About
I’m a Creative Director who likes complex briefs. The kind with a lot of moving parts, different opinions, practical constraints and no immediately obvious answer. My job, as I see it, is to help find the thought at the centre of all that and turn it into something people will actually care about.
I’ve been doing it across live events and brand experiences for some of the world’s best-known organisations. My work has ranged from international ministerial summits and politically sensitive government events to global corporate conferences, exhibitions and immersive experiences. I’ve worked across strategy, concepts, storytelling, spatial and experiential design, audience journeys and pitches - and know how to collaborate with production to make a great idea a reality.
Experience has given me a lot to draw on, but I think its real value is judgement.
Knowing which part of a brief really matters. When an idea needs pushing and when it needs simplifying. When a client needs challenging, when they need listening to and when they simply need you to come back with a strong answer. When a creative team needs direction and when the best thing I can do is give them the space and confidence to make the work better themselves. And knowing where ambition ends and wishful thinking begins when it comes to actually delivering the work.
That matters to me because I don’t think Creative Direction is about putting your fingerprints over everything.
I’m adaptable by nature. Different briefs, clients and teams need different things, and I’m wary of arriving with a predetermined way of doing things simply because it worked last time. I’d rather understand the problem, the people and the context first, then work out what I can bring that will be genuinely innovative.
For all the experience, though, the bit I love is finding the idea that makes the difference and
working out how to turn it into something memorable and achievable.
Because, ultimately, I don’t think creative leadership is necessarily about always being the most creative person in the room. It’s about helping create the conditions for the best work to come out of it.
Experience
Below are just some of the areas I have worked in and some of the projects on which I was creative director.
They are just a visual 'snapshot' of my experience. For a deep dive into any of these, and many more projects,
or just to get a better idea of who I am and what I could bring to your pitch or live project please contact me.
Images of the ‘shiny’ outcomes can only say so much. A picture may help paint a thousand words but usually,
a thousand words means having a conversation.
Available for freelance and contract assignments — remotely, UK-based or with travel
Government - High Profile Live Events
I have worked on multiple high profile government events and have an in-depth knowledge of the unique parameters they present.
By default your audience consists of high net worth individuals, ministers, prime ministers and heads of state and royals, including Kings and Queens.
Time frames vary between two years and "you want it when!?". Multiple stakeholder approval processes are the norm as is the global media spotlight and the biggest parameter, along with budget, is the high level of security that every event demands. These are just a few of the challenges that I am used to negotiating to get the best creative outcome.
Live Events
During my career I have worked on many live events across a wide range of industry sectors.
These have spanned everything from product launches, brand reveals, behavioural change programmes, sales and incentive conferences and more. Despite this variety they were all based around the same critical premise, a total understanding of the client and audience followed by a great idea and collaborating with the right people to achieve flawless execution.
Tradeshows/Exhibitions
My involvement with tradeshows
and exhibitions didn't happen until the latter part of my career. As such,
I entered this area as a senior creative and so inevitably started by looking at exhibitions through a live events lens.
I believe that an exhibition is just a different type of live event, albeit with a few very different parameters. It's been interesting to experience the shift since then in how businesses communicate with people and the subsequent shift in trade shows to a more 'live' and immersive type of experience. With the advance in technology and the way people now absorb information it's inevitable that this evolution will continue apace.
World Expo's
I worked on both the world expo in Dubai 2020 (21/22 due to covid) and more recently, Expo 2025 in Osaka, Japan.
The main remit for both expo's was the UK pavilion's 6 month programme of event design and delivery, although for Osaka this extended to also working with the architects on the interior design. My biggest single contribution was working with the client on the ideation, scripting and design of the UK National Day video that was run in the huge Al Wasl dome in Dubai. This presented some exciting opportunities as Al Wasl is the largest hemispherical projection surface in the world with 42 projection pods and 27 sound arrays. What you saw and heard was different wherever you stood giving vast creative opportunities.
I have, on occasion, had the opportunity to work on projects that have included the design of the actual venue as well as the experience it contains.
Working with architects I was able to affect the architectural design to influence how the building worked both as a physical brand expression but also how it worked as a customer experience. A major factor was also building in the flexibility that would allow the design to flex and evolve as the brand and products did. The opportunity to design the building around the experience rather than the other way round was an interesting and challenging change.
Installations
Events by their very nature tend to be short lived, temporary affairs, a 'moment in time'. I have worked on several projects which have been more permanent installs.
These again introduce a different type of audience. You may be telling a story to a very eclectic demographic so you cannot assume even a basic level of subject knowledge. Whether you want the visitor to leave impressed about a new engine or with memories of a great fun experience will depend on how you tell the story and the experience they had during the telling.
Pavilions
Quite often a temporary event and environment but with a more permanent feel.
Pavilions represent a brand's 'home
away from home' and I have extensive experience in this type of event especially in the aerospace and film & TV sectors. They are (usually) a mixture of product immersion and hospitality which requires a perfect balance between the two, especially where they overlap.
