Who am I?
People ask me what we I for a living, so to keep the answer simple, I just say that I am a creative and strategic designer. But for me, it’s actually a lot deeper than that.
As a doer
The next question after that, if they are interested in knowing more is usually, ‘so what does a ‘creative strategic’ designer do?’. Then I’m like, ‘well I’m DOER AT BASE LEVEL, BUT IT INVOLVES BEING A CREATOR, PATTERN MAKER, TUTOR, ADVISER, LISTENER, STRATEGIST, WRITER, METHOD MAKER, PROCESSOR, RESEARCHER, SOURCE OF INSPIRATION, ENERGY CREATOR AND MANY MORE.
Lover of ideas
Being a designer I believe that one has the responsibility of being aware of your roots, understand the history and methods of your crafts, the origins of where your inspiration lies and an appreciation for all the scholars who put in the hours in order to be better at what I do.
I have a huge appreciation and love of old things, filling my spare time with learning new skills, be that as a printer, mechanic, baker, gardener or ceramicist. They are all things rooted in technique, tried and tested, there to be improved and adapted, but always acknowledged.
The ‘what if’ approach
Having ‘what if’s’ in your life encourages you to pursue more things. The pursuit of trying something new.
The archive part
I guess this small part is purely to show that I have had ‘quite a bit’ of experience with the somewhat larger clients. It was an important stage in my career, it allowed me to figure out how I wanted to work and how I did not, it shaped who I am as a creative today.
Lexus
Talk about being thrown in at the deep end. Straight off the boat from the UK and thrown into the rebranding of Lexus Europe. A huge learning curve for me and a real introduction and experience within the world of the strategic processes within branding.
Involved:
Visual identity
Strategic branding
Art Direction
Print design
Motion design
Film direction
Spatial design
Bring
Yep, that’s right, i’m the one responsible for that Pokémon ball you see plastered over the sides of trucks, buildings and newsagent doorways. There was method to the madness however in that the aim was to create a modern interpretation of Swedens iconic Postal Horn which can be seen in the new mark. The new company also wanted to reflect the idea of being a larger International company and steer away from the small local feeling, so the idea of travel, to and forth from one place to the other was integrated into the design.
Helly Hansen
Another early project I worked on, the total rebranding of Helly Hansen which I believe is still in use today even after all these years. Again, working within many teams and alongside many creatives from different disciplines. Every time gaining a huge amount experience within the process of each discipline.
Involved:
Visual identity
Strategic branding
Art Direction
Print design
Store design
Web design
Iittala
Early days at my time with Grow, as with Lexus and Helly Hansen the creation and development of a new Iittala brand. Again, one can still see elements of the original branding within the material they produce today. Which is always a nice thing to see and it reaffirms that one did something right the first time round.
Involved:
Visual identity
Strategic branding
Print design
Store design
The Absolut Company
Quite an exciting time when it happened. Conca Vodka was actually a direct result from working with Absolut, but I also had the opportunity to work on quite a few smaller projects with them. Amazing experience to be able to work alongside a development team and truly gain valuable insights into the world of a market that was very new to me.
HSBC
