Steffen Unger
Steffen Unger
Steffen Unger
Steffen Unger
Steffen Unger
Steffen Unger
Workflow
Highly experienced and versatile all-around graphic presentation designer, 15+ years creating clean, visually engaging layout and design solutions in fast-paced, tight-deadline creative design environments for major brands.
Highly experienced and versatile all-around graphic presentation designer, 15+ years creating clean, visually engaging layout and design solutions in fast-paced, tight-deadline creative design environments for major brands.
Background
Background
Beginning with work at PINK, almost every place lacked any real process or protocol for the work being done. Every new meeting or event, someone else worked on the assignment. Led to sloppy, inconsistent, random, unprofessional. The role did not really exist and most of us were busy creating production files or pattern repeats. With a general know-how the work fell more and more to me.
Beginning with work at PINK, almost every place lacked any real process or protocol for the work being done. Every new meeting or event, someone else worked on the assignment. Led to sloppy, inconsistent, random, unprofessional. The role did not really exist and most of us were busy creating production files or pattern repeats. With a general know-how the work fell more and more to me.
Goals
Goals
1
Create consistency in presentation.
Replace scattered methods and outcomes with a professional final product.
1
Create consistency in presentation.
Replace scattered methods and outcomes with a professional final product.
1
Create consistency in presentation.
Replace scattered methods and outcomes with a professional final product.
2
Bring speed and efficiency to the process.
Growing success for the PINK brand was beginning to impact workloads and schedules, leading to shorter lead up to seasonal presentations. Sporadic immediate needs also increased as new ideas sprung up alongside the company's rapid growth.
2
Bring speed and efficiency to the process.
Growing success for the PINK brand was beginning to impact workloads and schedules, leading to shorter lead up to seasonal presentations. Sporadic immediate needs also increased as new ideas sprung up alongside the company's rapid growth.
2
Bring speed and efficiency to the process.
Growing success for the PINK brand was beginning to impact workloads and schedules, leading to shorter lead up to seasonal presentations. Sporadic immediate needs also increased as new ideas sprung up alongside the company's rapid growth.
3
Look at tech for benefits.
Seek to obtain approval and funding for hardware and software purchases to further improve the speed and quality of the work.
3
Look at tech for benefits.
Seek to obtain approval and funding for hardware and software purchases to further improve the speed and quality of the work.
3
Look at tech for benefits.
Seek to obtain approval and funding for hardware and software purchases to further improve the speed and quality of the work.
Solutions
Solutions
1
Assign lead for all presentation work
Along other responsibilities, was assigned oversight of projects; consolidated past work, pinpointed brand identity. created templates and overarching best practices in order to meet new, elevated standards.
1
Assign lead for all presentation work
Along other responsibilities, was assigned oversight of projects; consolidated past work, pinpointed brand identity. created templates and overarching best practices in order to meet new, elevated standards.
1
Assign lead for all presentation work
Along other responsibilities, was assigned oversight of projects; consolidated past work, pinpointed brand identity. created templates and overarching best practices in order to meet new, elevated standards.
2
Establish processes and workflows
Identified team members' strengths and placed them in appropriate roles. Worked with cross-functional parterns for greater visibility to deadlines and integrated into existing workload.
2
Establish processes and workflows
Identified team members' strengths and placed them in appropriate roles. Worked with cross-functional parterns for greater visibility to deadlines and integrated into existing workload.
2
Establish processes and workflows
Identified team members' strengths and placed them in appropriate roles. Worked with cross-functional parterns for greater visibility to deadlines and integrated into existing workload.
3
Increase use of technology.
Worked with leadership, Finance IT, upgraded computers, acquired additional softwares to accelerate process; also purchased large-format printers so as to control all aspects of the process.
3
Increase use of technology.
Worked with leadership, Finance IT, upgraded computers, acquired additional softwares to accelerate process; also purchased large-format printers so as to control all aspects of the process.
3
Increase use of technology.
Worked with leadership, Finance IT, upgraded computers, acquired additional softwares to accelerate process; also purchased large-format printers so as to control all aspects of the process.
Skills
Skills
Organization
Strategic planning and scheduling, time-management
Verbal and written communication
Quick-learning
Detail-oriented
Growing talent and employee retention
Problem solving – technical, inter-personal, process, etc.
Workflows, best practices
Conclusion
A scattered, haphazard, ungoverned process was rife with opportunity for improvements. Choosing the right people, the right technology, making the right connections and communicating with cross-functional teams resulted in a well-oiled machine, efficient and responsive, producing excellent product.
"Jack of all trades is a master of none but oftentimes better than a master of one."
Highly experienced and versatile graphic presentation designer creating clean, visually engaging layout and design solutions in fast-paced, tight-deadline creative design environments for major brands. Large, image- and graphics-heavy documents for public display or internal use, alongside promotional materials, signage and branding, all with a visually unified message and a keen focus on aesthetic. Backed by a profoundly robust technical skill set obtained from 15+ years hands-on with Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign, countless plug-ins and software trials, leading design teams, and developing and maintaining enterprise-level workflows and file systems. Veteran of impossible deadlines, impossible bosses and impossible expectations, sub-par coworkers, malfunctioning equipment and even bad weather – be it ensuring global, brand-wide presentation packages are ready on time or confidential board of directors meeting materials are prepared perfectly, whatever the project or deadline, the final product is created with speed, accuracy and style.
Many people can design layouts, for presentations, for meetings, a deck of slides for the new seasonal concepts. On the surface it's not that difficult. Whether you're using InDesign or Illustrator, Keynote or PowerPoint, we all the know the tools, we all know how to "align+distribute", and what fonts are.
But there are things that set some apart:
Speed. Watching some people work can be truly painful. Slow and inefficient use of the software, despite years in the business is unacceptable. Overly complex layers or a complete lack thereof both lead to a file difficult to maintain and handle. All files should be made with best practices in mind and knowing someone else might work on it the following day. Alongside mastery of the software should come the experience to anticipate a proper file + folder structure that simultaneously allows for speed of creation and updating and is clear and intuitive for other users. Watching some people searching for files in a dumpster fire of folders while on a group zoom is just plain awful.
Accuracy. Pixel-perfect placement of design elements is a must. While many may not notice a page border repeating slide to slide is ever so slightly off, but we should strive for standards far higher than those of the simple masses.
Aesthetic. Knowing what looks right and good for a higher level of style dictated by an industry based on style. These are not pie charts or data-merges from excel or Venn diagrams. And even when such elements do happen to be included, they must made to fit in.
"Jack of all trades is a master of none but oftentimes better than a master of one."
Highly experienced and versatile graphic presentation designer creating clean, visually engaging layout and design solutions in fast-paced, tight-deadline creative design environments for major brands. Large, image- and graphics-heavy documents for public display or internal use, alongside promotional materials, signage and branding, all with a visually unified message and a keen focus on aesthetic. Backed by a profoundly robust technical skill set obtained from 15+ years hands-on with Illustrator, Photoshop and InDesign, countless plug-ins and software trials, leading design teams, and developing and maintaining enterprise-level workflows and file systems. Veteran of impossible deadlines, impossible bosses and impossible expectations, sub-par coworkers, malfunctioning equipment and even bad weather – be it ensuring global, brand-wide presentation packages are ready on time or confidential board of directors meeting materials are prepared perfectly, whatever the project or deadline, the final product is created with speed, accuracy and style.
Many people can design layouts, for presentations, for meetings, a deck of slides for the new seasonal concepts. On the surface it's not that difficult. Whether you're using InDesign or Illustrator, Keynote or PowerPoint, we all the know the tools, we all know how to "align+distribute", and what fonts are.
But there are things that set some apart:
Speed. Watching some people work can be truly painful. Slow and inefficient use of the software, despite years in the business is unacceptable. Overly complex layers or a complete lack thereof both lead to a file difficult to maintain and handle. All files should be made with best practices in mind and knowing someone else might work on it the following day. Alongside mastery of the software should come the experience to anticipate a proper file + folder structure that simultaneously allows for speed of creation and updating and is clear and intuitive for other users. Watching some people searching for files in a dumpster fire of folders while on a group zoom is just plain awful.
Accuracy. Pixel-perfect placement of design elements is a must. While many may not notice a page border repeating slide to slide is ever so slightly off, but we should strive for standards far higher than those of the simple masses.
Aesthetic. Knowing what looks right and good for a higher level of style dictated by an industry based on style. These are not pie charts or data-merges from excel or Venn diagrams. And even when such elements do happen to be included, they must made to fit in.