Profile - Jim Barritt

I grew up in Melbourne and spent much of my time at our holiday house near Wonthaggi. Following a strong leaning towards the arts throughout my school years, I was successfully in gaining a position in the pre-apprenticeship course of signwriting in Melbourne in 1976. This led to an apprenticship in signwriting, the first years at Briner Ads in Melbourne, with the last year being completed in Alice Springs. As a tradesperson I worked for a number of signwriters in Victoria and the Northern Territory before operating Jim Barritt Signs in Wonthaggi from 1982 until 1986. Throughout my years signwriting I maintained a strong interest in design and illustration and specialised in pictorial art across a range of commercial applications.

To expend my interest in design I commenced work with the South Gippsland Sentinel-Times in Wonthaggi and Korumburra splitting my time as an advertising representative and paste-up and layout duties. This was an important turning point in my career providing wide ranging experience and the opportunity to further my design and illustration skills with newspaper and commerical printing demands.

In 1988 my career deviated significantly when I gained employment as a Regional Fire Officer for the CFA following a strong committment as a volunteer firefighter in Wonthaggi. Appointment to a number of Regions across the next nine and a half years saw a move to Regional Offices at Dandenong, Sale, Casterton and Bairnsdale. Throughout this period I was still producing artwork and graphic design for a range of publications as well as making some inroads into the computer age.

In 1997 I left the CFA and formally registered Jungle Graphics as well as undertaking Workplace Training Certificate IV to expand into another area that I have been heavily involved with in the CFA. Jungle Graphics got a significant kick start when working as a trainer and assessor for the oil industry the transition from training to a design role occurred resulting in the production of close to a 100 safety posters, training resources, publications and presentations.

That was back in 1998, and since that time I have continued to expand services and clientele, with the main focus in closer to home. Jungle Graphics operate from a studio attached to the family home located in the wilds of Wy Yung (in the hills about five kilometres North of Bairnsdale).

Jungle Graphics is a small business, and like a lot of small business people, I am the receptionist, accounts manager, purchasing officer, quality manager, production manager, chief designer and illustrator which is probably explains why I always look so tired! I enjoy the benefits of working from home and being close to the family. Speaking of which, I am blessed with a delightful wife and business partner, Karen, and children Belinda, Matthew, Ryan and Casey.

The past seven years have seen both my design skills and Jungle Graphics capabilities increase significantly, and am very proud of where we have got to in such a short period. The challenge of design has required massive energy at times, but the constant exercise is now producing greater results in less time.

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