I was tasked by The Leith Agency with bringing a unique concept to life through the medium of illustration for Macallan Whisky.

As part of the launch of their ‘Distil Your World’ Mexico edition whisky brand, the brief was to illustrate four mythical creatures known as ‘Alebrijes’, which were presented as a combination of Scottish & Mexican animals.

These represent the whisky’s Scottish heritage and its Mexican-inspired tasting notes.

The animated stained-glass-window illustrations were showcased on large LED screens at exclusive consumer events across the globe.

View the animations here.

Lacoste approached me to design a ‘city badge’ for a limited edition Manchester polo shirt to be sold exclusively in the Manchester branch of Selfridges.

The design combines various elements of Manchester’s architecture, history and culture and was made into an embroidered badge.

Flow is a design agency specialising in animation and motion graphics. They commissioned me to create these stained-glass style designs to decorate the windows of their Manchester studio. 

Each design was based on a stage of Flow's creative process.

The designs were printed onto vinyl and applied to the inside of the windows.

The PLAYHOUSE competition was a collaboration between its originator, Carma Masson of multi-disciplinary design studio Playground Design, Ben Clark Design , and myself.

The idea of the competition was to encourage creatives from all backgrounds to design something to enable people to play at home during lockdown, and to raise funds for the National Emergencies Trust’s Coronavirus Appeal.

The competition attracted 142 entries in total from 40 different countries.

I was asked to create the main image for use on the website, competition brief and promotional material.

The illustration was then turned into a window installation at Hilton House in Manchester city centre as part of the 50 Windows of Creativity art trail, organised by Bee In The City and Wild in Art.

Logo and design by Ben Clark Design.
Competition concept and window build by Playground.
Animation by Inês Margarida at Flow.

This was a private commission from a mountain gorilla fan.

The red, yellow and blue represent the colours of the flags of the 3 countries where mountain gorillas live: Rwanda, Uganda and D.R. Congo. The words around the edges of the design, Mikeno, Visoke and Karisimbi, are the names of the 3 Virunga volcanoes where mountain gorillas are to be found.

Conceived in the wake of the Manchester Arena attacks, the book 'This Is The Place. Choose Love, Manchester' takes the lines from Tony Walsh’s inspirational poem about the city and sets them to unique artworks, illustrations and photography from over 60 creative individuals and agencies.

All proceeds were split between 3 Manchester charities: Forever Manchester, We Love MCR Emergency Fund and The Greater Manchester Mayor's Homelessness Fund.

I was invited to contribute an illustration based on the line 'Our Inventions Are Legends'. The design combines some of Manchester's lesser-known inventions with the more famous ones.

I was commissioned by the agency Marketing Manchester to create an illustration to feature on the pages of a white paper created by Greater Manchester Local Enterprise Partnership called ‘Material Gains: Building Better Cities for People and the Planet’. The paper accompanied an event at which leading commentators from the fields of science, industry and academia explored the future for Greater Manchester as enabled by advanced materials.

The illustration imagines the city region in 2038, by which point it is hoped that Greater Manchester will have achieved carbon neutrality. The brief was to illustrate a futuristic vision of a region enabled by low carbon growth and advanced materials and initiatives, incorporating recognisable Greater Manchester landmarks and potential innovations in transport, industry, agriculture and infrastructure.

Another take on the famous Manchester worker bee, a well-known symbol of the city. The ten nuts represent the ten boroughs of Greater Manchester, the red represents the red rose of Lancashire, and there is a nod to Manchester’s grey skies and rain.

Available as a print here

Beat Herder music festival commissioned me to design the backdrop illustrations for two lineup posters and a flyer.

Some designs based on the famous landmarks and heritage of Stockport, initially designed with the intention of being used on glass.

I was approached by developers Step Places to design murals for 4 sites in their new residential development, Cotton Square in Ancoats, Manchester.

Ancoats was at the heart of the Manchester’s cotton industry and there was once a cutting room on the site, so I developed a set of graphics inspired by industrial revolution-era cotton-processing machinery.

Illustration for the cover of the 'Make Hay' EP by UK folk group 'The Local'.

In Place of War commissioned me to create an infographic based on the findings of the Art In Peace research project, conducted in collaboration with The University of Manchester.

I was commissioned by fashion technology magazine The Interline, to design the cover of their annual Fashion Sustainability Report.

This deep-dive report on the evolution of technology for fashion sustainability covers “the changing landscape of legislation, the mechanics of traceability, the outlook for skilled workers in a circular value chain, and much more.”

The report is available to download here.

This was a commission to design a piece of stained glass to be inserted into the client’s front door. The brief specified that I include the house number and a selection of symbols that represented the client’s family, interests and heritage.

The waves represent the river Clyde, from where the client’s family originated; the pen nib represents the client’s writer daughter, and the bicycle wheel represents the client’s favourite hobby, cycling. The colours are taken from the family tartan and the red star represents the client’s business, which has a Soviet name.

The window was made by Kyran Hall Art Glass in Levenshulme.

Agency People Activation commissioned me and 6 other local illustrators to illustrate a line from their ‘Team Code’. Mine was ‘Celebrate Success’.

I developed this illustration from a section of my Flow windows design, based on the concept of exploration. It was available as a print.

Studio Dotto commissioned me to create an illustration to promote the Liverpool Everyman & Playhouse Theatres production, ‘Our Lady of Blundellsands’.

Design, typography and art direction by Studio Dotto.

The design is pictured in the Spring 2020 Everyman and Playhouse ‘What’s On’ guide. Photography by Laura Hutchinson.

x+why is a London-based company that creates flexible and innovative workspaces with excellent environmental credentials.

Their first workspace in the north of England was opened in a brand new building in Salford, called 100 Embankment.

I was commissioned by design agency Mammal to design two murals to enhance the corridor that leads the way into the building’s roof terrace, which is a space for events, classes and networking.

I designed a personalised print as a surprise gift for my friend Paula. There are references to her job as a doctor; Ljublijana and Lake Bled in Slovenia; Manchester, Newcastle, Giraffes, Ireland, Cocktails, Communism, and a ridiculous trip in a rowing boat we shared which ended in comedy capers.

Illustration for a hair salon in Manchester.

Working with Mocha I designed a suite of illustrations for The University of Liverpool. The illustrations were animated and featured in short films designed to attract new students to the university. Each illustration highlights a different school, covering its research topics, and is inspired by some of the stained glass windows in the university’s Victoria Building.

Below are the static illustrations, followed by the full films.

I was commissioned to design a print for a birthday present. The client asked me to include the recipient’s 2 cats, as well as references to the guitar, Greece, San Francisco , New York and coding. The client also wanted me to include a bee, which is the meaning of the name Deborah.

Working with Manchester agency Creative Spark I was asked to create illustrations as part of the brand refresh for Zen Office. These were used for product brochures and promotional material, and for a mural in the company's reception area.

San Carlo is an established Italian restaurant brand with leading restaurants in Bristol, Leicester, Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds and London. I was asked to create a wall graphic for the boardroom of their new Manchester headquarters.

The brief was to incorporate 6 of their prestigious restaurant sites and a splash of Italian-flavoured street activity.

This is my contribution to an exhibition called 'The Science of Play' , which was part of the Design Manchester 2014 Festival.  
 
The exhibition brought together some of the best creative talent in Manchester to explore the meaning and importance of play.

This piece combines 2 classic games, 'Space Invaders' and 'Pinball', to create 'Pinball Invaders'. 

The print is on sale at the their online shop, and all profits go the charity Play360, which designs and builds playgrounds in the developing world.

I was commissioned by animator Lovejimbo to create assets for an animated film about for IT and consulting company Accenture about their use of Google AI trends.

Editorial illustration for Alliance Manchester Business School’s twice-yearly ‘Research’ publication. The image illustrates the lead article regarding the ‘levelling up’ required between North and South transport infrastructure projects. It appears both on the cover and next to the article inside the magazine.

In 2016 the creative agency The Neighbourhood asked me to participate in their Christmas campaign ‘Your Type of Christmas’. The idea was to illustrate a gift chosen from a list compiled by the public and other agencies. My gift was a ‘Robot Raconteur’. Some of the designs were then displayed on a rooftop billboard.

As part of the 2017 Design Manchester festival, the Anthony Burgess Foundation hosted an exhibition which saw designers from around the world share new design ideas for classic novels. 

I was invited to participate and chose the 1961 novel 'One Hand Clapping'. The novel was intended as an indictment of what Burgess saw as the degradation of contemporary Western education and culture. 

This project was to provide illustrations for a post-doctorate research paper for University College London, encouraging homeowners to retrofit their homes energy efficiently. The illustrations were intended to convey a message that a low-energy dwelling provides a better platform to enjoy everyday life.

The illustrations cover four different age groups: young people; families with young kids; empty-nesters/ pre-retirement; and retired elderly people.

Working with Mocha I designed a suite of illustrations for The University of Liverpool. The illustrations were animated and featured in short films designed to attract new students to the university. Each illustration highlights a different school, covering its research topics, and is inspired by some of the stained glass windows in the university’s Victoria Building.

Manchester hiphop group 'The Mouse Outfit' asked me to design the artwork for their debut album. The mouse contains samplers, brass instruments, keys bass, drums and microphones.

Client: The Mouse Outfit

Here’s a print I designed for my friend Stacey to celebrate her 40th birthday. ‘Stacey’ apparently means ‘fruitful’ and ‘resurrection’, which inspired some of the imagery. She loves a good rave too, hence the speakers in the butterfly’s wings.

Working with the Conran Design Group I created a graphic which was made into a feature wall at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's new premises in New Bailey, Salford.

I was commissioned by Mocha to storyboard, design and illustrate an animation to explain Liverpool John Moores University’s new measures to students, staff and visitors in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is my contribution to Lazerian Studios' "Gerald" Project. More than 100 of the world’s most exciting and influential artists, illustrators have taken a paper dog  and made it their own as part of the two-year project, culminating in a book launch and exhibition that took place at New York Design Week in May 2013.

Each dog is available to buy as a limited edition paper kit and all the dogs will feature in a limited edition, large format hardback book.

You can buy my dog here.

A graphic to promote PopUp Bikes' bike jumble sale, to be used on social media.

I was asked by architecture and landscape design agency Levitt Bernstein to design a postcard to be auctioned to raise money to help combat Manchester’s homelessness problem. The auction, in partnership with Shelter, featured pieces from the city’s famous faces, creative industries and those who have lived experience of homelessness. The theme was “What does ‘home’ mean to you?”.

My design features abstracted Mancunian imagery which spells out the word ‘Home’.

This is a collaboration with animator Tom Mathieson. It was created for the '10x10' exhibition, which launched the Design Manchester 2014 festival, the theme of which was 'The Science of Imagination'.
 
I decided to create a fantastical portrayal of how an idea is generated, from the initial absorbtion of exterior influences, through to the 'Eureka!' moment, when a metaphorical lightbulb is illuminated.
 
View the animation below or visit Vimeo to watch on a larger scale.
 

In Place of War is a global organisation that uses creativity in places of conflict as a tool for positive change. I designed an illustrated poster to demonstrate the importance of the creative arts in their work.

This is a cover for the science fiction novel 'Westmore and More!', by author Jud Widing.

Manchester Climbing Centre commissioned me to create a mural for one of the walls in their West Gorton-based centre, which is in a Victorian church. The mural depicts some of Manchester's most famous landmark buildings being scaled by climbers.

Client: Manchester Climbing Centre
 

Working with agency Collect Creative, I created a set of illustrated luggage tags featuring architecture and scenery from 5 different cities; New York, Barcelona, Milan, Amsterdam and Paris. These were displayed in the window of Bags Etc in Salford's Lowry Outlet Mall, as part of Freshtival, an event to celebrate 10 years of the Fresh Awards.

Each tag was paired with a product from the shop. In the few days that the display was present, sales of those particular products increased.

Client: Collect Creative

Working with agency Collect Creative, I created a set of buildings and other elements. These were to be assembled for marketing literature for the client, Armstrong, a company which deals with the construction, design and maintenance of old and new buildings.

Client: Collect Creative/Armstrong

This is a set of kids' temporary tattoos that I designed for Gumtoo, based on helicopters and planes.

I was commissioned by Mocha to create backgrounds and characters for a short animation to promote A-Levels at Knowsley Community College

The worker bee was adopted as a motif for Manchester during the Industrial Revolution, at a time when Manchester was taking a leading role in new forms of mass production. The bee denotes Mancunians’ hard work during this era and Manchester being a hive of activity in the 19th century.

In September 2015, Salford-based printing studio one69A held a competition to invite the artists, designers and craftspeople of Manchester to design a worker bee to represent themselves or their studio.

This was my entry, which was eventually made into a t-shirts, postcards and a limited edition of 25 prints, featuring metallic gold ink.

Manchester hiphop group 'The Mouse Outfit' asked me to design the ‘Remixed’ version of their debut album (Escape Music), for which I also designed the cover. 

The Versus playing cards project is a collection of 52 illustrations by 13 artists, all presented as a box of playing cards. I illustrated the Ace cards.

My idea for the Aces was to work with the shapes of the 4 very recognisable suits and fill them with fantastical cities; in space, under water, on land and under the ground.

They are available to buy here.

 

I was commissioned by Mocha to create backgrounds for a film aimed at new students at Liverpool John Moores University. The illustrations were animated and overlaid with live action footage.

I was commissioned by film production company Mocha to design and illustrate an animation to help celebrate the 50th anniversary of Alliance Manchester Business School.

The brief was to create an animated film to accompany a poem written by Manchester poet Tony Walsh aka Longfella.

The poem encapsulates Manchester’s originality, innovation and boundless achievements across science, business, hospitality, sport, infrastructure and music; whilst celebrating the School’s heritage and ongoing contributions to the City.

Client: Alliance Manchester Business School

Chillingo, a division of Electronic Arts, is 'the leading indie games publisher for mobile'. They commissioned me to create a playful creative mural for their offices in Macclesfield.

Client: Chillingo

'Meanderings' is a collaboration between myself and creative coder Dan Hett. I designed sets of tiles which Dan fed through some maze generation algorithms, to create create twisting, impossibly dense, hyper-intricate designs that we called 'Meanderings'.

This selection of designs represent the first output from the collaboration, and was exhibited at Nexus in Manchester’s Norther Quarter during April 2017.

Prints can be bought online from: http://meanderings.tictail.com

Cover artwork for virtuoso rock and metal guitarist Paul Gilbert, for his album 'I Can Destroy'.

I was commissioned by animator Lovejimbo to storyboard, design, illustrate and direct these animations for the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) to describe the nuclear fuel cycle and the future of nuclear energy.

I designed two images for screen printing, specifically for my exhibition at Manchester's Electrik bar. The 2 designs were screen printed with metallic gold and silver inks by one69A in Salford.

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