People
John Schwartz (managing director)
John Schwartz is an award winning graphic designer and publisher. He was manager of Politico's Bookstore from 1998 until 2000 when he became production director and then chief executive of Politico's Publishing. Subsequently, he worked as a commissioning editor for Methuen Publishing and then as publishing manager and designer at the Institute for Public Policy Research. During this time he built up a successful freelance design business serving clients such as Policy Exchange, Demos and the United Nations Association. John now combines his creative, editorial and strategic skills to provide effective and affordable design and communication solutions for SoapBox clients.
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Angela Tootill (head of studio)
Angela is our lead designer for magazines and marketing materials and heads up day-to-day operations in our design studio. She studied visual communication at Massey University in Wellington, New Zealand before working as a graphic designer for the Salvation Army producing their weekly magazine. She later worked as in-house designer producing marketing materials for a large travel insurance firm in Sydney, Australia.
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John Phillips (head of digital)
John is our web guru and works alongside the design team to ensure that SoapBox sites are as elegantly coded as they are beautifully designed. As well as being fluent in HTML, XHTML, CSS and Javascript, John has a first class degree in Arabic which he studied at the University of Durham and the University of Damascus. Prior to working at SoapBox, John worked for Daniel Kawczynski MP and the United Nations Association of the UK.
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Rachel O'Brien (project development and editorial)
Originally trained as a journalist, Rachel has over twenty years experience in the voluntary sector, think tanks and in government in a range of communications, policy and management roles. She held senior strategic management roles at the RSA, the Institution of Public Policy Research (ippr) and at Shelter. She has also worked as a Special Advisor (to Ruth Kelly when she was Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government) and is the author of a book on prison education. Rachel now works as a freelance writer, editor and project developer in her own right as well as in partnership with SoapBox.
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Rachel Bray (graphic designer and typesetter)
Rachel is our specialist typesetter and book designer. After completing a BA in Design for Communication at the University of Reading she stayed on for a further year to study a Masters degree in Book Design. Before graduating in December 2009, she completed an internship with a design consultancy specialising in art, culture and education.
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Autumn Forecast (graphic designer and typesetter)
Autumn is an expert on page layouts for books, pamphlets and reports. She previously worked as a manager for Ottakars bookshops and then for the online bookstore booksofcourse.com. Autumn studied for her BA in classics at King's College and her MA at UCL where her dissertation was on sexual subversion in the Graeco Roman novel.
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Sarah Piner (graphic designer)
Sarah is an accomplished all-round designer for printed materials. She has a degree in Design for Graphic Communication with Typography from the University of Reading and after university worked as a designer for her local newspaper, the Isle of Wight Gazette. After crossing the Solent, Sarah worked at Kings College London as an in-house designer before joining SoapBox.
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Johanna Schwartz (filmmaker and photographer)
Johanna Schwartz is an acclaimed filmmaker and photographer who specialises in constructing thought-provoking documentary films on a wide range of topics. From investigative, current affairs and environmental programmes to archaeological series, Johanna has produced and directed for the BBC, Channel 4, Channel 5, Discovery Channel, PBS, CNBC and the National Geographic Channel. Johanna also writes and produces films for a wide variety of corporate, government and NGO clients including Toyota, Star Alliance, Dove, WWF, the United Nations and Reed Elsevier.
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Paul Berry (finance and planning)
The father of SoapBox MD John Schwartz, Paul worked as a senior manager in the chemical industry for forty years. This included fourteen years in global roles which provided him with a deep understanding of different cultures and an extensive network around the world. Now retired, Paul undertakes voluntary work for various charities including Sussex bonfire societies and the Ramblers Association as well as helping out with financial planning and day-to-day accounts at SoapBox.
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