It’s been a while since I’ve updated this site, mainly because I am now a partner at Versus, a small design/animation studio in East London. We take on all sizes of project and are often still available for freelance bookings.
For updated work and reels check out http://www.versus.nu
Identity and promo for an action block on Nick Toons for the summer holidays.
(July 2009)
New channel packaging for NickJr and NickJr2 – endboards, cross-channel promo bed, straps, bugs, etc. The designs worked on the concept of a pop-up book and tied in with existing channel idents (that used paper-folding).
(June 2009)
Art direction, design and animation of graphics for the Nickelodeon UK Kids Choice Awards 2008. Over a four month timespan I led the team developing the styleguide and all on-air applications including promos, show packaging, cinema ad and red button graphics. A selection of work is shown in the video.
Other designers involved; Hazel Baird, Klass Diersmann.
Update: the KCA08 promos picked up a bronze at the Promax|BDA World Gold Promotion & Marketing Awards 2009.
(September 2008)
Identity for Muros Rami, a Mexican distributor of interior wall systems. The logo reflects the multi-layered properties of their products.
(March 2009)
Title sequence for ‘Charlie Boorman – Ireland to Australia By Any Means’ documentary series on BBC2, won through a competitive pitch.
In collaboration with Alex Dinnin.
(July 2008)
A new system for credit squeezes at the end of programmes, I helped develop a visual structure/approach for taking advantage of the new features the system offered. Sets of templates were designed to tie in with other events on the channel, and keep kids from turning over while the credits were rolling.
(2007-2008)
Vodafone developed an eSourcing system that could revolutionise their supply chain, but take-up had been limited among supply chain management, whose perception of the system was of something difficult to use and limited in scope. An internal campaign was required that would encourage usage of the system.
Our solution was to develop a campaign using a set of illustrated characters that play up business stereotypes in a fun/humerous manner, and that help communicate the benefits of the system in a simple way, cutting out the technical mumbo-jumbo.
The first stage of the campaign was a teaser ‘Blind Date’ online game, which served as an introduction to the characters and helped establish the central theme of finding your perfect partner (ie. supplier).
(May 2007)
To celebrate their 50th anniversary in Europe, Canon wanted to produce a book that looked back at some of the defining events in their history, and that captured the essence of Canon past and present. The book was structured around 50 stories and was closely aligned to their advertising campaign at the time – ‘We Speak Image’. It weighed in at 170 pages and five language versions were produced.
The book won an Award of Excellence (Best Corporate/Brochure category) at the CiB Awards 2008.
Other designers involved: Dan Tuck, Sharon O’Neill.
(April 2007)
Canon’s IPOINT was a video installation in the reception areas of all their offices in Europe. A new video was produced twice a year to showcase the latest and greatest in the world of Canon – new advertising, product launches, sponsorship campaigns, environmental initiatives and so on.
As well as editing this selection of clips together, a series of bumpers was created to introduce each of the clips, taking Canon’s “red line” as a starting point and tying the video together into a coherent package. The video above shows an edit of various bumpers.
(2005-2007)
Two ideas for a Naxos compilation cd series entitled ‘Best of British’, featuring top British classical composers. Naxos wanted the series to have a strong British theme, to appeal to a less traditional audience and to have shelf standout.
(April 2007)
Pfizer (Consumer Healthcare) had numerous initiatives and programmes centering around innovation, but wanted something to tie them together into one consistent overall communications programme or campaign.
We won the pitch – the third route was chosen for development – but PCH was sold to Johnson&Johnson shortly after and the project was reduced in scope to a newsletter.
Route 1
This route took each of the factors in Pfizer’s innovation process and made them a superhero, characters that could inspire and work in a very flexible way. The graphic language of comicbooks would work across employee comms – a newsletter would become a comicbook, a management memo could be brought to life with a ‘KA-POW’.
Route 2
This route played on the idea of a secret department – ‘Q’ in James Bond, the Men in Black, etc – to create the ‘Department of Innovation’. The launch would generate an air of mystery, a buzz, with a series of spacial solutions that are not fully explained. Communications that then followed would have a strong impact – who wouldn’t want to receive a “Top Secret” memo from the Department of Innovation?
Route 3
This route brought the concept that innovation is something that is ever-changing to life. A malleable form could be sculpted to form anything – a truly flexible solution.
(September 2006)
As part of an overhaul of the Tileywoodman identity, a new website was required that would caputre the essence and personality of the Tileywoodman brand. It needed to be fresh and engaging with the ability to evolve over time.
The ‘Tiley tree’ aims to showcase the playful and creative nature of Tileywoodman but still communicate the key messages. The featured work continues the playful theme, and each project is designed indivdually to reflect the content.
(September 2006)
Art direction for Canon’s library of life – a photo library for use on internal communications. Previously Canon had used standard ‘cutout’ shots, with the subject in very obvious poses with products. For this collection we wanted to create aspirational but believable characters in more natural environments, with the products placed in a more realistic way (and sometimes not placed at all) – helping Canon to show more confidence in itself.
The new library proved so popular that many shots were used externally across Europe, as well as internally.
Photography: Paul Robinson
(August 2006)
The Canon brandsite was an online resource for employees, external agencies and business partners that provided guidelines and resources for working with the Canon brand.
Working within the technical constraints of Canon’s enterprise content management system (Tridion), the brief required the brandsite to be user-friendly, dynamic and to communicate clearly the elements that help define the Canon brand. Our solution used a simple, flexible structure, Flash to add dynamism and opening section – the Brand Story – that showed the key aspects of the Canon brand in an engaging way.
The brandsite won an Award of Excellence (Best Intranet category) at the CiB Awards 2007.
(March 2006)
Logo for Blind Luck, a company that customises slot machines and other gambling-related equipment/merchandise.
(August 2005)
FESPA (Federation of Screen Printers Associations) was launching it’s first pan-European event dedicated to digital printing, and competing against a rival show. To kick off the campaign to raise audience awareness (printers) and to increase exhibitor and attendee signup, a mailshot was required.
The solution took an object that printers are immediately familiar with – the swatch – but used it to showcase some of the advances in digital printing they might not be aware of.
(April 2005)
My final MA project. In short, I created a proposition for a new animation television channel aimed at a 15+ audience, and then developed the branding for it. The ‘Flux’ name stemmed from the idea of animation being phases of motion – a state of flux being in constant change. This one core idea formed the basis for all visual manifestations of the brand.
(September 2004)
Logotype for SatNavi, a retailer of in-car GPS equipment.
(July 2004)
This short film was a one week collaborative project based on a short trip to Dungeness, an old fishing village on the south-east coast that is also home to a nuclear reactor. The film aimed to convey the jarring contrast between the stark beauty of the natural landcape and the impact of the reactor on the community there. The film was designed to be projected on two opposite walls, with separate soundtracks, but is shown here side-by-side with audio split into left and right channels.
A collaboration with Adriana Knott, Gary Chan and Sylvia Hassett.
(October 2003)
Logotype for IC4, an urban hip-hop rapper/artist, which needed to reflect his gritty style and “street” roots.
(February 2003)
What most inspires me is learning something new – travelling to new places, reading a book, picking up new skills or learning from other designers. I think that being exposed to new ideas and new ways of doing things is really important – it stops you from getting stale and helps make you a much better designer.
I studied graphic design at Surrey Institute of Art & Design (now UCCA), graduating in 1999. After working for a year I went freelance and setup my own company, working on print and web projects and lecturing part-time at the Surrey Institute. In 2003 I returned to university (Kingston) to study an MA in Screen Design for Film & TV.
From 2005-07 I worked as a Senior Designer at Tileywoodman, involved in a diverse range of video, print and web projects for brands such as Canon, Unilever, Vodafone, RBS and Pfizer. I returned to freelancing in 2007, focusing mainly on broadcast design. In 2008 I did a 6-month stint as a covering Art Director at Nickelodeon.
For further information or to request a cv please get in touch.