about me
What I am like
My clients say that they love working with me. They say I’m easy to work with, that I listen, and that I provide a high-quality service promptly and efficiently. I’ve had some of the same clients since the day I went freelance. I love my work.
My biography
Before I’d even graduated from university in June 2000 I landed a junior role in a small communications agency in Cambridge. Our client-base grew and I became senior designer. While there I designed for FTSE100 companies and household names like Blackwell’s Bookshops, InterContinental Hotels, Bass PLC and Marks & Spencer.
After three years, with the support of my old boss, I decided to go freelance. It was tough at the beginning, but I slowly grew my client base through hard work and word-of-mouth. In 2007 I moved back home to sunny Cardiff again.
Current clients include National Museum Wales, CIO Connect, DCA Consultants and The Institute of Information Security Professionals.
The way I work
In a nutshell, I’d say you combine very solid design skills with talented illustration abilities and an unerring intuition – a kickass combination which means you deliver not only excellent quality products, but ones that hit the exact sweet-spot they’re meant to.
When people commission me I pay close attention to who they are, what they want to say, and whom they want to address, and then I help them say it. This might be through a logo, a business card, a website, a brochure, a poster, a set of dinosaur masks… anything, really. And if I don’t have the technical know-how to do something, then I will know a reliable, value-for money expert who does, and we collaborate.
I quote a fixed price, regardless of amendments, so as long as the brief stays the same the client has no unpleasant surprises.
Technical stuff I own and can do
Illustration for children's dinosaur workshop, National Museum Wales
I work on the latest Apple MacPro G5, with Adobe’s most recent Creative Suite 5 (InDesign, Photoshop, Illustrator, Acrobat etc). I design websites using WordPress and Cascading Style Sheets (CSS). I illustrate using pencil, brush, ink, acrylic paint, Illustrator and Photoshop.
I own a range of good-quality photography. I can also source imagery from libraries or commission original photos for you.
I can source print. I’ve been working with a wonderful independent print sales expert since 2004. He gets the best print quotes and when things (occasionally) go wrong, he finds the best way to fix them. He’s brilliant.
Gwasanaeth Cymraeg Welsh Service (sort of)
Dw i ddim yn rhugl, ond mae llawer o profiad gyda fi gyda dylunio yn Gymraeg – dw i’n gallu dangos enghreifftiau ac cael tystlythyrau o Cymry Cymraeg.
I’m not fluent, but I have lots of experience designing in Welsh – I can show examples and obtain references from Welsh-speaking clients, who say I’m faster and more efficient than monoglot designers. Hooray!
