My Background
A journey through 16 years of digital product design, leading teams and helping complex problem solving.
Current Employer:
New Icon
Current Position:
Head of Design
Current Role Length:
10 Years, 4 Months
Experience:
Senior
Head of Design
New Icon
Aug 2021 – Present
As Head of Design at New Icon, my role is split between digital design on one side and management of a three-person design team on the other.
As Head of Design:
I support, mentor and collaborate with the entire design team.
I manage projects and accounts both internally with sales, project managers and developers and externally with clients.
I’ve implemented a new process and collaborative approach to kicking off projects.
I’ve worked with directors to restructure and realign how we sell design as a service - bringing the offering in line with how development services are sold and keeping them true to the agile methodology.
I oversee the quality and delivery of all things design in New Icon.
As Senior UX/UI Designer:
I lead the full end-to-end design process - from discovery to delivery - of complex software, mobile and web applications, consumer products and websites for startups, SMEs and enterprise organisations all over the UK - collaborating on projects with software engineers, project managers and clients.
I’ve lead the development of a bespoke Innovation Kit tool which has successfully launched as Newicon’s first product, with sales to organisations including Bristol U.W.E (UK), Kongsberg (Norway), Ikea (Sweden) and Cartier (France).
I’ve lead the planning and preparation of an extended nine month Innovation Programme for Cartier and a group of their internal workforce.
Senior UX/UI Designer
New Icon
Feb 2018 – Aug 2021
As the Senior UX/UI designer in a design team of two, my role was primarily a creative one.
I worked through the full end-to-end design process - from discovery to delivery - of software, applications, products and websites for startups, SMEs and enterprise organisations all over the UK - collaborating on projects with both digital marketers and software developers in a team of eighteen.
I began leading workshops, discovery and requirement capture sessions as well as more structured project management responsibilities.
I oversaw the work of the junior designer in the team who was new to the digital design industry.
I co-created New Icon’s Innovation Kit. Guided by design thinking, user-centered design methodologies as well as our own internal processes, we created the beginnings of a new innovation tool that could be used by organisations of all shapes and sizes as a kick-starter for innovation.
UX/UI Designer
New Icon
Feb 2016 – Feb 2018
Working under Newicon’s Design Director, I was the sole UX/UI designer at the company. This was a role with huge focus on digital; websites, applications and software.
I collaborated on projects with both digital marketers and software developers in a large team of ten.
I worked on projects ranging from responsive website design and e-commerce stores, mobile applications and back-office software systems for startups, SMEs and enterprise organisations all over the UK.
As the only designer in the team, I covered all aspects of the digital design process. Taking part in kick-off workshops, discovery and requirement capture sessions, creating visual concept sketches and high-fidelity wireframes, building completed visual designs with clickable prototypes, client presentations and project handovers.
Graphic Designer
Yoto Creative
Feb 2013 – Feb 2016
My first full time role at a traditional design agency, I was the only designer in the company.
I worked side-by-side a developer and our client director in a team of three, helping to deliver a variety of projects for startups and SMEs around Bristol and the South West.
I worked on a range of projects, including logo and brand design, print design, illustration, iconography and responsive website design were our primary services and it was here where I started to become attracted to the world of digital design.
Graphic Designer
Freelance
Aug 2010 – Present
Having graduated from University in June 2010, the first two and a half years of my design career were as a freelance creative. This period of time gave me amazing insight into the real-world of design.
I quickly had to learn how to manage real projects and real clients with real time pressures and real budgets.
I had the freedom to improve my knowledge of other aspects of the design industry, including the print process, digital design and prototyping which would be of huge benefit going forward.
I worked on projects that covered anything and everything, ranging from logo and brand design, print design, infographic design, social media marketing, packaging design, illustration, iconography and responsive website design for startups and SMEs all over the UK.
I made mistakes which have proven to be invaluable.
Education
BA (Hons) - Graphic Design
University Centre Weston – w/ Bath Spa University
Sep 2007 – Jun 2010
2:1 - Upper Second Class Honours
2009 Governors’ Prize for outstanding achievements in Creative Arts
BTEC National Diploma - Graphic Design
Weston College
Sep 2005 – Jun 2007
DDD - Triple Distinction
2007 Governors’ Prize for outstanding achievements in Creative Arts