I have always been inspired and drawn to art, our environment, architecture, landscape, signage, product and surface design, especially textures and colour so when studying it was always a creative path I was bound to take.
Because I am good at organising, I love structure and balance, adore typography, and am still fascinated how images can communicate may different messages I have been a graphic designer all my working life. Working in small design agencies in Leeds gave me a wide range of understanding of the industry which enabled me to run my own small business for the last 14 years!
Being a good communicator and wanting to help people I was always drawn to training and teaching. Qualifying as a dual professional on 2001, I have been a part-time lecturer and trainer in the field of design and marketing for the last 20 years, in educational and business settings.
This gives me a unique set of skills to be able to facilitate knowledge in an effective way, so I can do the design for you or teach you how to do the basic everyday stuff yourself, which I find is a great balance.
Being a continual learner is an addiction of mine, I find it inspirational and fascinating how there is so much more we can learn and develop as individuals and certainly had my eyes opened when I undertook my Masters Degree in Creative Practice, specializing in data storytelling working cross-disciplinary with clinicians and medical researchers.
My drive to excel and achieve has been passed on to my two daughters who have both graduated this year with 1st class BA (Hons) Degrees, my youngest in Textile Design and the eldest in Criminology. This is incredible and amazing, considering half of their degree was during the pandemic and access to the universities facilities was not an option, so they spent all their time in each of their rooms! Their work ethic is fantastic and are both very driven and talented individuals which makes me burst with pride!
My husband, like myself find rewards in the simple things in life, spending time with friends and family, relaxing in our wood, getting out in the open countryside as well as seeing live music whenever we can! Although I am partial the odd music and dance festival, and dance in my kitchen a lot whilst cooking. I am a gym goer and also like the odd sky dive, balloon ride or zip wire whenever we can fit it in!
I consider myself very lucky to have such great friends, family and clients and subconsciously surround myself with like minded people!
Honesty. Passion. Continual learning. Authentic.
I want to work with business owners who value design and marketing as an integral part of their business growth strategy. Developing relationships, knowing my clients and their business so I can provide great design and marketing stuff for you to grow your business.
I have been a designer for 30 years this year, a small business owner for 14 years and I have taught design and marketing to students, adults and business owners for 21 years in a range of settings!
That makes me officially old but experienced which I can bring into our relationship, to help you grow your business and reach your goals!
As a small business owner we have many roles and wear many hats. Overwhelm, exhaustion and euphoria play their part well so knowing which hat to wear when - knowing what we’re good at, which hat we can wear successfully and which hat can we let other wear for us, is the trick and this is where I can help.
I specialise in branding, logo design, everything which promotes your business from social media, email marketing to the good old fashioned printed flyers, brochures, vehicle livery, shop signage and eye-catching direct mail! It's more important than ever for your business to show-up, stand out and be seen and I can help you do this!
HND Visual Communication
Certificate in Education FE, HE
Masters Degree in Creative Practice
questioning - I love the question 'why?'. It's my favourite because it makes people think about their business in a different way and I see it as my job to help small business owners become more aware of how and why their brand's values, designs, social media posts need to do a job and have a purpose!
Besides being proud of my 2 girls, who have achieved 1st class hons degree despite being in lockdown for half of their degree from Russell Group universities. I am proud of my achievements; helping so many business owners feel confident about their business, and being able to teach design and marketing and to inspire thousands of students, adults and business owners make me very proud indeed!
I love logo design and seeing how this feeds into a client's brand is so rewarding. It also instills confidence which can then permeate into all your sales and marketing activity!
Helping small businesses succeed is my driver, it's why I get up in the morning because I know through design, I can help you to make a difference and the fact I still love design is a huge bonus! I cannot think of anything better other than teach you the design basics!
I want to develop long standing relationships with my clients. I ask lots of questions so I can learn about you and your business and know what your business does, what your goals, values, so I can design more effectively and help you get the results you want for your business. Knowing what works and what is right for your business can be overwhelming but with my design skills, knowledge and experience I can help ease the overwhelm!
I can also train you and/or your staff to do the 'small everyday stuff' to show up better, stand out against your competitors by taking one of my online courses or teaching you on 1:1 basis - so you have control and don't need to buy templates or pay a designer for the day-to-day stuff - because you can do this for yourselves if you want to!
Good design connects with your audience, so you can engage with them, it enables more sales, it enables you to make more money and gets you nearer to your dream life!