Creative director and designer with 20+ years across two founding studios, freelance agency work and an in-house leadership role at Octopus Investments. Started at Pentagram in 1998.

Career

PRESENT	Freelance Creative Director	Since early 2026 I’ve been freelancing across brand identity, campaign and video work for clients in the US and UK.
2023–2026	Creative & Brand Lead Octopus Investments	Led the company-wide Masterbrand rebrand from concept through website launches and international rollout, presenting creative strategy to the Executive Committee and enabling senior leaders to champion the new brand and accelerate adoption across the business. The brand subsequently flexed to incorporate new additions to the Octopus group — including Octopus Capital and Octopus Australia — each requiring fresh rounds of stakeholder engagement and buy-in from new teams. Embedded across multiple marketing teams through weekly traffic meetings, identifying projects that needed early creative input and getting involved before directions were set. Regularly pitched alternative creative solutions and led brainstorming workshops to strengthen campaigns, alongside retrospective sessions after major events to sharpen future output. Contributed to two publications — as designer or creative lead — that the team felt were strong enough to enter for D&AD awards, while adapting all creative to meet compliance requirements without compromising quality.
2021–2023	Creative Lead Octopus Investments	Managed and mentored designers through weekly one-to-ones, developing skills and keeping reports aligned with objectives for their strongest possible performance reviews. Acted as front-facing head of the Design studio — monitoring project inflow, allocating work, and negotiating with stakeholders on deadlines and briefs. Introduced SLAs that reset turnaround expectations, streamlining the working relationship with the business and reducing team pressure without compromising delivery pace. Led twice-yearly away days and creative workshops to build team rapport and give designers space outside day-to-day pressures. Helpd source or onboard external suppliers, such as freelance designers and a video partner.
2024–2025	Volunteer Designer Tech for Campaigns	Volunteered with Tech for Campaigns, producing social media design for two winning US state-level candidates: Tina Liebling (Minnesota House of Representatives, 2024) and Debra Gardner (Virginia House of Delegates, 2025). Working across time zones with distributed teams and the candidates directly, the work covered static and animated social ads and Reel-style video — with creative variants developed for A/B testing and feedback incorporated on tight weekly turnarounds. The discipline was restraint: design that traveled fast and spoke to a broad audience rather than signaling style over substance. Recognized with a nationwide Tech for Campaigns Volunteer of the Week acknowledgement in 2025.
2002–2021	Creative Director & Owner compoundEye	Founded and ran a full-service studio for nearly 20 years — growing from universities and publishers through to Mastercard, The BRIT Awards, The North Face and NatWest. Worked across brand identity, publication design, UI/UX, web development and more, including a decade of healthcare design for Oyster and mission-driven creative for Avert, an HIV/AIDS charity. Owned every aspect of running a creative business: clients, briefs, budgets, pitching and operations. Notable projects included the Haçienda book — a large-scale, elaborately produced publication created in collaboration with designer Andy Vella — and a long-running relationship with The Center for Cartoon Studies in Vermont, where the brand and website evolved organically over many years. Clients spanned the UK, Europe, the US and Australia, working across time zones with organisations including ELIA (European League of Institutes of Arts), Global Water Intelligence, and a construction trades platform in Sydney. The breadth of the work — from book covers and academic journals to event graphics, digital advertising and WordPress builds — reflects the creative and commercial versatility that underpins everything since.
2017–2021	Creative Director & Owner Make it Red	Full-service creative studio in London and New York. Clients included Save the Children, Starbucks, Microsoft and Carphone Warehouse. Our team won Awwwards Mobile Excellence, CSS Design Awards Special Kudos, and CSS Winner Site of the Day — all in 2017.
1998–1999	Design Intern / Junior Designer Pentagram	Worked directly for a Pentagram partner on book covers, book design, packaging, and client presentations.