Currently Head of Creative at University of the Arts London; I set up and head up the in-house design studio at University of the Arts London.
I get excited about ideas with legs—good design for; people, processes, products.
It's all about the who, what, where and why, then crafting and tailoring that story so it can be told with continuity on different platforms or places—whatever the scale or human needs at the end of it all.
In my current role, I am responsible for leading our in-house Creative team of multi-disciplinary designers crafting impactful work which aligns with the brand's purpose. We have a mixture of specialisms in our talented team and roles covering permanent and freelance, junior to senior. All of us work on a variety of projects across many touch points for the university and colleges, typically including; design systems, campaign designs, strategical design and design thinking and digital product design.
The wider Brand and Creative team play an essential role in managing the brand and championing creative best practice. Alongside the Associate Director of Brand and Creative, I am constantly looking for opportunities on how our team can help the organisation deliver it's strategic aims and advocate for the importance and value of creativity.
As an experienced practitioner and champion for agile methodologies, I enjoy bringing this into everything I do to empower teams to do their best creative work. The type of creative leadership, culture and team environment I strive to cultivate is collaborative, innovative, resilient and adaptable. This keeps our purpose as designers alive and allows us to continue to propose new points of view, ideas and craft meaningful interactions.
Previous experience: Habitat, Channel 4/4 Creative, TOPSHOP / TOPMAN, Specsavers, Pfizer, The Natural Dyeworks.
Since graduating from Central Saint Martins, UAL, BA Graphic Design in 2008, I have built up varied experience working in-house, studios/agencies and freelance, for large and small clients, across digital, advertising, experience design, service/product design and print.
I also enjoy mentoring and lending my Creative and Design Direction, Brand Strategy and design skills to female owned start ups and small businesses. I’m always working on something—arranging foliage, taking photographs, styling an interior. I obsess over obsessives, photography, architecture, interiors, the sea, pickled eggs, houseplants, golden rum and maps—sometimes all at the same time..
Projects
- Happy #PrideMonth 2023!Our campaign for 2023 focuses on our LGBTQ+ community at University of the Arts London. We are proud to have one of the highest level in our sector for LGBTQ+ representation among students and staff. To honour this, we developed a campaign design in collaboration with our brilliant LGBTQ+ community in a workshop and photoshoot — capturing moments of pride in Polaroid portraits. Bringing these snapshots together is a powerful celebratory visual metaphor for our LGBTQ+ community. Polaroid Photo
- The Natural DyeworksBranding for a small female owned business. 'The Natural Dyeworks was founded by Ros, a natural dyer living in the Kent countryside with her partner David, daughter Poppy and Border Terrier Polly. We make small batch, slow crafted, hand dyed ribbons, accessories and homewares using the alchemy of 100% plant based dyes, which are natural and non toxic.'
Work history
Head of CreativeUniversity of The Arts London (UAL)
London, United KingdomFull Time
Design LeadUniversity of The Arts London (UAL)
- London, United KingdomFull Time
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Skills
- Advertising
- Visual Arts
- Branding
- Environmental Design
- Print Design
- Art Direction
- Websites
- Typography
- Wayfinding Design
- Design
- Environment
- Illustrator
- Indesign
- Photoshop
- Digital Design
- Visual Design
- Visual Development
- Graphic Design
- Photography
- Creative Art Direction
- Art Directon
Education
BA Graphic DesignUniversity of The Arts London (UAL)
- London, United Kingdom
Graphic Design & Photgraphy
Awards
D&AD Global Student AwardD&AD
Crafts (Illustration)
Dyan Sheldon Book Covers