Lydia with sketchbook

In a world where anyone can create communications, where do you start?

I’m a graphic designer, creative director and sketcher with a curious mind and decades of professional experience. I can help you show what you do, explain, report, invite and engage. And I start by finding out more…

On design projects, I take care to understand why you want to produce something and who it’s for so that I can make ideas relevant and usable. I delve into subject matter to find stories and spot connections. I read the words. I care about context, to make each thing play nicely with your other materials. There’s the craft that comes from my years in the design equivalent of Michelin-starred kitchens. I check skills so that templates for internal implementation can have user guides at the right level. And my experience of how long things take helps with project and production management.

On creative direction, I add breadth of knowledge to your brand development, giving you an overview, an understanding of the communication and practical jobs that a visual identity needs to do and insight into how brands develop over time. I know what questions to ask to produce brand guidelines that meet your needs and have the right balance of rules and flexibility. And I use the way I think, and the way I draw, to lead brainstorms, help you work out programmes and look at processes. That’s why my long-term clients often treat me as a creative partner.

On sketch commissions, I bring my drawing head and my design head to your project. For live illustration, I’ll find out about your venue and style of event so that we can choose formats and materials that fit. For activities and workshops, an advance recce enables us to discuss people and practicalities. And for sketch illustration, alongside the creative brief and the story that you need the work to tell, I consider any technical or brand needs that you may have.

And on speaking, whether it’s a show and tell or a design talk for entertainment, I care that it’s interesting, I put in the design work to make the slides elegant and I write to your timings.

Every project starts with a conversation. So if you’d like to chat, get in touch.

Bio

Born into 1960s adland, I started drawing before I could walk and I’ve never really stopped…

I studied Foundation and BA(Hons) graphic design at what’s now UCA Canterbury and graduated with a first and an RSA student bursary. I spent 10 years working at London design practices, including Pentagram and Lewis Moberly, before going freelance in the early 1990s.

Based in East London, I work solo and in collaboration on an array of interesting projects. My clients range from local to international and from large organisations to individuals.

In recent years, I’ve broadened my practice, using my knowledge to help clients on a strategic level and bringing sketching, once the unseen part of my design work, to the fore. And there’s a continuous process of learning and experimentation, often using personal projects as lab and playground.

Out of the studio, I’m a prolific filler of sketchbooks.