I am an award-winning integrated designer with over 18 years of experience in design and studio management, in both Australia and Britain. I have worked in a variety of agencies and direct to clients, on a wide range of projects and types of design work, from branding, press and outdoor to responsive websites, social campaigns and digital marketing.

 

I am now available for freelance, direct to client work and design team management consultancy. I already have a number of back to back bookings but please do get in touch to enquire about my services.

 

Over the last 5 years I have been Head of Design at Keko London, a creative agency specialising in finding, influencing and selling to affluent consumers. With clients such as Bentley Motors, Porsche GB, Triumph Motorcycles and Forevermark Diamonds, I was the lead designer across a number of well known global luxury brands and I have been instrumental in their brand development and public perception.

 

I headed a small but powerful design team with a mixture of permanent and freelance staff that were set up to handle whatever design task was thrown at them. Whether that's branding and strategy, print, digital, owned & paid social, retouching or app design, the scalable team kept almost everything in house. But it was not all about design, and the role was also a studio management role. Briefing, approval and workflow processes were built from the ground up, along with server set up, filing and naming conventions, and this kept the team able to handle big or small projects at breakneck speeds. It's this kind of attention to detail that became so successful for Keko London's proven pitch record (currently four wins on the trot).

 

I am highly motivated and passionate about design and typography; I work very well under pressure, and enjoy the lively atmosphere of a busy agency/studio environment. I am a great leader as well as a team player, and enjoy positive working relationships with colleagues, senior management and clients.

 

Work History

 

After Graduating from University in 1999, I took an Art Director role at Red Energy to design and manage ‘Master Builder’ magazine and take care of a list of smaller clients during the break between issues of the magazine. As this was a small agency, in addition to my principal role, I was exposed to many other facets of the industry, such as managing accounts, art directing photo shoots, organising production and making sure the studio was running smoothly from all angles. Clients included CCH Publishing, Master Builder Magazine, Brooklyn Hotel.

 

In 2001, I moved to Fame Advertising (which would later be bought by Singleton Ogilvy Mather, and renamed Brandshop). Fame Advertising had a broad range of clients, with a strong emphasis on the finance industry, particularly fund management and investment banking. This involved the design and production of these clients’ identity, advertising, Annual Reports and Product Disclosure Statements. This position demanded fast turnaround of a multitude of print materials, and once again I engaged directly with clients and managed projects from client brief right through to design and final production. Clients included General Motors Holden, Sanitarium Heath Foods, AM Superannuation, IOOF Superannuation, Acumen.

 

I left Fame Advertsing in 2005 to pursue freelance design work which, in 2006, eventually resulted in the position of Studio Manager at Momentum (part of the McCann Worldgroup), focusing on events management and experiential marketing. While this was still primarily a design role, my tasks were to manage the other designers’ time, work and equipment and to make sure the studio ran smoothly, to deadlines and budgets. Clients included Motorola, Microsoft, Intel, American Express, Lion Nathan.

 

I moved to London in mid 2006, and took another Studio Manager position, this time at Purity. Though it was still a design-heavy role, I managed two other designers and the two Creative Directors, along with liaising with printers and overseeing production, and recruiting extra staff when required. Clients included Virgin Mobile, Empire Cinemas.

 

After moving back to freelance in 2007, I took a long term contract with London Transport Museum, designing promotional material, outdoor advertising, handouts for Museum visitors such as wayfinding, and interior design of the gallery spaces within the museum.

 

In late 2008 I started with DLKW, (which later became DLKW Lowe) as Senior Designer. This role allowed me to focus purely on design, and I received awards for typography and design from Creative Circle, The ANNAs and Campaign. Clients include Morrisons, COI, Unilever, Halifax, Invesco, E.ON, Vauxhall.

 

I was given the opportunity to become Head of Design at Bray Leino In June 2012, finishing in May 2013. I  built a team of seven designers in addition to myself, whom I managed and inspired to create top level design across print, digital, and motion graphics disciplines. Whilst my main task was to direct and guide my staff as the lead designer, this also came with studio management responsibilities, such as interviewing and hiring new designers, along with completing performance reviews and managing their work. However, I still managed to pick up a few awards for my work here as well. Clients included Krispy Kreme, Aviva, B&Q, Remington, Thatchers Cider and Southampton F.C.

 

After a little over a year freelancing from 2013 with such agencies as OgilvyOne and CHI & Partners on huge brands like The Times, American Express, British Airways and British Gas, I returned to full time work and took a Head of Design role at Keko London, which I am still doing to this present day. I manage a small team of permanent and freelance designers, and am lead designer across multiple global luxury brands such as Bentley Motors, Forevermark Diamonds and Triumph Motorcycles.