London’s famous blue plaques have served as a permanent tribute to Britain’s notable men and women since 1866. Yet only a handful of those honoured are of African or Caribbean decent. Ignored or discriminated against by the establishment during their lifetime, many historically significant individuals continue to be excluded posthumously. Their names and the important contributions they made to society are at risk of being forgotten or even erased from history forever. The Black Plaque Project seeks to preserve this precious history and keep these stories alive, because inclusion should extend to how society celebrates its past.

30 new plaques, on 30 buildings, keeping 30 stories alive. Because, some of the greatest Britons were Black Britons.

Thanks to the extensive news and media coverage the project has helped expedite the permanent installation of a blue plaque for at least one of the featured figures so far. Winifred Atwell was the first Black person to have a number one hit in the UK, and still the only female instrumentalist to do so. Recognition at the big awards shows has also helped gain exposure for this important initiative.

“Remarkable” - AdAge

Volvo & Sky Atlantic present the true story of the virtuoso the world never heard. The remarkable and moving tale of Rosemary Johnson, a violinist who’s promising career was tragically cut short by a brain injury which left her almost totally paralysed. 29 years on, thanks to breakthrough technology, she is learning to play music again, using just the power of her mind. 

Directed by D.A.R.Y.L and showing exclusively on Sky Atlantic and at volvocars.co.uk/humanmade throughout 2017

“Music expresses that which cannot be said and on which it is impossible to be silent.” - Victor Hugo

“Incredible” - The Telegraph

The latest in Volvo's 'Human Made Stories' film series tells the story of a Father & Son duo, who despite having virtually no agricultural experience, have devised a way to grow crops on the sea bed. In response to diminishing availability of viable farm land and an increasingly volatile climate, Sergio Gamberini and his son Luca decided to explore possibilities the last place any farmer would even consider. The Ocean.

Winner of Vimeo 'Staff Pick', Directed by D.A.R.Y.L and showing exclusively on Sky Atlantic and at volvocars.co.uk/humanmade

"With Earth's burgeoning human population to feed we must turn to the sea with understanding and new technology. We need to farm it as we farm the land." Jacques Yves Cousteau

"We can only love what we know, and we can never know completely what we do not love" - Aldous Huxley

1 in 5 children in the UK have never even seen the ocean. To these kids ‘ocean sustainability’ is an abstract concept. In fact, the destiny of the ocean may now be in the hands of generation that simply has no connection with it. Tom Franklin, a primary school teacher from South London, has set up a social enterprise to help promote ocean literacy amongst inner-city children. He hopes that by helping kids fall in love with the ocean they will become ocean advocates and help protect it. Before its too late.

Directed by D.A.R.Y.L, episode VI of Volvo’s multi award winning ‘Human Made Stories’ film series is showing exclusively on Sky Atlantic throughout 2018/19.

“Beautiful” - AdAge

Last Summer I led Droga5 creative development on a new Saudi ‘gigaproject’ called Qiddiya. A 334 km sq concept city built entirely around play, where the physical and digital coalesce to create an entertainment destination somewhere between Vegas and Fortnight. The brand platform we developed was ‘Play Life’, here is the global launch film.

26 Designers. 26 Posters.
1 unique alphabet.

It may save ink, but could we persuade the creative community that Ryman Eco is a viable design tool? We invited 26 award winning Designers to create an artwork with a different letter from the font set. A unique alphabet, by designers for designers. Stress testing the font and demonstrating its versatility and elegance. The artworks were exhibited in a forrest and then curated permanently online at www.rymaneco.com 
Featured on over 100 design blogs and downloaded over 65,000 times in less than a year. Ryman Eco is the most successful font launch this century.

When Scientists declared the Mauritius kestrel ‘unsavable’, one man refused to give up hope. On the island once home to the Dodo, a young biologist named Carl Jones found himself in a race against time to stop history repeating itself. Volvo & Sky Atlantic present the true story of a working-class boy from Wales who went from breeding birds in his back yard to saving the rarest bird in the world and 8 other species from the brink of extinction. Created to highlight Volvo’s commitment to reduce the carbon footprint of its cars and ambition for carbon neutrality by 2040. The Birdman is the 7th film in the series by multi-award-winning director D.A.R.Y.L, and is showing exclusively on Sky Atlantic.

“Epic”
Campaign

“The Birdman exemplifies the best in branded entertainment”
SHOTS

“Compelling”
Forbes

“Commercial content that’s actually interesting”
Fast Company

Editor’s Pick - AdAge

Staff Pick - Vimeo

‘FINALIST’ - Tribeca Film Festival

‘DOUBLE GOLD WINNER’ - The Creative Circle

Ryman Eco - A font that could help save the planet.

Launching a free font, that uses 33% less ink than standard fonts, may not seem like the smartest idea if you're in the business of selling printer cartridges. But Ryman, the office supplies retailer, realise that if you're part if the problem, you have to be part of the solution. Ryman Eco is a collaboration with Monotype's Dan Rhatigan. Downloaded over 65,000 times to date. It hasn't saved the planet yet, but it's a start.

A kinetic installation for Schwartz Spices

What does flavour look like? How does it sound? These are the questions that inspired Herb & Spice company, Schwartz, to create a ‘The Sound of Taste'. An audio visual installation in association with DJ, MJ Cole, exploring the intense effect herbs & spices have on the senses. 'Flavour' was translated into a piece of music, the notes and chords of which were then converted into a series of perfectly synced spice explosions. Different Herbs & spices were ascribed to different notes based upon their flavour characteristics. For example, a bright and clean E-flat major chord became fresh green chives. While C, G and E-flat, were ascribed to fenugreek seeds, paprika and turmeric powder. A rich program of film content was unleashed into social channels.

A poster that uses prototype ‘touch sensitive’ ink to turn the surface area of paper into an interactive interface. Part of Schwartz 'Sound of Taste' campaign, each herb and spice depicted in the artwork was assigned a musical chord matching its flavour characteristic. When the artwork is touched, different chords are triggered to create a symphony of flavours. The posters helped promote Schwartz herb and spice blends to a trade audience.

Who's up. Who's down.

The Rich List is the biggest event in the Sunday Times editorial calendar. Each year it publishes a comprehensive league table of Britain's wealthiest people. Everyone knows, wealth can go down as well as up. So we playfully re-imagined some of the Rich List's celebrity millionaires as Yoyos. The concept was used to promote the feature in The Times, across digital platforms and outdoor.

Choreographing a new language.

Before there were words, tweets, texts - we had body language. The Puma ‘Dance Dictionary is a digital application that turns words into dance moves. A social tool that lets people encrypt messages into dance and upload videos to Facebook and Twitter. Created to launch Puma Fragrances, it enables people to Dance the things they dare not say. It is the most comprehensive inventory of dance moves and their meaning, ever created. The 'Dance Dictionary' launches with a bespoke track by Dancehall Producer Dre Skull and a video shot by MTV award winning Director, Daniel Wolfe. In addition to the digital platform there is program of content including a documentary series featuring the dancers who collaborated on the project, tutorial films that teach people how to do the moves and a TV campaign. More than just a social marketing campaign, a brand new language.

Bringing colour to life

The new generation Pixma printers were launched primarily in social media. High-speed photography captured sound waves passing through coloured paint. When shot with HD macro lenses at 5,400 frames per second, the sound waves are visualised as intricate and colourful formations. Each one unique. The project was Liked, shared and Tweeted about and after just a month, the online films had received over 2 million views. The concept enabled Pixma to reach a Europe wide audience with minimal media spend.

The Times and The Sunday Times present the A-Z of The Rugby World Cup. 26 films forming an anthology of the language of the tournament.  Released in social media to promote the papers all star editorial team. 

Vaio-john.com

‘Be like no other’ was designed to position Sony Vaio as the laptop for independent, creative people. John Malkovich became the figurehead in a iinteractive experience, which centered around an online script writing experiment. Malkovich wrote the opening scene of a short film on his Vaio and invited people to continue the story. He edited thousands of submittions in realtime and 3 months later, the script was complete. We also created a series of biopic films about Malkovich and his idiosyncratic perspectives to promote the project. Viao-john.com was supported with cinema, print and outdoor advertising across Europe. The project was shortlisted for a Cannes Cyber Lion.

Swap Monsters

Swap Monsters are interchangeable vinyl toys that split in half to create unique hybrids. 8 original creatures can be swapped in various ways to create up to 256 new species. Swap Monsters is currently at prototype stage of development and has featured in a design exhibition at the Museum of Modern Art in New York.

Tag with a camera

To launch the new Canon Digital IXUS, we invented a game called ‘Photo Tag’. The rules of PhotoTag are simple - take as many photographs of other people as possible without being photographed yourself. Print ads in style bible, Vice magazine and a film about the game were used to drive engagement. We also initiated series of PhotoTag battles by seeding the rules of the game on social networking sites.

A moment crafted

When you've been brewing ales for 200 years, your craft becomes intuitive. To dramatise this, Greene King IPA collaborated with another King of his craft, legendary improvisational percussionist Steve Noble. A mesmerising, unrehearsed freestyle drum solo, every single one of the beats fine tuned in 100s of late night jazz clubs over the last 40 years. The full length film premiered exclusively on Vimeo with a programme of bespoke content for selected style and culture blogs.

in association with Green Tomato Taxis

Toyota Prius wanted to leverage its association with Green Tomato Cars, the environmentally friendly taxi service. London’s forgotten buildings became canvases for a series of nocturnal laser murals. The technique enabled us to temorarily transform the decaying industrial landscape into a magical, green wonderland. The laser murals were created in association with Toyota Prius using prototype laser technology. A camera and PC system tracks a laser pen across the surface of a building and generates graphics based on the laser's position. A bespoke collective led by Graffiti artist turned film maker, Luc Yanin, collaborated on the project which existed entirely in social media.

A gender equality initiative from Britain's best known washing up liquid on International Womens Day 2016

A long-form documentary created in partnership with The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) telling the story of the first-ever refugee Olympic team. This trailer appeared on Google's home page and a suite of 15 second Instagram stings launched just before the Rio 2016 opening ceremony. 

In an effort to disrupt and ultimately end the Ivory trade, Kenya burned its 105 tonne stockpile - the largest in history. We branded it, created an online community around it and broadcast it live to over 1.5 billion people using Periscope and Weibo. One of the most ambitious live streamed event the world has ever seen. The project was awarded a Gold PR lion at Cannes International Fextival of Creativity 2016 and won Grand Prix at Drum content Awards.

We take them for granted. Peas.
But as any Pea Farmer will tell you, this tiny vegetable has a long and arduous journey to our plates. This is the epic story of Britain's favourite little vegetable and the people who grow it.

Art and art galleries are at danger of becoming irrelevant amongst the Instagram & Snapchat generation. In an attempt to attract younger visitors to the gallery, this campaign ignored the conventions of art exhibition adverting. Instead of simply showing the artworks, we told the stories behind them.

Newspaper sales are quietly on the wane, The Times decided it was time to make a noise in a different medium. For the first time in its history, The Times opened its doors to film makers. 13 powerful documentaries exploring the cultural impact The Times has had on the world. Receiving critical acclaim from even its fiercest rivals. The Independent heralded it “Not just an ad campaign, a celebration of Britain’s greatest reporting traditions”. The Guardian described it as “A tribute to agenda-setting public service journalism”. Part of the challenge with branded content like this is packaging it all up in way that makes it meaningful to consumers, the media. This trailer can helped create fame around a project and launch it into pop culture. 

The project earned over 300 Million earned media impressions.
Subscriptions to The Times rose by a rate of 16% as a result. It also won Cannes Lions, D&AD and Creative Circle awards for Branded Content.

The Ad Industry talks a lot about diversity, but is slow too change. 
To make a statement against prejudice, and to mark its centenary year, GREY did what its Jewish founders couldn’t back in 1917. It put their names on the door. Grey re-branded to Valenstein & Fatt. From signage to phone salutation. Social media channels, website, the lot. We established a cross industry diversity task force, a nationwide schools outreach program, one to one mentoring and even the Valenstein & Fatt bursery to help pay a year's rent for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds.

·   229,000+ LINKEDIN IMPRESSIONS

·   19M+ SOCIAL IMPRESSIONS

·   6.64M PR IMPRESSIONS

·   14 RIVAL AD AGENCIES & 8 INDUSTRY BODIES PLEDGED SUPPORT
 

Grey London's fiercley talented design team asked me to create a film to amplify the 2017 identity and award annual they had created for The Creative Circle. I wrote and directed this teaser film and shot behind-the-scenes stills to showcase the ‘Anti-craftmanship’ that went into the project.

Of all the projects I was involved with at Grey London, this is probably the one I'm most proud of. I helped shepherd Lifepaint through all its stages of development from concept to launch and crafted the aesthetics & storytelling. We all knew it was an idea worth fighting for but nobody predicted it would become a Cannes double Grand Prix winning, global phenomenon. Lifepaint is now available at Volvo dealerships around the world.
The best validation that we had created something culturally significant came when 50 Cent described it as "Pretty Dope".

A few statistics...

7M ORGANIC YOUTUBE VIEWS
188M TWITTER IMPRESSIONS
4.8 BILLION MEDIA IMPRESSIONS ACROSS 156 COUNTRIES
90,000 CANS SOLD SINCE LAUNCH
LIFEPAINT IS NOW AVAILABLE IN 42 COUNTRIES

It’s hard to say exactly what makes driving a car unique or pleasurable. Its the combination of different factors, some of which the you are conscious of, many of which you aren’t. With the V40 R-Design there are lots of lovely small design details. In isolation they may not seem that significant but they all combine to create an incredibly satisfying overall experience. We likened it to an extraordinary piece of music performed by an orchestra, each small component playing its part in the overall piece. The film features Marie Rosenmir, one of Sweden's most respected Conductors.

In partnership with Sky Atlantic, Volvo ‘Human Made Stories’ is a powerful drama series based on remarkable real life events. Nemo’s Garden - The story of one man’s dream to build a farm on the bottom of the ocean. Music of the Mind - The tragic tale of Rosemary Johnson, the virtuoso that world never heard. The Unseen Ocean - A moving story about London’s inner city children who have never seen ocean. The Telegraph called the films simply ‘“Incredible”. Volvo 'Human Made Stories’ is now into its third season, with combined views of all episodes in all formats, of over 32+M.

A 7 minute film with less than 20 seconds of car in it could be considered ‘indulgent’ by conventional automotive advertising standards. However it is estimated that the campaign has generated a net profit of between £8.9m and £12.7m for Volvo, an ROI of £2.30 for every £1 spent. The UK is now Volvo’s fastest growing European market and in 2020 Human Made Stories was recognized with an IPA effectiveness award.

A CHILDREN'S BOOK TO INSPIRE THE NEXT GENERATION OF OCEAN GUARDIANS 

Volvo continue the fight for the ocean's future by targeting children in a medium they are most familair with. In partnership with award-winning illustrator, Jago Silver, ’The Day the Ocean Went Away’ is a fictitious story about a little boy called Jack, who loves the ocean but wakes up one morning to discover that tide never comes back. Jack journeys across the dry seabed to find out why, meeting all sorts of beleaguered ocean creatures along the way. Whether it's a plastic bag-filled blue whale or a mermaid caught up in plastic fishing nets, Jack soon discovers that the ocean has plenty of reasons to go away. 
1 in 5 Children in the UK have never seen the ocean. The hope is that this book will find its way into the hands of children who have never experienced the ocean and help them understand its fragility as well as introducing them to the basic concept of sustainability.

'The Day the Ocean Went Away' is printed entirely from FSC recycled stock and is available on amazon.co.uk. All proceeds from the book will go help more inner-city kids experience the ocean.

Acceptance, equality and inclusiveness are values that Volvo cars hold dear and live by every day. For 2017 Pride in London, Volvo sent out a message of support to the gay community with a playfully twist to their famous ironmark. The ad ran on the cover of the London Metro’s Pride supplement. 

Swear Jar is a mobile app that uses Google's voice recognition technology to detect expletives. It turned F**KS into Buck$. Created in partnership Red Nose Day, for every swear-word it recognised, it donated 20p to charity projects. It helped Comic Relief achieve an annual total of £73 Million and picked up two Cannes Lions. 

The watch that won WWII

Once Britain's most prestigious watchmaker and a competitor to Rolex, the name Vertex had been forgotten by all but vintage watch collectors. But in 2017, the brand that made one of the most important wrist watches of the last century, was re-launched. Our brief was to tell the story of the legendary Vertex Caliber 59 WWW, issued to British special units during the second world war. And to feature the limited edition  Vertex M100, a tribute to the Cal 59. A series of print ads and collectable posters inspired by the history and aesthetic of the watch itself. A wonderful collision of tradition and modernity. Both contemporary and 1940’s typefaces combine with design details like the broad arrow symbol, the watch seconds indices and the distinctive double red dots. Deconstructed images of both watches are spliced together to dramatise how faithful the M100 is to its 1940's predecessor. Finally we worked with the Royal College of Art trained Printmaker, Jonas Ranson of Blacklist Editions, to create a vintage silk screen finish. This is the first advertising Vertex has produced in over 50 years.

To honour the 75th anniversary of the official end of all WWII hostilities and the soldiers, sailors and aircrew who wore its watches, Vertex has released a limited edition bronze version of the watch it supplied to the Ministry of Defence. Working with photographs and artefacts from the company’s archives, we created a set launch materials befitting this very special watch.

The iconic Pringles tube is one of the most instantly recognised pieces of packaging on the planet. However, it is less well known that Pringles also come in ‘mini’ sized tubes. Roughly 1/3 of the standard size. This playful campaign portrayed the mini tube as the off spring of Pringles. “The little one”. Adding new meaning to the old saying ‘a chip off the old block’.

While many brands use Valentines day as sales opportunity, Pringles advised people to avoid their product. With just a handful of posts on Facebook we reached an audience of 19M+ people in a single day.

In the age of obsolescence, Braun, the company that shaped 20th Century industrial design, had become just another ‘shaver brand’.
It was time for a new communications aesthetic. A reductive, geometric graphic system inspired by 60 years of iconic products. An elegant, functional, essential design vocabulary, true the ethos of legendary Braun Designer, Dieter Rams. ‘Good design is as little design as possible’. Flexible enough to adapt to all surfaces and consumer touch points, physical and digital. From packaging to point of purchase, advertising to internal comms. 

Since Doomsday, books have been rectangular.
That was until 2018’s Creative Circle Annual.
Designed at an 11 degree angle. 
Just enough to stand up, one degree under than angle of annoyance.
It messed up bookshelves and ruined straight lines. 
That’s what the Creative Circle awards champion, work that stands out.
Not work that fits in. The distorted design aesthetic continues throughout each spread. 
Twisted typography, asymmetric angles, and counterintuitive crops.
All to convey Creative Circle’s particular slant on creativity.

The UN wanted to engage 16 - 24 year olds with the Climate Change Conference where Politicians were poised to make possibly the most important decision in the history of our planet.

The People’s Seat. The first seat in UN history not representing a nation, but the World’s people. It gave regular people all over the world a voice at the summit. For the first time ordinary people could speak directly to the decision makers. Sir David Attenborough invited social media users of the world to send their messages, experiences, hopes, fears and ideas.
This data shaped a landmark speech, which he delivered in person to the UN.


1.3 Billion people reached wold wide.

19 Million watched on Facebook & Facebook Live.

A historic climate change agreement was signed.

The signage we interact with every day hasn’t evolved since the 70’s. 
Partnering with Europe’s biggest retail development, Westfield, Volvo unveiled a new set of symbols for Family Parking spaces and reinvented an outdated signage vernacular. 
Challenging society’s unconscious exclusionary attitudes and championing today’s diverse family model.

Sometimes a good old fashioned visual twist is all you need.

EDF Energy - Electric vehicle overnight charging

You don’t always need to shout to be noticed. This film for EDF ENERGY quietly got the point across about low carbon overnight electric vehicle tariffs.

prev / next

I once built a jet pack out of upcycled hair dryers. It worked, but was difficult to steer.

From engaging long copy and powerful headlines to brand vernacular, brand / product naming and international language toolkits. I have crafted stories for a variety of brands, businesses and organisations that connect with audiences as diverse as media, policy makers, consumers and children. Whatever the communications channel, I meticulously arrange words for optimum impact. In a commercial context, how copy looks is as often as important as what it says, so I am always prepared to rearrange or rethink my words if a line break or word count is unkind to the designer.