I work efficiently within your requirements, budgets and deadlines to enhance your team's capabilities.
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Clients value the passion I have for everything UX, digital, branded and printed. This is a small taster of work done.
My focus is in UX, digital design and interaction, however there are many complimentary skills that can be brought to bear.
I specialise in designing UX and digital design solutions for large complex global and national web services where both brand and technical requirements are paramount.
Often large scale developments require hundreds of pages of brand and digital guidelines to be carefully negotiated and blended with complex wireframe models all wrapped up an an ever evolving responsive and mobile oriented landscape. It is no easy feat, but one I relish and specialise in.
I help businesses punch above their weight, taking their ideas and make them sing in a way that is both visually impactful and stimulating, but also refreshingly engaging.
I have been working with creative and marketing agencies for over 9 years delivering consistently solid results and ensuring their people have the confidence to really sell in their services.
Large, premium brands have been a stable diet for many years and we love to digest complex brand and digital guidelines to deliver brand compliant and engaging results.
Whether this is for John Lewis, Waitrose, HSBC, EY, Legal & General or Lamborghini, over the years we have absorbed their requirements and applied their high standards to produce brand compliant designs whilst maintining the most creative solutions.
We work with larger agencies who need a temporary injection of creative power without the annual overhead of maintaining a department.
We work with them on site or at-a-distance to create solutions that meet the often very strict requirements that household brands often demand.
Businesses can have the vast amounts of valuable data which needs to be clearly and cleverly presented to their clients, or through social media or to the press.
We work with businesses to transform static data into publication and social media friendly graphics that are sympathetically branded to suit the company and intended audience.
In an ever changing technology rich world of mobile first, social media second and everything else a close third, brands can struggle to maintain their freshness in a viually competitive market.
We work at the very forefront of the digital / mobile revolution and can work with our clients to educate and instigate brand change or creation to meet the increasingly demanding lifecycle a brand faces.
this is were I share my latest thoughts, news and announcements
Let's describe my role within the digital journey of taking a product from a twinkle in someone's eye to a live project. How would I fit into this process?
READ MORE Everyone within a team has value and provides a certain level of expertise and skill. Let's describe my role within the digital journey of taking a product from a twinkle in someone's eye to a live project. Where do I fit into this process?
At one end of the spectrum there may be a spark of an idea, a list of objectives and a need to raise interest and capital. At this end of the spectrum a lot of work is needed with the stakeholders to conceptualise and visualise a product or service for the initial investment / partnership process that galvanises concepts and ideas into tangible solutions which ultimately lead to greater investor engagement. Engagement through visualisation is something I enjoy the most. This is a time in a project where the possibilites are infinite and you have an opportunity to add flesh to a cncept for everyone to emotionally engage with. This might require an entire pitch presentation, which I am well versed in.
So let's assume an innovative idea has created the interest to raise investment, a team is in place to push the idea forward, technologies are in place and the product needs to take its first form. It is at this point I would start working with the team through group workshops and one to one sessions to refine the objectives and interrogate the products core functions. Initial work might be sketched, drawn or computer generated visuals, functions are roughed out and new ideas thrown into the mix. The first draft will likely be a series of wireframes, visuals and/or sketches to determine common elements such as taxonomy, structure, function, content and flow based on the objectives, specifications and the users anticipated needs, thoughts and actions.
It's important to note that this process will hardly ever be perfect first time, but it's important to do as much streamlining as possible. Now is the time to question everything and cover off those dead ends, barriers, pain points and excessive clicks. Simplify the process. Can any unique functions we are using be replaced by commonly understood functionality (this can shortcut an unnecessary education process). It is also at this point we should be thinking about how we 'continue the affair'. Where are the natural breaks in the journeys where a user may drop off and what, if anything, can we put in place to assist them before departure or if they leave, push them to return at a later date? How do we start a conversation, pick it back up and maintain it?
In order to prove our theories and ideas, wireframing and initial prototyping is key. This may expand across multiple viewports to cover mobile, tablet and desktop if this is a web application. By performing user testing and further workshops on our models we can test in real-time without development time which will provide a greater insight into how the product flows. Getting things right now avoids costly changes at the development stage and ensures everyone understands exactly what they are creating.
Whilst a protoype is interactive and describes the flow of the journey and some of the interaction at key stages, branding, typography, colour and animation / interaction have a significant emotional influence on user behaviour. If UI and design concepts cannot run in parallel with prototypes, be prepared for further adjustments to the journey based on the user responses to a visually richer and more interactive experience.
Finalising the design process involves working with the developers and stakeholders to ensure that the designs are faithful to the specifications, wireframes and prototypes and meet any brand requirements and desired easthetics. Flourishes really enhance a product and take otherwise good interactive solutions to another level. It is important that you have the full support of the front end developers sa they will be implementing any detailing. Animation and interaction can be worked through with developers until a final series of build assets, style guides and build guides can be created and handed over to the developer team.
Above all else, communication across teams is paramount to success and keeping conversation open and honest will reduce stumbling blocks along the way.
A big thank you to all the team at Autotorq. Two years as Head of UX and Design and I had a fantastic time delivering all things automotive and luxurious.
READ MORE A big thank you to all the team Autotorq. Two years as Head of UX and Design and I had a fantastic time delivering all things automotive and luxurious.
Autotorq is one of the few large agencies to offer fully responsive, pan-European solutions to the Car Industry, and as delivering UX, digital responsive, brand compliant UIs is in my sweet spot, it seemed like a good match. And I was right!
I wish you all a fond farewell, and stay in touch!
Big Brave Dog has turned nine years old! Traditionally this anniversary requires a pottery, willow or sometimes leather gift, but we prefer cake...
READ MORE Big Brave Dog has turned nine years old! Traditionally this anniversary requires a pottery, willow or sometimes leather gift, but we prefer cake and coffee.
A big thank you to all our clients who have worked with us over the years, in particular all the boys and girls at Autotorq, Micheal de Kare-SIlver, Fridaygirl, Dam Digital, Kristall Group, Orion Global, Victor and...well, everyone else. It has been a sincere pleasure!
A very Merry Christmas to all you snow lovers. Unfortunately in London and Cornwall it's still raining, but you never know what could happen.
READ MORE A very Merry Christmas to all you snow lovers. Unfortunately in London it's still raining, but you never know what could happen.
We will be closing the offices until early January to let the pack run wild. Until then we wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
we'd really love to hear from you so why not drop us a line and we'll get back to you as soon as we can.
