Communication With Intent
I didn’t always think of design as communication.
Back in the late ’90s, while experimenting with Quark, Photoshop and Illustrator, design felt instinctual. I wanted things to look good, professional, original. Not out of ego, just because that was the job, as I understood it. Communicate something? Sure. But that was the client’s job. Mine was to make it beautiful.
That changed slowly. Working in bigger studios, running my own agency, stepping into strategy… somewhere along the way, the penny dropped.
Design is communication.
Not decoration. Not noise. Not just “making it look nice.”
What We Say, and How We Say It
Good strategy defines what we say.
Good design defines how we say it.
And that “how” matters more than most people realise. A skilled designer can influence people emotionally and logically simply by the way they present the message. Fonts, colours, layouts, and illustrations all speak their own language. And when used well, they reinforce the core message without needing to say a word.
It’s subtle, often invisible. But it works.
You’ve felt it, too, even if you didn’t notice.
Design Choices That Speak
The choices we make in design (fonts, colours, illustration styles) all carry meaning, whether we intend them to or not.
A bold, rounded serif might feel warm or playful. A narrow, finely detailed one might lean more traditional or refined. Soft colour palettes can suggest calm, care, or timelessness. Throw in a vibrant clash of colours and suddenly you’re grabbing attention, maybe even signalling disruption, if that’s what you’re going for.
Even the style of an icon or illustration speaks volumes. A clean, minimal stroke might feel modern and efficient, ideal for SaaS. A rougher, hand-drawn line might be perfect for a burger joint or independent brand with a bit of edge.
What’s interesting is when these expectations are flipped. A bold creative decision that breaks from convention can work, but only if the strategy calls for it. Otherwise, it’s just noise.
Design sends signals.
The trick is knowing what you’re signalling and why.
Clarity. Consistency. Creativity.
Three principles I come back to often. They keep me and my clients on track.
Clarity means knowing who you’re talking to and what they really need to hear. That means talking to people, not sectors. People with emotions, fears, goals. That’s who design has to reach.
Consistency builds trust. We live in a world full of noise. Most people won’t engage the first time they see something… or the second. The message and its presentation need to repeat, across channels, across time. Otherwise, it disappears.
Creativity isn’t just about beauty. It’s about finding fresh, relevant ways to communicate so that people notice, understand, and act. Anything else is just more clutter.
Where It Works
Take Brucan Pubs, now five strong, each with its own identity but united by a clear, consistent brand system. Every pub has its own logo (traditionally styled and sketch-illustrated), but they all sit within a shared visual framework. The signage, menus, websites, and communications follow the same formula. We simply switch out the logos and local details. The result is cohesion, efficiency, and recognisability without losing the personality of each location.
It took collaboration, planning, and trust to build, and it has helped the business grow steadily, even through the pandemic and recent economic pressures.
Or Leave Dates, a brand identity that’s held strong across years of digital growth. From the website to promotional materials (mostly digital ads across social platforms), the identity has held strong. It’s still fresh, clear and consistent. It makes the product easier to understand and easier to trust.
That’s the value of strategic design. Not just pretty, but performative.
Getting to the Right Message
Some clients arrive unsure of what to say. Others think they know, but things often become clearer once we start digging. Either way, I ask good questions. I listen. I help shape the message into something we can build on.
Sometimes it’s buried under sales targets or feature lists. But when we find the real message, the one that matters to the person on the other end, everything starts to flow.
I’ve learned to listen for that moment. To know when we’ve got it. And to know when we haven’t.
Without that clarity, design becomes noise.
With it, it becomes power.
Not Just a Designer
I used to call myself a designer. These days, I see myself as something more balanced; part designer, part communicator. Strategy and execution. Message and method.
It matters to me because there’s too much noise in the world already. Too many wasted messages. Too much money spent on surface-level design that forgets what it’s really trying to do.
I want to create less noise.
More clarity.
More meaning.
Let’s Make the Message Clear
If your work matters, let’s make sure your brand is saying the right thing, to the right people, in the right way.