IN-HOUSE GRAPHIC DESIGNER 2011 - 2015
During my time at NZ Rockshop I was in charge of designing from concept to completion all the required promotional publications (see Rockshop Gear Magazine), advertisements and various in store merchandise; managing and updating the e-commerce website with product images, news, blog posts, online promotions and advertisements; studio product photography for new products, special one-off instruments and other shots upon request; event photography for various sponsored events, manufacturer clinics and product demos.
LOGO & IDENTITY
While at NZ Rockshop I had plenty of opportunities to design for a large range of mediums including digital, print, signage, posters, magazines, t-shirts, bags and multiple store POS resources. My focus for all of these was to create strong and compelling identity's for both the company and all of it's promotions for NZ’s largest chain of professional musical instrument retailers with 23 stores nationwide.
This included a re-vamp of the Rockshop logo. The position of Graphic Designer was a newly created position when I first arrived and with the launch of their new website, they were in desperate need of a logo update. They didn't want a complete change to the logo so instead I used the ideas of their existing logo to create something more polished.
POSTERS / PROMOTIONS
Throughout the year NZ Rockshop has several store promotions. One of my jobs before these launched was to create visually striking poster's to display on store windows.
These are just a few examples of the kinds of posters I was called upon to create. The biggest of these promotions being the 'Finance Now' Interest free deals. The artwork for these was also used in Finance Now's VIP Booklet that was sent out to there large VIP Customer database.
WEBSITE & EDM
One of my main duties at NZ Rockshop was managing their huge e-commerce website. I was needed to keep the website fresh with new content each month, while at the same time making sure their huge catalogue of products was always up to date and populated with photos and descriptions using Silverstripe as the CMS with Magento powering their online shop. Content creation for the website included web banners, blogs, website competitions, managing their 'Gig Guide' submissions, upcoming events, news sections, photo galleries, artist endorsee pages and much, much more.
On top of this I was in charge of compiling some of this new content into email newsletters to send out to their large database using Campaign Monitor. This featured web banners of products and descriptions supplied by Rockshop's product managers every month to showcase sales and new gear that had just arrived at NZ Rockshop.
Chris Ryan / Graphic Designer
Originally from New Zealand, I have left Hobbiton and the Shire to explore new opportunities in Toronto. I’m a professional multi-disciplined designer, photographer & illustrator who lives for discovering new techniques and styles across all mediums, both to satisfy my own creative desires and to advance myself as a working professional.
If you would like to view my CV, have any questions, feedback, or just want to say hello, you can contact me at chris@cr38.co.nz












