Freya Ashcombe — Graphic Designer
Manchester, Greater Manchester
Graphic designer a year out of a First Class BA, working across print and screen for charities and small cultural venues. Redesigned a theatre’s season brochure and its booking emails onto one grid and one colour system, after which advance ticket sales rose 23% on the previous season.
Experience
Graphic Designer, Northlight Trust · July 2025 – present
Sole designer for an arts charity running a 400-seat theatre and a community print programme.
- Redesigned the season brochure and the booking emails around one grid and one colour system; advance ticket sales rose 23% on the previous season.
- Wrote and drew the 14-page brand guide the four staff who make posters now follow, ending a run of off-brand flyers reprinted at the charity’s own expense.
- Cut annual print spend by £8,400 by standardising on three paper stocks and moving the monthly listings sheet to a single folded A3.
- Designs the large-print and easy-read version of every programme; requests for them have trebled since they were first offered.
Graphic Designer, Freelance · August 2024 – June 2025
Self-employed, alongside the final year of the degree.
- Designed identities, menus and signage for six independent Manchester businesses on fees from £400 to £2,200, each delivered inside a two-week brief.
- Introduced a fixed three-tier pricing sheet after the first two projects overran; every job since has closed on budget.
Design Placement, Copperfold Studio · September 2023 – July 2024
- Set 90 pages of a regional food guide to the studio grid, which the client signed off after one round of amends rather than the usual three.
- Rebuilt the artwork check into a 9-point pre-press list; printer queries on outgoing jobs fell from about six a month to one.
Education
- BA (Hons) Graphic Design · Manchester Metropolitan University · September 2021 – June 2025
Skills
- Print: Editorial layout, Typesetting, Pre-press artwork, Risograph, Paper and finish specification
- Brand and digital: Identity systems, Brand guidelines, Email and social artwork, Signage, Large-print and easy-read
- Tools: InDesign, Illustrator, Photoshop, Figma, Affinity Publisher
