Intentional Craftsmanship
My approach to work brings the same artistic rigor to a fast-turnaround commercial job as a high-profile sovereign contract.
Thirty years of experience has taught me how to scale my research, design and modelling, so that every client gets a result that adds value in the right places, no matter the budget or time frame.
In a world where AI has made polished visuals a commodity, I’m all about symbolism, metaphor and allegory as practical, useful design tools that add real value in a world swamped with ersatz creations.
I believe that every element of a design should earn its place, and that by understanding a client and a brief in context, an appropriate visual language will present itself.
I believe that in a commercial world, understanding “too good” is as important as “not good enough”.
I believe that a broad bandwidth of knowledge is a designer’s most vital skill, and to be able to respond to a brief with lateral conceptual thinking - to infer, to satirise, and to play with an audience’s expectations, sets human design above AI.
Tl;Dr: I don’t use AI anywhere in my creative process, but I’m a fast mover, and the time that I take to work with clients adds value at every step.
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I graduated from Loughborough Art college in 1995 with a degree in Silversmithing and Jewellery design. During my time there, I became interested in medallic art. I love the idea that a medal can be more than a symbol of achievement. It can be a 2 sided conversation, set up and punchline, question and answer….
After college, I took up an engraving apprenticeship with the British Royal Mint.
In the subsequent 15 years, I designed and sculpted coin reliefs for over 60 countries worldwide. I was Chief Engraver from 2004-2011, technical advisor to the Royal Advisory Committee that oversees UK coinage design, and advisor for the 2012 Olympic Medals.
During my tenure at the Royal Mint (as a designer, and later as a design manager), I learned to balance creativity with production, to use the boundaries of time, cost and client as mirrors to bounce ideas back and forth.
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In 2011, I left the Royal Mint and spent a year with GDR Creative Intelligence, a London based consultancy specialising in innovation within the retail sector. During that time, I worked with retail brands such as Intel, Louis Vuitton, McDonalds, and Build-a-Bear…
In 2012, I went freelance as a designer and modeller, moving away from traditional CAD modelling and teaching myself to use ZBrush.
Over the subsequent 13 years, I have produced nearly 2500 designs and models, for clients on all continents.
Along with my coin work, I also produce packaging embossings for the drinks and cosmetics industry.
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I’ve been an associate lecturer at Cardiff Metropolitan University for nearly 10 years, teaching mostly into the Graphic Communication BA course.
Drawing on my knack of finding ways to turn symbolism and metaphor into practical design solutions, I design bespoke workshops for all manner of scenarios - teambuilding, creativity, problem solving, or just unusual ice breakers.
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Design is, at it’s heart, about creativity within boundaries, and I’ve always loved the challenges that this represents.
For my sculpting projects, this means working with my clients to deliver as much creative value as possible within commercial timescales and budgets. I spend a lot of time adapting and developing processes that remove wasted time and allow me to focus on using my time to deliver creativity.
For my teaching and workshops, this means helping people understand the connections between their projects and the world around them, and by drawing comparisons, help them understand and solve their challenges.