About
Hi there, welcome to Designoir.
My name is Chris Sealey, I’m a freelance graphic and web designer from Sydney, Australia. I am currently 20 years old and have been doing the “freelance thing” since late 2006. In 2005 I graduated from high school with grades in the high 90s in Design and Technology and Industrial Technology: Multimedia. I have always had a passion for art and all things digital, so I decided graphic design was definitely where I wanted to be. In 2007 I entered a course in Multimedia Graphic Design at Billy Blue College of Design.
I received a scholarship for my work, and in 2008 am now on my way to completing both an Associate Degree and a Bachelor of Design in Multimedia.
I have worked with a large variety of clients, producing all different kinds of work - primarily for the web.
My favourite artists are Shepard Fairey (Obey Giant) and Derek Hess. However, my influences also come from artists and designers such as; Alphonse Mucha, David Carson, Richard Prince, Qube Konstrukt, Toast Concept, Tokyo Plastic, Banksy, Jeff Soto and 123 Klan.
I’m a fan of industrial music, art nouveau, soviet era propaganda, film noir, and science fiction. I try to bring as much of all of these influences into my work as possible.
A Little History
I officially launched my online portfolio in late 2006. I registered www.csf-design.com in early 2007 and began freelancing under the code-name CSF Design (Chris Sealey Freelance Design). This surprisingly went really well; I was boosted right to the top in the search engines after spending hours days optimising my site for Google and the other big players.
Within a couple of months, I had picked up quite a handful of clients (two of which I still constantly work with today). Eventually I started accepting too much work to cope with (given my studying at the time), so I had to post an unavailability notice on my site and focus on my work. During this time period, I thought again about where my design was heading and decided to re-launch myself with a more fresh, cleaner style under the name Designoir in late 2007. Designoir 2.0 was short-lived, as soon after launching it I realised the beauty of Wordpress and decided to integrate this blogging CMS system into my site.
What you are currently viewing is the third instalment of Designoir and by far the best, most comprehensive version yet.
See Designoir versions 1.0 (CSF Design) and 2.0 respectively here:
Back in the days of 1.0, I had a HUGE amount of people comment on my site about how much they loved the colours fading into white, and that they’d never seen a navigation system like this one before. Yes I have left that all behind, but I do have a surprise under construction that may just bring that vibe back.
My Hardware
Class
My primary system is an Apple iMac. Designing with a beautiful full colour 24″ screen ensures purity and class in all of my work. Of course, as a web designer, it is important to also have a PC and a copy of Windows handy for website testing purposes, so I also have an up to date Windows work station which is strictly used only for testing.
Mobility
When I have to go mobile or meet a client face to face, I use my Macbook Pro. My software is licensed to both of my systems so I can actually work side by side with a client upon request.
Precision
Using an Intuos 3 Graphics tablet from WACOM gives me thousands of levels of sensitivity in my illustration, ensuring accuracy and precision with every brush stroke.
Safety
All my files are backed up in FIVE different locations so you can always be assured your files are safe when working with me. Data is backed up on both my primary and secondary systems, an offsite server, an external hard drive and burnt to a dvd archive when each project is complete.
My Software
I use Adobe’s Creative Suite 3 for almost all of my design work. The software I am knowledgeable with are listed bellow.
Photoshop CS3
Illustrator CS3
InDesign CS3
Dreamweaver CS3
Flash CS3
Final Cut Pro
The Network
This website is not the only place you will see my work on the web. Since September 2007, I have been working as the main web designer at Pacific Webb. Pacific Webb build more complex, larger scale websites, often integrating a Content Management System. If you’re after a site that you will be able to control yourself, and are willing to pay the extra dollars for that functionality, then be sure to head straight over to Pacific Webb and request a quote. Chances are, I’ll be designing the aesthetics of your site.
You can also find me at the following art and design communities:
