation and the project life cycle.

  • Training:

    • SQL
    • Delphi
    • Object Orientated Programming
    • XML
    • LANSA
    • IBM iSeries
    • Crystal Reports
    • Version Control
  • Digital Producer for JWT: Jan - Feb 2007 (temp)
  • During my time on the Shell Global team at JWT I project managed a major Shell global campaign and the resources for ad hoc digital advertising requirements. This also involved maintaining the Shell Careers website, producing animated banners and working with freelance Flash developers.
  • UK Manager for HappeningUK Ltd: Sept 2001 - Present
  • HappeningUK designs and implements promotional campaigns for international drinks brands throughout the UK. I have played an integral part in building the company and developing clients' marketing strategies.

  • As UK Manager I have:

    • Put the National management structure into place: 2 Regional Managers, 7 Area Managers, and 300 part-time staff. I joined the organisation as the Nottingham City Manager in 2001.
    • Developed a range of technical and creative Marketing skills that enable the organisation to offer creative input into our clients' wider promotional strategies.
    • Developed and implemented policies and procedures for recruitment, induction, training, performance evaluation and appraisal.
    • Established business in most of the UK's major cities.
    • Organised and run events
    • Single-handedly planned, designed and developed the company's database-driven online admin system which delivers a distinctly branded interface for each client whilst maintaining all data in one place. This ensures that HappeningUK benefit from the shared information whilst clients are only served information and branding relevant to them.

  • My online admin system handles:

    • Activity Planning, Tracking & Reporting Example
    • Invoice Tracking Example
    • Venue Mapping Example
    • Contact Logging Example
    • File Sharing Example
    • Photo Gallery Example
    • Secure Login & Registration Example
    • Email, Printing and export of Excel Spreadsheets

  • My Technical Experience:

    • Web-Site Design (XHTML, CSS, Javascript, Dreamweaver MX)
    • Online Database Application Development (PHP, MySQL)
    • Search Engine Optimisation (SEO)
    • Photography & image manipulation (Photoshop)
    • Illustration & Flash Animation (Adobe Illustrator, Flash)
    • Video editing and CD/DVD (Adobe Premiere Pro, Director MX)
    • Promotional Literature Design, Copy Writing & Editing, and coordinating print jobs
  • Field Marketing Executive for Mosaic Ltd: Mar 1999 - Sep 2001
  • In this role I was responsible for training store staff and customers for a number of electrical goods companies. The position required communicating complex features as tangible benefits to a wide and varied audience.

Professional Qualifications & Memberships

  • CIM Professional Diploma in Marketing

  • The CIM Professional Diploma gave me a good theoretical and practical grounding in marketing and helped me adapt my thinking from my more academic degree course. The course modules included:

    • Marketing Operations
    • Marketing Customer Interface
    • Marketing Management in Practice
    • Marketing Research & Information
  • Associate Membership of the CIM
  • Personal License to Supply Alcohol

    • I am fully licensed to supply alcohol or to authorise the supply of alcohol until 15th Dec 2015.

    • I have been awarded the BIAAB Level 2 National Certificate for Personal License Holders
  • Member of the Musicians Union

Education

Interests & Activities

  • Keeping Fit: I go to the gym 2 – 3 times a week and have kept the habit up since I was at University.
  • SCUBA Diving: I have a PADI Advanced Open Water Diver qualification and have been diving in Egypt, Thailand and the Maldives.
  • Paragliding: In July 2005 I completed a course in paragliding in Spain. This included a 1km high flight and three 500m high flights.
Web Design

Palace Chambers Web Site This is a simple HTML/CSS website with a front page and a 'find us' page that uses the Google Maps API. Visit Palace Chambers

Web Development

Rosie & Wellington Rosie & Wellington wanted a simple and usable online shop-front. In order to reach a compromise between usability and the scalability required for their expanding and diversifying product range I needed to go back to the drawing board.

Visit the Rosie & Wellington...

Flash Animation

Do you do a Didgeridoo? An interactive CD-ROM to accompany the children's book. The CD-ROM reads along to the story and allows the user to print off images for the child to colour in. I used actionscript to control the interactivity and to animate the buttons and scene transitions.

Web Design

Apprentice Facebook App With this app you can create your own business board and join your friends' boards to discuss and vote on each episode and predict who you think will be fired next time. To create a board you need to get hiring by going to the 'hire' screen, choosing a friend and job title (from a list or by creating your own) and shooting off an invitation. There is no limit to the number of people you can add to your...

Web Design

RHS - MyGarden The RHS developed a social networking sites for gardeners which allowed them to blog, share photos and discuss topics in forums. I created the design from scratch in Illustrator and implemented in HTML and CSS.

Visit Royal Horticultural Society - MyGarden.

Web Design

VideoJug Brain-o-Meter Facebook App Get a bigger brain with the utterly fantastical ‘VideoJug Brain-o-Meter’. Search and watch videos, learn lots of stuff you didn't know, teach your friends weird and wonderful things and grow the size of your brain from Pea-Sized to Master of the Universe.

Web Development

Sothebys Systems Integration Sothebys Institute of Art had a number of websites and databases holding student, staff, and alumni information. Using MySQL, PHP, HTML, CSS and AJAX I built a centralised registration and authorisation system that integrated the websites and merged the databases.

Flash Animation

Currys Flash Banners Flash banners for a Currys campaign leading up to Xmas.

Web Design

Comic Relief Xmas Facebook App The Comic Relief Xmas Cracker was a project aimed at raising money for charity using the viral appeal of Flash video and the ready-made audience that Facebook offers. I created the Flash Video player and styled the interfaces using CSS and Facebook Markup Language (FBML)

Web Development

Sothebys Course Microsites This system enables Sothebys Institute to create a 'Microsite' for each of their courses. The microsite combines an expandable breakdown of sessions with downloadable course materials, a map, directions, a course questionnaire and a bespoke forum. They are created and populated through a PHP and MySQL back-end.

Web Design

goWander.com CSS goWander is a social networking site for travellers. I took the mockups from the designers and translated into accessible and search engine friendly XHTML and CSS pages for the developers.

Web Design

Complan Search Engine Optimisation Complan Foods required an over-haul of their 3 sites to optimise performance in search engine results. This required rebuilding the designs in CSS and removing aspects that inhibited the indexing of the sites by Google and other search engines.

Web Development

Sotheby's Career System The Sotheby's Institute Alumni site had plenty of useful information for students, alumni and employers but required a system to enable these user's to find each other. I enhanced their website to handle CV uploads/search (for students and alumni) and job upload/search (for employers). The job involved a complete rebuilding of the site using CSS for accessibility and easier maintenance.

Print Design

Hayman's 1820 Table Flyer Hayman's 1820 needed a way of obtaining brand presence in high-end 'style' bars that usually avoid any form of branding. I created this 20mm by 80mm folded matt - laminated card that fit neatly in ash trays and on tables without comprimising their wishes. Their size was ideal for customers to slip into their pockets.

Web Development

HappeningUK Invoice System HappeningUK needed a centralised system for tracking and storing invoices. I built this as an extension to the current online admin system. It allows Area Sales Managers to add, edit, email and print invoices and automates tasks that previously required constantly updating multiple spreadsheets.

Random Stuff

Organic Spirits Radio Interview A 5 minute interview about the Organic Spirits on the Philippa Forrester Show

Print Design

Organic Option Awareness Leaflet A folded A5 leaflet aimed at raising awareness amongst bars, hotels and restaurants of the benefits of offering organic ingredients, in particular, organic drinks. 5000 of these were printed and are being distributed at various trade shows.

Web Design

Joel Summerfield's Portfolio Site A friend of mine was embarking on his first job hunt after graduating from University with a BSc in Applied Computing. I put this simple site together for him to communicate his abilities and experience to potential employers. He got a job within a month so it must have helped!

Print Design

Xenia Empty Belly Poster Xenia is Switzerland's highest selling shot drink. They needed some posters designed for use in venues to gain brand awareness and encourage sales. Venues use the posters to advertise upcoming promotions, prices, and as back bar displays.

Flash Animation

River Cocktail Competition Flash Presentation I created this Flash presentation video to promote our efforts in organising the Hayman's 1820 and Angostura Rum sponsored Cocktail Competition at the River in Bristol on the 25th of July 2006.

Photography

4Homes Magazine Cocktail Photograph 4Homes magazine published an article on the "Best-ever... Organic cocktail" in their September 2006 issue. The Cocktail was created by my colleague Jon Harris and photographed by myself.

Web Design

Arbor Tree Care Homepage - Clean And Accessible Chris Mawdlsey needed a very simple and low budget brochure site for potential customers to reach him through. This small site features a clean design through clean, accessible and search engine friendly code. Visit Mawdsley Arbor Tree Care Website here.

Web Development

HappeningUK Database Admin System HappeningUK's administration tasks were taking up much of the management team's valuable time. Each client needed weekly updates on: activity planned, invoices and activity completed which was previously handled by a baffling number of spreadsheets and inefficient duplication of information. Using PHP and MySQL I developed this system to streamline the company's admin tasks.

Music Production

Music for Firefox Flick Robert Snow and Bruce Hwang Chen entered a video to the Firefox Flicks competition in April 2006. Although they didn't win they ranked as one of the highest entries with 4/5 stars. 'Igloo' was used as the soundtrack.

Print Design

Ginny Jones Jewellery Logo Ginny Jones was starting up as a contemporary jewellery maker when she approached me and asked for an identity and logo design for her to use on letterheads and business cards. I designed this simple logo using illustrator

Print Design

Toucano Concept Design I put this design together using Illustrator when we were pitching for work for Toucano Cachaca. I wanted to express the Brazillian heritage and show the product as lively and adventurous.

Web Design

The David & Co. Debt Advisers Homepage David & Co needed a restyling of an existing site within 2 weeks. They needed something that looked clean and inviting. I rooted out old obsolete presentational code and added a CSS styling scheme to the whole site so that restyling can be done easily and the site is accesssible and search engine friendly. Visit David & Co - Debt Advisers Website here.

Print Design

Hayman's 1820 Presenter Design This is a design I put together when HappeningUK originally pitched for the Hayman's 1820 work. I used Illustrator to bring out the soft floral nature of the drink.

Print Design

Jagermeister Shooters Menu I designed this shooters menu for Junktion 7 (Nottingham). In return for the design work they agreed to feature several Jagermeister shooters.

Print Design

Juniper Green Organic Gin Poster I designed this poster for Juniper Green Organic Gin for use at exhibitions. As well as emphasising the organic botanicals I needed to clearly communicate that it was an award winning premium gin.

Flash Animation

HappeningUK Brochure Site HappeningUK needed a site for prospective staff and clients to find out more about what we do. We decided that the best way to do this was to use the archive of photos and videos that I had produced and display them in a fun way with Flash. Visit the HappeningUK Site here

Print Design

Utkins Fairtrade Organic White Rum Bottle Utkins were dissatisfied with teh labels that their label designers were producing so that asked me to have a go. I cam up with this design which they ended up using! You can find the product in some supermarkets and some on-trade venues

Print Design

Luxardo Sambuca Map Flyers HappeningUK made Luxardo the brand leading Sambuca in the UK. There were two objectives. Firstly, the sales team needed to convince bar managers to switch to their current brand of sambuca to Luxardo. Secondly, brand presence was needed in bars to establish the brand as the leading sambuca in the customers' minds.

Music Production

Nokia Phone Showcase Music Nokia had produced this 3.5 minute long presentation of their 2004 range of phones to loop in Carphone Warehouse stores. I provided the soundtrack. I bet the shop assistants loved me!