About

Bio

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Empowered by a life-long knack for the creative, James spent his early years drawing, painting, and dreaming. Much later, near the end of a lengthy college pursuit, he took up poetry and writing, translating his creativity through the expression of words. He returned full circle back to the arts, strengthened with the technical grace of the digital medium... and a healthy dose of maturity.


Services

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James provides services in both traditional and digital design with further capabilities that include technical, copy, and creative writing. Ultimately his services utilize a unique blend of expertise with technical knowledge, design creativity, and concept development along with reliable project ownership.


Resume

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Bachelor degrees in Digital Design and English, and extensive hand coding experience in HTML and CSS, compliment exceptional concept and design skills. Accustomed to work in teams and individually. Proven proficiency in leadership, troubleshooting, and time management.

The creative canvas is littered with possibilities; endless upon worded imagery and painted eloquence; drops of poetic wisdom interspersed with abbreviated visuals.

James Farthing is available for contract work, and was previously contracted as a Marketing Consultant for Global Health Trax.

Empowered by a life-long knack for the creative, he initially pursued an art degree from MiraCosta College in Oceanside, CA, accumulating over thirty units of art classes, including computer graphics, when the digital arts on the desktop was in its infancy. However, a growing passion for the written word enabled James towards a successful completion of an English degree from Cal State University, San Marcos. This led to a writing of a small collection of poetry and a novel, which is still in progress. With art and design ever an interest, James decided to change careers into web/graphic design, seeking to augment his knowledge, talent, credibility, and experience with a second bachelor's degree in Visual Communications.

In addition to being a husband and father, he is involved in a micro winery startup, providing the award-winning design of the logo and development of its web site. His interests include horticulture, poetry, pen & ink art, fiction writing, reading, and game design.

Working primarily with small businesses, James provides consulting and design services in the web and graphic media. He loves to solve problems by engaging client participation to find appropriate and creative solutions.

James works independently or in collaboration with other contractors.

Current services include:

  • Website design and implementation
  • Composite photo imagery and original digital creations
  • Brochures, postcards, business cards, and letterhead/envelopes
  • Wine label design
  • Logo design
  • Corporate and brand identity

SKILLS

Web Development

  • Rapid deployment and understanding of software
  • Experience using Windows XP, MS Office 2003, Adobe Creative Suite, DreamWeaver, Flash, Visio, FTP, Joomla CMS, Wordpress, and enterprise CMS software MaxEXP
  • Basic PHP, ASP and MySQL
  • Thorough understanding of HTML and CSS with extensive hand coding experience
  • Augment documents using DHTML with Javascript and CSS
  • Developing site architecture, interface layout, and content placement
  • Writing, editing and proofing content for consistency, errors, and optimization
  • Search Engine Optimization
  • Studied C++ programming under Unix (1 year)

Art Background

  • Intuitive conceptualization with color, design, and type
  • Experience in most traditional media
  • Capable working with raster and structured based drawing, and some 3D environments

Management Skills

  • Supervisory experience
  • Work well in teams and groups both in leadership and support roles
  • Able to delegate work and manage time
  • Strong presentation and effective oral communication skills

EXPERIENCE

  • 2008-2009     Global Health Trax     Vista, CA
  • Contract Marketing Consultant
  • 2004-2008     JF Designs     San Marcos, CA
  • Freelance Web / Graphic Designer
  • 2007-2008     Global Health Trax     Vista, CA
  • Webmaster
  • 2005-2007     San Diego Media     San Diego, CA
  • Project Analyst / Client Manager
  • 2001-2005     Veritek MFG (formally REMEC)     Escondido, CA
  • Buyer / Materials Supervisor

EDUCATION

  • 2005-2006     American InterContinental Univ.     Online Education
  • B. F. A. in Visual Communications/Digital Design (Summa Cum Laude)
  • 2001     SDSU Extended Studies     San Diego, CA
  • Course in Technical Writing
  • 1995-1997     Cal State Univ., San Marcos     San Marcos, CA
  • B. A. in Literature and Writing Studies