CV

Richard Samael Forsman

aka Samael Creative
Experienced Multimedia Creative Delivering Compelling Graphic Design, Video and Photography

“Marketing is telling the world you’re a rock star. Content Marketing is showing the world you are one.”
Hello, I'm Richard Forsman, but you can call me Riku. With over a decade of experience in various design positions, I've honed my skills as a multimedia creative, delivering engaging photo, video and animated marketing content for companies of all sizes.

In my previous position, I spearheaded all aspects of video and audio marketing content, from ideation to execution and distribution, resulting in increased engagement rates. I also collaborated with cross-functional teams to integrate print catalogs, digital marketing, and in-store events, driving a boost in overall revenue and brand visibility.

My expertise includes Adobe Creative Suite, DaVinci Resolve, CSP, Figma, and other multimedia software, enabling me to create compelling visual and audio content across multiple platforms. I have also managed multimedia projects for clients ranging from e-commerce businesses to international corporations, ensuring timely delivery and high-quality results.

Browse my recent posts to see my diverse portfolio of photography, graphic design, motion graphics, video, and illustration projects, which showcase my creativity and attention to detail. I've recently been focusing on photography, filling my time after leaving Verkkokauppa.com with event photography work and portraits on top of working with my private animation project.

If you're looking for a versatile multimedia creative with a proven track record, don't hesitate to reach out. Let's discuss how I can help elevate your multimedia content strategy. I'm excited to hear from you and explore potential opportunities.

EXPERIENCE

Freelance Creative

Samael Creative
Dec 2011 - Present
Photography, video, graphic design, motion graphics, and illustration art globally for various clients.

Video Content Specialist

Verkkokauppa.com Oyj - Helsinki
March 2016 - Dec 2022
Responsible for video & audio marketing both brand and partner marketing, video content management, video production, motion graphics, and digital signage systems.

Founder / Owner

Morbid North Ltd - Helsinki
Dec 2018 - Dec 2022
Band merchandising, apparel design, and e-commerce services for the music industry.

EDUCATION

Media Assistant / Graphic
Design
Tampere Vocational College
2013 - 2015


Comics and Illustration
Civic College - Kymenlaakson Opisto
2012 - 2012

Skills

Finnish - Native
English - Fluent
Print Design
Web Design
Branding
Motion Graphics
Videography and Editing
Photography
Digital Marketing
Brand Marketing
Content Marketing
Content Creation

My core skills as a creative

Language

Finnish - Native

My roots are in the small town of Karjaa now known as part of Raseborg. But I've also lived all over Finland and may have caught a bit of a Savoian accent along the way.

Language

English - Fluent

Fluent English speaker and writer. I use English as the main language in my work and daily in my international social circles.

Skill

Photography

If you have roamed around my site or socials you have already seen photography is something I focus on a lot currently. I love working with creative portraits and music photography, but I'm also experienced in product and editorial photography.
On top of my skills, I own top-tier professional equipment for both photography and video work.

Skill

Video & Editing

For the past 7 years, I've worked in video marketing and most of my days were spent in video editing and motion graphics. On top of that, we shot some in-house productions for TV, YouTube, and social media.
During my freelance work, I've been working on a couple of music video projects, interviews, live streams, and product videos.

Skill

Motion Graphics

After Effects has been my daily workhorse ever since I started working at Verkkokauppa.com in 2016. Ever since I've been passioned to learn more and now I've done everything from VJ visuals, Lottie web animations, lower thirds, logo animations, and 2D animation VFX.

Skill

Web Design

UI/UX design isn't really something I've done a lot professionally, but I have worked with multiple small businesses to build new websites with WordPress/Oxygen Builder and I've done some consulting work, especially for UX design.
But I gotta admit I have some passion for web design because I have this weird hobby to build websites locally almost every week and samaelcreative.com is also a 100% custom WordPress site and the best representation of my web design skills.

Skill

Illustration

My roots are in traditional art that evolved into digital art during the early years. As an illustrator, I've done everything from comics, apparel illustrations, and album covers to marketing key art.

As a multimedia creative, I use variety of tools

Tools

After Effects CC

After Effects is my main tool for any video work as most of my work includes motion graphics. I use it for videos, web animations, and GIFs. Because GIFs are cool!

Tools

Premiere

Premiere has been my main editing software for the past 7 years, but I've slowly begun to switch to using DaVinci Resolve instead as it speeds up my video work.

Tools

Lightroom CC

Lightroom is something you almost expect any photographer to use and I'm not an exception. I'll let my photos do the talking.

Tools

InDesign CC

I've created tons of book layouts, brochures, and other print assets with InDesign and I love messing around with the interactive tools.

Tools

Photoshop CC

Ever since I got Photoshop 7 in my hands when I was just a kid, this has been basically my third arm for doing anything creative. I've also done the Adobe Certification back in Photoshop CS5 times and I'm also quickly adapting to all the new tools and functions Adobe gives us. Unfortunately, I'm also the one finding all the new bugs for each update.

Tools

Illustrator CC

From print to the web Illustrator is the main workhorse for most graphic designers. I use it mostly for print layouts, logo design, icons, and vector elements I animate using After Effects.

Tools

Clip Studio Paint

Clip Studio EX isn't the most known creative software in western countries, but it's a major software in Asia used in manga and anime production. I've used it for illustration work, and comics and currently using it with my private hand-drawn frame-by-frame animation project.
office 365 logo

Tools

Office 365

Microsoft Office is one of the universal software that almost everyone has used in one way or other. I quite honestly avoid using it as I know a better tool for every product included in the 365.
davinci resolve studio

Tools

DaVinci Resolve

I've slowly begun switching from Adobe Premiere to DaVinci Resolve during the past few years. Currently, I only have used the free version, but I'm intrigued to learn more when I get my hands on the paid Resolve Studio 18 and all it's tools.

Tools

Workspace

I use Workspace for my freelance work, used it with my previous company Morbid North and I've set up it for various clients through the years way before it was even called Workspace.

Tools

Figma

Figma is something I've only used when I need to collaborate with other designers. All of my websites are made with the WordPress-Oxygen Builder combo and because I'm fluently using Oxygen builder I haven't really seen much use for Figma in my solo projects. If needed I'll be quick to catch on with it.

Tools

WordPress

All of my website projects are built on WordPress as CMS. For building websites, I use Oxygen Builder instead of any traditional themes/theme builders as it gives me the creative freedom to make anything I want. Like this cheeky landing page, I made copying Nomentia front page from the Finnish version which happened to suit better for this than the English version with its busy background.

I have used other CMS as well like Squarespace, Wix, and Hubspot which the Nomentia website uses.

Ready to rock together?

Have you explored my skills, and experience and you’ve found them interesting? I’d love to meet you and tell you more about how I could push your company journey even further!
CONTACT NOW

Contact Information

Phone
+358 45 1733 585
Phone
[email protected]
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