Page title Name
Simon Avis
Motion Graphic Designer, Graphic Designer
United Kingdom

Simon's Biography

Simon has vast broadcast graphics experience and is disciplined in designing, editing and producing results within the boundaries of time and budget. This includes programme content graphics, stings and bumpers, on-air promos and titles design. He has worked in arenas ranging from live television, including news and sport, to light entertainment and on-air promos for some of the best-known TV brands. Equally happy working as part of a team (whether leading or otherwise) or individually, Simon is geared toward producing vibrant and effective solutions.

Simon is very much 'hands on', but is just as happy in a motion graphics producer / co-ordinator role should the situation require.

 email > simon_avis@hotmail.com

Simon's Pre-2007 Motion Graphics showreel can be viewed at :

http://www.vimeo.com/4631346

Other reels of Simon's can be found by searching simon avis in the vimeo.com 'search people' search engine box.


Simon has both staff and freelance broadcast experience; designing, editing and producing motion graphics (content, stings, titles, promos) for the following;

BBC  News & Sport

GMTV

ITN

London News Network

Pearson TV  Channel Five   Disney Channel    This Is Your Life

Sky TV

STAR TV

Credits

BBC World - BBC News , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
2007 - Motion Graphic Designer
Working freelance on-shift on the BBC World News channel, BBC Television Centre, London.

Designing insert graphics, promos, and title stings.

October 1998 - April 2007

Grandstand - BBC Sport , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
2006 - Motion Graphic Designer
Working freelance on-shift occasionally (prep & live)for Grandstand (Saturday afternoon sports programme on BBC One), BBC Television Centre, London.

January 1999 and September - October 2006.

BBC One & Six O'Clock News - BBC News , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
2005 - Motion Graphic Designer
Working freelance on-shift on the BBC One & Six O'Clock News, BBC Television Centre, London.

Liasing with newsroom producers on specific briefs for insert graphics and stings.

January 1998 - April 2007

World News (BBC Four) - BBC News , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
2004 - Motion Graphic Designer
Working freelance on-shift on BBC Four's nightly 30-minute news programme, World News, BBC Television Centre, London.

2004 - 2007

Liquid News & Celebdaq (BBC Three) - BBC News & Current Affairs , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
2003 - Motion Graphic Designer
Working freelance on-shift on BBC Three's 'Liquid News' & 'Celebdaq', BBC Television Centre, London.

Carlton Movies & Carlton Food Network - Carlton Digital , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
2002 - Motion Graphic Designer
Working freelance (via Soho Editors) on-shift for Carlton Digital On-Air Promos, on promo and title stings for the Movies and Food Network channels.

ITV Lunchtime News & Early Evening News, ITN News Channel - ITN , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
2001 - Motion Graphic Designer
Occasional freelance for the ITV Lunchtime News, ITV Early Evening News, and the ITN News Channel, ITN, Grays Inn Road, London.


GMTV  - GMTV , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
2001 - Motion Graphic Designer
Working both on prep and live for GMTV, London TV Centre, Upper Ground, London SE1 9LT.

January - September 1994

October 1997 - April 2003

BBC Breakfast News - BBC News & Current Affairs , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
2000 - Motion Graphic Designer
Working freelance on-shift on the BBC Breakfast News, BBC Television Centre, London.

November 2000 - April 2007

BBC News 24 - BBC News & Current Affairs , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1999 - Motion Graphic Designer
Working freelance on-shift on the BBC News 24 & later BBC News channel, BBC Television Centre, London.

July 1999 - April 2007

BBC Ten O'Clock News - BBC News & Current Affairs , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1998 - Motion Graphic Designer
Working freelance on-shift on the BBC Ten O'Clock News, BBC Television Centre, London.

October 1998 - April 2007

Channel Five (On-Air Promos), Disney Channel, 'This Is Your Life' - Pearson Television , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1997 - Motion Graphic Designer
Working as Senior Designer for Pearson Television's graphics department, whose clients included Channel Five (On-Air Promos & TX), the Disney Channel, and Pearson itself, whose output included the new 'This Is Your Life' (titles and content graphics).

May - October 1997

BBC Nine O'Clock News - BBC News & Current Affairs , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1996 - Motion Graphic Designer
Working on/shift as Designer on the figurehead BBC Nine O'Clock News, at BBC Television Centre, London.

Liasing with the newsroom & editing staff, and designing insert graphics and title stings for the evening show.

At the time, the Nine (later the Ten)O'Clock News was the most widely watched news programme on British Television, attracting more viewers than ITN, and even the BBC's own One & Six O'Clock News programmes.

April 1996 - May 1997

BBC One & Six O'Clock News - BBC News & Current Affairs , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1996 - Motion Graphic Designer
Working as on-shift Lead Designer on both the One and Six O'Clock News, as BBC TV Centre in London.

Liasing with the newsroom producers, post/production staff, and coordinating the output from the graphics team.

September 1995 - March 1996

BBC Westminster - BBC News & Current Affairs , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1995 - Motion Graphic Designer
Working at BBC Westminster, Millbank, London as Graphic Designer, on 'Westminster Today', 'Westminster Online'and 'The Midnight Hour'.

June 1995 - August 1995

BBC Breakfast Time - BBC Television , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1994 - Graphic Designer
Working on-shift as Graphic Designer for Breakfast Time, BBC TV Centre.

Designing content & insert graphics and stings.

November 1994 - June 1995

STAR PLUS Channel Ident - STAR TV Network Production , Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of China
1993 - Graphic Designer
Consultant Videographics Designer Producer working with STAR TV Network Production on the design of five new idents for STAR's stable of five channels.

I designed the logo for the STAR PLUS entertainment channel (a derivative of the original STAR TV logo), incorporating it into the animatic (I designed and produced) which was forwarded for presentation.

This was approved, and I directed the final screen version at Centro Digital Pictures.

The channel, and it's ident, was successfully relaunched in October 1993.

On the back of this, I was appointed to overlook the launch of the STAR Asian Movies channel and the STAR Movies channel for cable in November 1993, involving the design and production of the idents and the branding across both channels.

London Today & London Tonight - Carlton & London Weekend Television , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1993 - Graphic Designer
Head Designer coordinating the on-screen branding, style & design of London Today, London Tonight on the run up to TX launch (01.01.93) and beyond.

Also coordinated the design of the weather graphics for the ITV London region, and the content graphics for Carlton Midweek Sports Special in association with Carlton TV.

Sky News - Sky Television , United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1992 - Graphic Designer
Lead Designer-on-shift for Sky News covering Sunrise, Live At Five and Sky World News Tonight.

Employment History

(After Effects, Motion in FCS2, Paintbox FX, Hal, Harriet, Picturebox)

CREDITS
 
NEWS

Ten O'Clock News - BBC
Six O'Clock News - BBC
One O'Clock News - BBC
Breakfast - BBC
Business News - BBC
Breakfast With Frost - BBC
BBC World - BBC
BBC News 24 - BBC
Westminster Live - BBC
World News Today- BBC Four
Liquid News - BBC
Celebdaq - BBC
Lunchtime & Early Evening News - ITN
London Tonight - LNN
Sky News - Sky

SPORT

British Eurosport
Grandstand - BBC
Rugby World Cup - ITV (LSN)
Carlton Midweek Sports - ITV (LSN)
Sky Sports - Sky

CHILDREN'S TV

Splataday - Titles, Disney Channel
SplatBash - Titles, Disney Channel

LIFESTYLE & ENTERTAINMENT


This Is Your Life - Titles & Inserts, Pearson TV
GMTV - Stings & Inserts
Carlton Food Network - Promos, Carlton Digital
Carlton Cinema - Promos & Inserts, Carlton Digital
Channel Five - Promos & Inserts, Pearson TV
Sky Movies & The Movie Channel - Sky

CHANNEL BRANDING

STAR PLUS - Channel Ident Design, STAR TV


CAREER RESUME

June 1997 to date: FREELANCE MOTION GRAPHICS DESIGNER/PRODUCER

Designing and operating Quantel Hal, Paintbox FX, Final Cut Pro & Motion (Apple Certified Pro in both) in Final Cut Studio 2, After Effects CS3 Professional.

Also operating Quantel DLS / Picturebox, ENPS, Mapper

BBC NEWS (1997 - 2007), BBC SPORT, GMTV (1994, 1997 - 2001), ITN (1999 - 2001), CARLTON Digital Channels (1999 - 2001), THE DISNEY CHANNEL and CHANNEL FIVE (1997).

Courses: Cinema 4D, Fusion 5, Shake, SoftImage 3D.


October 1994 - May 1997: VIDEOGRAPHICS DESIGNER

(BBC News & Current Affairs).

Successfully passed BBC Management Training Scheme September 1996.


February - October 1994: FREELANCE VIDEOGRAPHICS DESIGNER

(GMTV, ITV SPORT, and post-production facility houses in London & Dublin)


August - November 1993: CONSULTANT VIDEOGRAPHICS PRODUCER

(STAR TV, Hong Kong: Joining Network Production Department in creating new idents for the five channel STAR TV stable. Designing and producing the station ident for STAR PLUS entertainment channel. Appointed to supervise the implementation of housestyle on all subscription channels.)


June - July 1993: F/L VIDEOGRAPHICS / PROMO PRODUCER 

(CENTRO Digital Pictures, Tung Lo Wan Road, Causeway Bay, Hong Kong)

Working  on corporates, and promos for STAR PLUS.


November 1992 - May 1993: LEAD DESIGNER

(London News Network, Carlton TV, London TV Centre, London SE1 9LT. Responsible for developing the on-screen style of daily LONDON TODAY and LONDON TONIGHT shows in run-up to launch transmission and beyond. Working on CARLTON MIDWEEK SPORTS.)


January 1989 - October 1992: VIDEOGRAPHICS DESIGNER

(SKY TV, Centaurs Business Park, Mddx TW7 5QD. Working on SKY NEWS, SKY SPORTS, EUROSPORT,THE MOVIE CHANNEL, and On-Air Promotions. Designing and producing title sequences in and out of house.)

Education


Post Graduate Certificate in Character Animation


(London Animation Studio @ Central St. Martins College of Art & Design, London, 2002).

"Formerly known as the London Animation Studio, the Pg Dip Character Animation at Central Saint Martins was established in 1998 by the Guild of British Animators. Located in central London we have extensive links with the animation and post-production industries that surround us and we have a reputation as one of the leading Masters level animation courses in the UK." www.londonanimationstudio.tv/info.html

"The innovation that this course has introduced to the industry was the combining of traditional and computer animation skills in one course, so that the students would benefit from cross-disciplinary exercises and the wider foundation this would give to their understanding. This has proved to be a powerful new educational tool, and the continuing high standard of achievement of the students validates the method."
Mike Milne, Framestore-CFC, director - Walking with Dinosaurs
May 2000

Specialising in 3D using SoftImage software.

B.A. (Honours) Degree in Graphic Design (Canterbury College of Art).

Industry Qualifications


Apple Certified Pro User in Final Cut Pro & Motion

Technical Equipment


Apple Mac Pro with 30" Cinema HD Widescreen Display Monitor.

15.4" MacBook Pro. 2.66GHz / 4GB /320GB.

After Effects Professional, Final Cut Studio  (FCP, Motion, Livetype, DVD Studio Pro, Compressor) & CS Design Standard (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat). 

Affiliations

None

Referees


Nick Davey, Senior Designer, BBC News Multimedia

Erika Kraftchenko, Senior Designer, BBC News 1, 6 & 10 O'Clock

Paula Thompson, Design Director, BBC News Multimedia 

Pre-2000

Nick Shipley, (Former) Head of Network Production, STAR TV Hong Kong

More available on request

Skills


After Effects, Motion, Basic Final Cut Pro, Quantel Hal, Paintbox FX, Picturebox, Mapper, ENPS.

Courses taken: Cinema 4D, Fusion, Maya, SoftImage, Shake, Viz Artist.

Excellent drawing & illustration 

Additional Information

Industries

  • Animation, 
  • Corporate, 
  • News & Sport, 
  • TV

Programme Types

  • Animation, 
  • Arts, 
  • Business, 
  • Childrens, 
  • Comedy (Children's), 
  • Commercial, 
  • Current Affairs, 
  • Daytime, 
  • Entertainment, 
  • Live TV, 
  • Music, 
  • Music Promo, 
  • News, 
  • Sport

Specialisms

  • Arts, 
  • Current Affairs, 
  • Design, 
  • Digital Special Effects, 
  • Events, 
  • Football, 
  • History, 
  • International Affairs, 
  • Journalism, 
  • Latin America, 
  • Music, 
  • News & Current Affairs, 
  • Politics, 
  • Popular Culture, 
  • Sport, 
  • Theatre

Languages

  • English