Exhibit, Event, Graphic, & Product Design.
I’ve worked on a lot of events, both large and small. Projects include: Diamond Jubilee Pageant, Qatar National Day, RSA Conferences, Centenary of the UK Territorial Army, and multiple horse based extravaganzas.
Graphic Design is an element present in most of my projects. I have also done projects where Graphic Design was my primary role. I’ve designed books, posters, maps, pitch documents, flyers, set scenery, building wraps, and advertising.
I trained as a product designer so I also do that. Most often developing bespoke parts for exhibitions like object cases, or display plinths.
I’m a multi-skilled designer with 31 years experience. In 2016 I moved from New York City to Sydney Australia. I’ve designed exhibitions ranging from museum exhibits to car launches across the UK, Europe, Middle East, Australia, China, and the USA.
I’ve worked on projects for the Queen of England, the Emir of Qatar, Microsoft, Intel, Ford, Nissan, Toyota, Audi, Volkswagen, Acura, Citroën, Skoda, Nokia, Bonhams, UK National Motor Museum, The Wallace Collection, the National Museum of Australia, and the Australian Museum, to name a few.
Scroll down or choose a category of work to view:
Exhibition stand for McLaren
Exhibition stand for McLaren. Notionally, this was for the Geneva motor show. It’s an exclusive VIP zone. The forms took their queues from the very streamlined cars. The project went through many iterations. The visuals show various snapshots along the way.
Interior for McLaren, UK
Interior for McLaren. The space is for customers to see the options and configure their cars. This project coincided with the release of the McLaren Speedtail. The forms took their queues from the very streamlined car. As usual the project considered different rooms, and went through many iterations. The visuals show two snapshots.
Volkswagen Goodwood Festival of Speed UK
Volkswagen pavilion at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.
3D modelling & rendering of GTI logo, Facade graphics, simulator graphics, Bar Backing.
Audi Polo Event Cambridgeshire UK
The stage set is made in three pieces. Three identical fibreglass parts were taken from a mold. Care was taken to reduce visible repetition in the polygon pattern. Edge polygons were kept whole so as to reduce the visual impact of the seams between the panels.
The design was refined using SketchUp. the initial panel was made into a component and copied twice more so visual impact of changes to the polygons could be assessed in real-time. Using this method you have a lot of confidence that the finished piece will fit together seamlessly and will turn out as you envisaged.
Stage set design, Media wall. Bar Backing.
Royal Windsor Endurance
Set design & production. Graphic design for directional signage, banners, and Royal Box for the Royal Windsor Endurance Race.
The castle consists of two 10m tall scaffold towers joined by a 20m bridge. The structure is wrapped in bespoke graphics printed on PVC. The graphics were developed from details from Windsor Castle. The towers were 3D modelled, lit and rendered to achieve the trompe l’oeil effect.
Pitch for G8 Summit in Northern Ireland
Concepts for the G8 summit held in Enniskillen Northern Ireland.
3D Modelling, Visualisation, Interior design, Master planning.
Diamond Jubilee Pageant
Spectacular involving 550 horses and 1,100 performers from around the world to celebrate Queen Elizabeth II’s Diamond Jubilee. The four-day event took place on the grounds of Windsor Castle. Everything you see was built for the show. The site is normally a paddock. The stage, modelled on Buckingham Palace provided a backdrop for projection and opened up to reveal an orchestra stage.
Serco stage backdrops
The backdrops were built using stock photography and delivered as a layered photoshop file. Art-workers then swapped out the lowres positionals for highres.
Audi Head of Business Pitch Document
Pitch document graphic design for Audi Head of Business Celebration. Usually, these pitch documents are absolutely key to winning work from the clients. They are also less constrained with practical matters than real jobs and are all about ideas. They can be great fun to work on.
Audi, Kings Place, London
Cad Drawings & Artwork for Audi event at Kings Place, London. The project included a floating stage for an Audi R8 Spyder which was in reality a clad barge.
iPad Stand product design
Product design and visualization for an iPad stand that would make the iPad useful for event organisers and gallery situations. In these public situations, iPads are just too easy to steal. They need to be protected. Also charging and managing software updates are a problem. This stand was designed just before the first generation iPad was released. It secures it and allows for battery augmentation while retaining something of the iPad aesthetic. The design allows the iPad to rotate to accommodate both landscape & portrait apps. The rotation can also be locked in place if so desired.
GTV Television Set
Set design for the MTV studios, London. GTV is a cable football (soccer) show for European audiences
Respect TV Set
Inexpensive TV set for part of the Blair Government ‘Respect Taskforce’.
Collage made of colorised half tones. Printed on vinyl film and applied to polycarbonate twin wall flats.
Visualization, Graphic design.
The Art of Citroën
The Art of Citroën, was a special exhibition at the National Motor Museum, Beaulieu, in collaboration with the Citroën Conservatoire in Paris showcasing the history of Citroën, to the present day. The display was carefully crafted to realise the potential of the brief while keeping in mind the technical and budgetary requirements.
I was part of a three person team on the project. My primary role was to design the graphic backdrops for the exhibition, which were essential story telling elements for the exhibit’s theme.
Museum referee: Steve Lanham, Exhibitions Officer, National Motor Museum, Beaulieu
Workshop Drawings
Because we are already working to scale in 3D during the concept phase, the transition to fully detailed workshop drawings is an easy one. With these, contractors can very accurately quantify materials and costs.
Client review points
Built into all our projects is a process of client review. It’s very important for everybody that there be no surprises in a project. Regular client review at project milestones ensures that good communication happens.
Program of Build
Prototype 2CV
In the technical delivery phase of a project it is very important to have a clear idea of the critical path. Being aware of project element dependencies is vital for a high quality exhibit to be opened on time and on budget. For example In the case of The Art of Citroën, it was necessary to give the large format digital printing used for the backdrop to the show, sufficient time to dry before transporting to site. This meant the artwork for the printing had to be complete weeks before the show opened. The backdrops were installed on a timber framework as the first part of the build. Another level of complication to the on-site build was the museum remained open throughout. temporary structures were erected to allow the public access to the Museum safely compartmentalised from the work.
Onsite supervision
In the interests of excellent results, it is very important to communicate with contractors on site. Especially if a snag is encountered. The Art of Citroën build on site went very smoothly mostly due to our accurate 3D appreciation of the space.
Object conservation
Most of the objects on display in The Art of Citroën were reasonably hardy form a conservation perspective. That is not to say visitors were encouraged to touch most of them. Barriers, tensor ropes, and a glass case were used to protect sensitive objects from the public. The two exceptions to this were the centrepiece C6 and one of the DS’ which visitors could sit in.
Artwork
The artwork created for the backdrop panels is originated primarily from archival marketing material from the Citroën Conservatoire in Paris. The scale of the walls meant that some of the original posters had to be re-worked to allow them to be reproduced with sufficient quality. The backdrops were there to cover the visually disruptive walls, but also to showcase some of the very innovative marketing carried out by Citroën, especially in it’s early years.
Tender package
Our tender package for most projects includes concept renderings, cad plans, and written analysis including budget in an A3 booklet, and a stand up presentation. For this show, we also made a physical scale model because it is such a good vehicle for conveying design intent to a group of people. Sketches, cad drawings and renderings can all be misinterpreted. It’s quite difficult to misinterpret a physical 3D model.
Once the tender has been won, we move swiftly on to client consultation and the more technical aspects of the job.
TECHNICAL:
Concept refinement
Curved wall concept
With client consultation, a phase of refining the concepts into fully detailed studies of the exhibition takes place.
Design development (rendering, card models, presentation panels)
To-scale cad plans are drawn. These are worked up into 3D renderings. The renderings and cad drawings are used to refine the concepts in an iterative process to arrive at reasonably accurate representations of the exhibition concepts.
Marketing role
As is often the case, we came up with the name of the show.
The Project
The National Motor Museum attracts Motoring enthusiasts and their families from all from all over the world. They also attract a large number of students from the UK and Europe. Commercially the Museum is also used for functions.
Physical Environment
The entrance lobby is the primary space for changing exhibitions at the National Motor Museum. Because it’s the entrance to the museum, there is a lot of natural light, due to large windows, and a long row of glass doors. It’s a high visibility area, and creates a first impression for the Museum visitor.
Budget
Like exhibitions at most museums, The Art of Citroën had a very tight budget. Although the budget was a real constraint on the creative side of the project, we delivered a display that enhanced the museum visitor experience, and told engaging, multi-faceted stories about the marque.
The £138,000 project was funded partly by the National Motor Museum, and partly by the Citroën Conservatoire in Paris.
Lighting
lots of natural light due to the glass entrance doors and windows. The space graduates to low levels of natural light towards the back. The objects on display – cars primarily, need a certain amount of theatrical lighting to make them really pop. Hanging points for truss lighting, and lighting circuits were available.
Art Direction
We sourced images and video to support the overall ambiance of the visitor experience.
People flow
Careful consideration of people flow was required due to the siting of the exhibition primarily within the entrance lobby to the museum. Very clear delineation between exhibit space and public space. While providing clear flow for visitors heading further into the museum is important, it is also important that interstitial spaces be provided for visitors to dwell and examine the exhibition.
It was a requirement of the project to allow large groups of French school children to view the exhibition.
Air-conditioning
Heat generated by lighting, visitor numbers and AV equipment were taken into account with the building services.
Assessment of response / other considerations
Client review presentation
The intention here is to fully represent the exhibition so that all players can appreciate exactly what it will look like once complete i.e. there are no surprises.
Education material (brochure, exhibition texts, video, archival advertising material)
We researched, wrote, created artwork for and arranged printing for all the exhibition texts
The educative material included wall texts, the archival material reproduced on the backdrops, a loop video of advertising and technical explanation material, and a print brochure.
Delivery (project management)
CREATIVE:
Preliminary concept drawings
A phase of discussion around the brief and surrounding material, and concept sketches to make real the creative ideas is our usual method of proceeding with a project.
Promising ideas recorded by sketches are taken to the next phase
