Helping With Intent

Over the years, I’ve realised there are two layers to helping people through design.

The first is helping my clients succeed: to communicate clearly, to stand out, to grow. The second is helping their people: the students, the customers, the patients, the teams. The people on the other end of what we make.

I work best when I can see both sides. When I know who we’re helping, and why it matters. That’s when design feels alive again. Not a service, but a force.

Finding My Why (Again)

There was a time when I lost my way. Running a busy creative agency pulled me from pillar to post, and I fell out of love with the work. I thought I was searching for something deep and clever… a new philosophy, a radical insight. But it turned out to be something very simple:

I like helping people.

I think most of us do. So building a creative life around that principle isn’t really a strategy. It’s human nature, and when we ignore it, things start to fall apart.

Three Projects That Helped People (And Helped Me)

The main corridor at St Teilo’s school.

St Teilo’s School

A Welsh secondary school with a diverse student base and a clear sense of mission. They wanted to evolve their brand to better reflect their values and bring those values to life around the school environment.

We created a bold, uplifting visual framework that linked each of their value personas to a historic figure. Stylised graphics now surround the school’s open atrium spaces, acting as everyday reminders of character and purpose. They even named their dragon illustration after me, which, I’ll admit, I took as a compliment.

What makes me proud is the way the environment now speaks to the students, reminding them of who they are and what they’re capable of, even beyond the syllabus.

“It has stood the test of time and now forms the basis for a new school mascot, designed to foster belonging and community.”

— Ian, Headteacher

The Leave Dates website homepage

Leave Date

A small but ambitious SaaS company offering leave-management tools to growing teams. The founders (a husband and wife team) lived locally, and I liked them instantly. I wanted to help them succeed.

We rebranded the business with a fresh identity and supporting visuals that brought clarity, personality, and polish to the product. It’s still one of the best SaaS products I’ve worked on, and the design has stood the test of time.

“The attention to detail is second to none… The end product is excellent both visually and technically.”

— Phil Norton, Founder

Helping good people create something useful, usable, and successful… that’s the kind of impact I want to have.

Poseidon, wearing an Omnipod insulin device, became the icon for the event in Monaco.

Insulet (Omnipod)

This one’s slightly different… a large, US-based healthcare company that produces insulin pumps for people with diabetes. I work directly with their internal events team and have collaborated with them for the past five years to brand their annual global conference.

At first, the scale of the organisation made it hard to feel connected to the people I was ultimately helping. But over time, that’s shifted. I’m now working more closely with senior leadership, helping to shape the event’s core messaging and bring strategic clarity to the year ahead.

And that’s where the connection becomes clear: when their internal teams align around purpose, performance improves. And when performance improves, the products get better. For Insulet, that means better technology, wider access, and ultimately, more people with diabetes living healthier, freer, happier lives.

That’s what I hold in mind.

That’s why it matters.

This year, I have been invited to Athens multiple times to help shape a stronger attendee experience. A sign of trust, and of our growing shared intent.

Design for Real People

When you stay tuned into the human element, it changes everything. It stops you designing for vanity or surface-level praise. It grounds your process in purpose. And it reminds you that good design isn’t just about looking good, it’s about doing good.

If you forget the people you’re designing for, you’re not really designing. You’re making art.

That’s not what I’m here for.

Let’s Design Something That Matters

If you’re building something that helps people, and you care about how it’s communicated, I’d love to hear from you.