From my first D&AD award as a student, through learning the ropes in the studio at Leo Burnett, and on to overseeing large teams as head of design at Arc and Publicis Poke, a passion for good design remains my driving force.
I love ideating, illustrating, steering and overseeing every type of campaign and brand. I’m proud to have always worked through the line, going from initial concepts to final artwork, choosing the best media to bring ideas to life, from handmade screenprints to AI generation, large scale celebrity activations to on-shelf promotions.
Now with over 20 years’ experience and multiple awards on my shelves, I’m enjoying working as a freelance design and creative director as well as a hands-on senior designer.
Work History
FREELANCE DESIGN & CREATIVE DIRECTOR
February 2023 - Present
After 22 years working for the Publicis group I thought I’d see what the rest of the industry had to offer. I’ve spent the last two years working both as a creative leader and hands-on designer in a wide variety of agencies and in-house.
Agencies: Haygarth, Homosapien, Boys and Girls, CBA London, Draftline, Craft London, rad studios NYC & Sainsbury’s Zest
Clients: Adidas, Disney, Warburton, Smirnoff, Gordons, Captain Jack, Lindt, Quaker, NYX, L’oreal, Vodafone, Samsung, Leffe, Absolut, Malibu, An Poste, Irish Health Service, Sunsilk, Chivas Regal, Philips, ZYN & Argos.
HEAD OF DESIGN (COMMERCE) / PUBLICIS•POKE
JULY 2019 - JANUARY 2023
At P•P I lead the commerce design team and grew the department with key hires and structural reorganisation.
From building client relationships to mentoring juniors,
I played an essential role in uniting and managing brands
across our sister agencies.
Day to day I was responsible for overseeing multiple
different channels of creative, including KV creation,
POS design and deployment, ecommerce roll outs and
full global toolkit development.
Clients: Heineken, EE, Nescafé, Cetaphil, Desperados, Schweppes, Alcon & Kellogg’s
HEAD OF DESIGN / ARC LONDON
FEBRUARY 2017 - JUNE 2019 (Part of Publicis)
In 2017, when Arc London, Saatchi X and Vivid merged,
I continued in my role as Head of Design. As a result of the merger, our client base and diversity of work grew overnight.
I created a holistic system that integrated all three design departments as seamlessly as possible, without alienating
any member of staff or having a negative impact on the
client relationships.
Clients: Chupa Chups, Nestle, EE, Samsung,
Heineken, Apple & Bacardi
HEAD OF ART AND DESIGN / ARC LONDON
JANUARY 2010 - JANUARY 2017 (Part of Leo Burnett)
I was responsible for building and uniting a diverse team of
15 designers and visualisers. I oversaw and elevated the creative output across multiple channels - BTL campaigns, brand creation and development, retail POS, limited edition packagingand experiential events.
I commissioned photographers, illustrators, typographers
and re-touchers, working closely with the CDs and ECD to
push every piece of work, which resulted in multiple award nominations and wins.
Clients: RNLI, McDonald’s, Tesco’s, Grolsch, Carling, Samsung, Mondelez, Max factor, Jeep, Co Op Banking, Bosch & Unicef
SENIOR DESIGNER / LEO BURNETT LONDON
JANUARY 2007 - DECEMBER 2009
As a senior designer I lead projects and worked into the Head
of Art, CD’s and ECD making sure work was on brief and the best it could be. I was also responsible for mentoring the more junior members of the design team, not only to produce great work but also on how to conduct themselves within the agency.
Clients: McDonald’s, Miller Genuine Draft, Aussie Haircare, Nintendo, Kellogg’s, Fiat, Shelter, Heinz & Max Factor
JUNIOR / MID-WEIGHT DESIGNER
LEO BURNETT LONDON: APRIL 2001 - DECEMBER 2006
During my time as younger member of the design team,
I had the privilege of working with and learning from some of the giants of the advertising industry. As my career progressed, I was lucky enough to work on a several award-winning campaigns.
Clients: McDonald’s, Heinz, Kellogg’s, DWP, DFT,SOCIAL Care, Fiat, Always, Becks
JUNIOR REPROGRAPHICS EXPERT
STARS DIGITAL: AUGUST: 2000 - APRIL 2001
A great start to my career, learning the fine details of the
print process, from the very basics to earning accreditations from Fuji films in scanning and printing.
Clients: Marlboro racing & McDonald’s
AWARDS
D&AD » 2 x GRAPHITE PENCIL, 1 x WOOD PENCIL
D&AD STUDENT» 1 x WOOD
CREATIVE CIRCLE » 2 x GOLD, 4 x SILVERS,
3 x BRONZE, 14 x NOMINATIONS
CAMPAIGN BIG » 2 x WINNER, 3 x FINALIST
CAMPAIGN PRESS » 1 x GOLD, 1 x SILVER
FAB AWARDS » 3 x GOLD
IPM » 5 x GOLD, 1 x SILVER
MAA » 1 x SILVER
DMA » 1 x GOLD, 2 x BRONZE
EUROBEST » 1 x GOLD
Education
BA HONS GRAPHIC DESIGN AND IMAGE MAKING
WATFORD - PART OF HERTFORDSHIRE UNIVERSITY 1997 - 2000
BTEC GRAPHIC DESIGN
LCPDT - PART OF THE LONDON INSTITUTE 1996 - 1997