20 years of design and innovation, the creation of IP and the development of international brands. Honoured by the Royal Television Society, Apple Design Award, D&AD, BIMA, Webby's and the Art Director's Club in New York. Served as part of the creative leadership for agencies in WPP and Publicis Groupe. Today, the Founder and CEO of Aide Health and author of Spark for the Fire: How Youthful Thinking Unlocks Creativity. Advisory board member of D&AD Shift.
Represented clients including Formula 1, Volvo Cars, H&M, Virgin Atlantic and the Clinton/Branson-founded production company HiddenLight. Previously one of the founding partners of tech startup Zolmo, a studio best known for its award-winning work with Jamie Oliver and some of the top-grossing, top-rated apps of its generation with over 20 million downloads. In its first year, Zolmo was ranked in Design Week's Top 50 Design Consultancies.
Graduated best-of-show from university with short animated film 'Solar', later joining visual effects company The Mill as an art director, designing commercials for Audi, Nokia, Electronic Arts and Sony Games.
Spoken at 30+ conferences around the world including Semi Permanent and Thinking Digital and contributed to BBC World News, Sifted, The Guardian and Creative Review. Since named an Art Directors Club' Young Gun', one of Creativepool's Top 100 Influencers, BIMA's Digital 100 and Campaign Magazine's 'Most Powerful People in Advertising'.
Weekly newsletter
Short, actionable writing on the avoidable things that limit creativity in teams and individuals.
ianwharton.substack.com
Online course
Self-paced online course to help creative and entrepreneurial people get more of their ideas made.
selltheidea.co
Projects credited in
- Elton John — The CutOn the 50th anniversary of Elton John and Bernie Taupin’s songwriting partnership, AKQA launched 'Elton John: The Cut’. In collaboration with YouTube, we gave undiscovered film makers from around the world the chance to create the official music videos for three Elton classics: Tiny Dancer, Rocket Man and Bennie & the Jets.
- May 2018 (applications closed)Here's one for people with a love of the Digital world. The Dots Digital Design, UX/UI & Motion Graphics Portfolio Masterclass will take place at AKQA on Tuesday 30th May 2017. There are 30 spaces available at this event. Apply to join by Monday 22nd May, 11:00pm>> Apply here This event is supported by Squarespace, Shutterstock & MOO.13
Work history
Chief Experience OfficerSuperunion
- London, United KingdomFull Time
VP, Executive Creative DirectorPublicis Sapient
- London, United KingdomFull Time
+ Show more
Skills
- Advertising
- Film
- Writing
- Art Direction
- Design
- Creative Direction
- Public Speaking
- Animation Direction
Education
C
C
BA, Multimedia Design, Animation AdvertisingCumbria Institute of the Arts
- Carlisle, United Kingdom
Graduated Best of Show.