Adam Thomson

Last year I designed the poster for the first annual Bar Medusa 12-hour 12-band metal fest, entitled ‘Capital Punishment’. This year I was lucky enough to do it again.

My best friend in this mortal realm was murdered earlier this year. Most knew him as the front-man of the longest running NZ Death Metal band Backyard Burial. To me he was a mentor, a confidant, my drinking & fishing partner, my ex-flatmate & one of the most intelligent scholars I’ve ever had the pleasure of knowing. It was my utmost privilege to contribute to his funeral by designing the photo-wall, the projected slide-show & speaking on behalf of the his flatmates, band-mates and close friends. It’s also been my privilege to design a tribute t-shirt for him, seen here

Well 2011 has been pretty interesting for me. With every turn to a new page in your life there are always new adventures & challenges. I’ve reached a new level of understanding within the universe, which can only lead to enlightenment from here on in…

I’ve started a new Graphic Design course, to learn Photoshop, Illustrator & InDesign properly. I realised long ago that entering the realm of industry standard software would be a huge asset to my career as a designer. Finally my skillset is growing away from Adobe Fireworks, which I’ve been using since it was Macromedia Fireworks 4, over 10 years ago. I wasn’t using only that software, but it was the dominant weapon in my arsenal.

I’ve picked up a casual-based position as Resident Designer for a clothing company based here in New Zealand, called ALC Apparel. I built their website last year. I’m now responsible for their marketing material, logos, website development and indeed some designs for clothing. After freelancing for years, this is a huge step up for my career and I’m so relieved that my hard slog is starting to pay off.

So with the latest developments I decided I needed to refresh my website (this one) to that of a blog. For helping myself keep track of everything I’m doing, plus share my knowledge of all of the great techniques I’ve come across on the internet that have helped me as a Website Developer and Designer. Hope you like it.

My business portfolio will be relocated slowly to my new website ‘Before You Can Say’.