Gareth David

Freelance Creative / Designer

A designer that specialises in logo identity and visual branding.

With over fourteen years experience I am extremely passionate about creating great ideas and exciting design.

My experience working with top design agencies has given me the opportunity to design and direct creative work across a wide range of successful brands including BBC, ITV, Sky, Amazon, Radeon, Speedway GP and L&Q Housing Association to name a few.

My portfolio demonstrates strong design experience with boutique and corporate clients, showcasing creative across print and digital communications, logo identity, visual branding, property-marketing, web design, media campaigns, concept artwork and promotional marketing.

I am in my element when I can research, think, sketch, challenge, imagine, and response to a brief. My ambition is to develop creative solutions and visual brands that impress, excite and inspire my clients and see them through across print and digital experiences.

When necessary I have the skills and experience to take projects from concept stage to completion. I inspire confidence with my methodical and responsive approach with the ability to take on a brief alone or as part of a creative team.

I believe design is not just about aesthetics and making things look good, it’s about creating the right solution and user experience based on a solid idea, developed through research, design and a good understanding of the product and audience.

I always bring innovative, original and exciting ideas and solutions to the table with the ability to communicate these ideas in front of an audience or one two one.

Work Experience

Riverside Training Spalding

Creative Director


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BRIEF

Riverside Training Spalding is a nationwide quality leading training provider based in Spalding, Lincolnshire, UK.

Their goal for 2022 is to expand, and reach out to new students locally and across the country.

In early 2022 Riverside Training Spalding came to me with the plan to create a new visual brand to launch their new endeavor to inspire and excite new students to train with them ready for a May 2022 launch.

This would include a new logo identity and visual brand that they could use across new and existing marketing material across print, web and social media.


SOLUTION

During the discovery phase, while learning about the company culture, there was one thing that stood out and motivates everything they do.

RTS is very passionate about education and seeks to help build skills for better futures for its students and help people fulfill their big dreams and aspirations.

This led to a creative territory that would ultimately inspire the creative solution around the theme: Building Space.

‘RTS are the architects of student's futures.

Those who seek to further their education come to RTS to build and develop their skills and knowledge, to gain qualifications to build a better life for themselves.

RTS offers a space to learn, grow and build. RTS helps build careers, futures, and potentials for their students.’

This concept would embrace this sentiment and drive the creative solution focusing on construction, development, growth and direction.



RESULT

A new visual identity to help RTS move out into the future and continue their endeavor to expand and attract new students.

With a distinct, dynamic and flexible visual system designed to be used both in print and digital for business collateral and promotional marketing campaigns, this new vibrant brand identity will significantly push the direction of the business.

January 2022 - May 2022 United Kingdom

Sky Creative

Freelance Creative / Brand Designer

August 2020 - February 2022 London, United Kingdom

Zellar

Freelance Creative / Branding Designer

August 2019 - December 2019 London, United Kingdom

Forever Beta

Freelance Creative / Branding Designer

Logo & brand design for a global online technology investment company

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BRIEF

The company in question is a global online technology investment company and is europe’s largest listed consumer Internet company by asset value. The company gives global Internet investors direct access to a unique and attractive portfolio of international internet assets.

The objective was to develop a unique, distinct and contemporary brand and design world including a new logo identity.


SOLUTION

A logo concept that symbolises how the company elevates tech companies to new heights.

This is demonstrated in the 3D form of the logomark, which rises out of negative space to form a tangible letterform backed up with a carefully crafted wordmark.

This theme is also present in the design of brand visual elements such as icons and motifs used across digital and print media.


RESULT

An iconic, ownable and memorable logo identity - with a positive, modern and tech feel which stands confidently among other big tech players in the industry.
May 2019 - July 2019 London, United Kingdom

Hiveworks

Freelance Creative / Branding Designer

Logo & brand design for a International remitance app

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BRIEF

Initially, the objective was to undertake research & design to put forward ideas to name a new remittance app for the India market.

Once the name was chosen I was then tasked to design the app logo and visual identity for the app experience.

The logo would need to represent and symbolise the initiative of the digital app and appeal to a new generation of remitters.


SOLUTION

A name that embraces the idea that the platform helps friends, family and the community blossom from the platform offering important advice to help
improve finances.

The wordmark logo brings together the two key aspects of the app.

Communication & growth.

The logo embodies the conversation and growth (blossom) element of the app experience manifested in the letterforms of the wordmark logo.


RESULT

A visual brand that creates a bright, uplifting and fresh user experience that breaks the norm for financial platforms.
April 2019 - May 2019 London, United Kingdom

Lena Maye

Freelance Creative / Designer

Concept / Packaging / Surface pattern design

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For Lena Maye I designed the packaging for their up and coming boutique shampoo line consisting of multiple fragrances.

This included the design and layout of the product packaging, labeling and bespoke screen printed textures crafted specifically for each fragrance to feature as part of the product branding.
November 2018 - November 2018 London, United Kingdom

Gappt

Freelance Creative / Branding Designer

Concept / Logo Identity & Visual branding

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BRIEF

In a busy city with ambitious lifestyles The Blow Dry Club is a new app targeted at London's young professional women to arrange fuss-free group blow dries at London’s most stylish salons.

The objective was to create a logo identity, a visual brand and to consult and direct the creative across the app and online platform.


SOLUTION

I developed a bold and playful look and feel that is both accessible and luxurious, a confident brand with lots of personality young professional women will enjoy and engage with.


RESULT

A brand that goes further, The Blow Dry Club is not only a luxury experience, but an inspiration to celebrate friendship. It’s more than just an app, it’s a lifestyle, it’s empowerment.
September 2018 - November 2018 United Kingdom

ITV

Creative / Senior Designer

Kids zone TV channel concept / Logo Identity & Visual branding

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At ITV I had the opportunity to work in a creative team to create a logo and visual theme for a preschool kids zone called ‘littleBe’ to feature weekday mornings from 9am-12pm on ITVBe. This launched September 2018.


SOLUTION

A celebration of the relationship between adult and infant. This is symbolised in the logo composition, The ‘e’ nestles in on the ‘B’ as if cradled and sheltered by a guardian. This comes to life during the kids zone in a series of playful activity animations.

The logo result is a friendly, memorable and own-able graphic, combined with a custom logotype to perfectly communicate the brand.


RESULT

The branding gives the children programmes a littleBe wrapper; Simple in graphic style and utilising a specific set of colours, an overall treatment that an audience under 4 are more responsive to.

To enrich the viewing experience for a preschool audience we wanted to feature educational segments. These segments are carefully crafted to engage an audience 0 - 4.

We wanted to include these to help our littleBe’s with their early learning, teaching Shapes, Counting and Phonetics. These are peppered across the zone during the day between shows and add breaks.
June 2018 - August 2018 United Kingdom

McCann Health

Freelance Creative / Branding Designer

May 2018 - May 2018 London, United Kingdom

GreyHealth Group

Freelance Creative / Branding Designer

Concept  / Logo Identity & Visual branding 

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BRIEF

The objective was to create a logo identity and visual brand for a strategic marketing therapeutic company specialising in the Cardiovascular area. The logo would need to represent and symbolise the initiative of the healthcare organisation.


SOLUTION

An Infinite heart. The logo mark symbolises the infinite pathways in the cardiovascular system and in drug research and development. The symbol reflects the heart behind the work that never ceases to progress, innovate and care for patients.

I developed a bespoke colour and image treatment scheme and a brand mechanic that would extend across interior design for their office space as well as print and animation. The logo was used as part of the interior decoration to remind the staff of the importance of their work everyday.


RESULT

A fresh and modern aesthetic with a strong emotional concept that every member of staff can get behind.


March 2018 - March 2018

IMG

Freelance Creative / Designer

Concept & Logo Identity design

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BRIEF

Speedway of Nations is a rebrand of ‘Speedway world cup’, a newly formed World Championship event. 15 nations compete head to head in a high octane week for the ultimate title of World Champions.

The objective was to create a logo identity to captivate current and new audiences alike. The logo would need to symbolise the nature of the sport and be a mark fans could recognise.


SOLUTION

A fluid line. The lettermark logo symbolises the fluid motion, direction and momentum of the speedway race which orients around an oval track.

Unique to the Speedway of Nations race is the unity of two team drivers per race. This unit of two is also reflected in the lettermark.


RESULT

The new face of the Speedway World championship, used across all platforms both in the arena and TV, online and on merchandise.

A fresh and modern aesthetic that celebrates what makes Speedway of Nations truly unique and exciting by reflecting the unity of the fanbase, the unity of the team and the sport as a whole.



January 2018 - February 2018 London, United Kingdom

Small Back Room

Creative / Senior Designer

Concept / Creative property-marketing / Logo Identity / Visual branding

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BRIEF

L&Q group were granted planning permission for 473 new homes on Southgrove site Walthamstow town centre in 2017. The plan also includes 2,786 square meters for a new public and commercial space which is hoped to become a cycle cafe. Construction is due to start early 2018 and expected to be completed in 2020.

The objective was to create a marketing name, block and street names for the development and a visual identity to inspire new residence to the up and coming area of E17 London.


SOLUTION

I established a concept that offers a unique connection to Walthamstow celebrating the enthusiasm for cycling in the borough, the up and coming integration of new cycle paths and a planned onsite cycle cafe.

We wanted to create a sense of freedom, proactivity and healthy living around the theme of cycling whilst also promoting the idea of togetherness and connection we want to encourage in the community.

The site will be named ‘The Chain’. The blocks, buildings and streets are named with cycle and urban cycling themes.


RESULT

A contemporary property-marketing campaign including a logo identity and visual brand that is both bold and dynamic. Designed to appeal to young professionals and families the brand embodies the edgy urban vibe unique to East London.

The visual palette works together to build a vision of aspiration, a life that can be lived at The Chain.

Marketing creative included design across both print and digital for stationery, brochure layout, street hoarding and marketing media collateral such as design for the website and print advertisements.

I also established and delivered thorough brand guidelines for the client.
August 2017 - November 2017 United Kingdom

Rufus Leonard

Freelance Creative / Designer

Logo identity / Visual branding

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At Rufus Leonards I worked on a logo identity and visual branding pitch for Cognita their education client.
July 2017 - July 2017

Britbox

Freelance Creative / Designer

Concept / Logo Identity & Visual branding

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BRIEF.

BritBox is a VOD service produced in collaboration with ITV and BBC in order to “celebrate the very best of British TV”. Launched in March 2017, BritBox is the best and most comprehensive British streaming service in the US.

My role on this project was to work on design for the logo identity and visual brand identity to captivate new audiences.

The logo would need to represent the very best of British telly.


SOLUTION

We wanted to create a mark that brought together the essence of both BBC and ITV. I designed and developed a custom typeface which includes both angular elements of the BBC and round elements of ITV.

We used this bespoke typeface, custom made from the unique qualities of both broadcasters to create the wordmark logo for BritBox.


RESULT

A unique logo wordmark for the VOD service standing out amongst established VOD service channels.

A fresh and modern aesthetic with a touch of classic British eccentricity.

June 2016 - June 2017 London, United Kingdom

Brand & Deliver

Freelance Creative / Designer

Concept / Creative campaign / Visual branding

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I was initially brought in as a creative to join a small team to come up with concepts to pitch for a global campaign to promote and raise awareness for a new product by Radeon.

The team as a whole submitted 21 ideas, my idea was chosen.

I went back into the studio for a further few weeks to put together and develop the campaign concept I had pitched.


BRIEF

Radeon is one of the leading graphics card manufacturers competing head to head with Nvidia.

The brief was initially to create a concept for a global campaign to introduce a new product to the market to compete with Nvidia.

Once established the objective was to create a visual design for the campaign.



SOLUTION

In the industry and to the fan base, Radeon is known as the red team and Nvidia the green team due to their distinct brand colours.

My idea was to create an alternative approach to the usual which plays on the latest fidelity of graphics. We thought a rebellion against the green team would be a new and unique approach; a protest to include propaganda media and communication.

The campaign would be based around the hashtag #BetterRed with lots of media news and posts proclaiming the characteristics and benefits over other mainstream graphics cards.


RESULT

Join the Rebellion. A disruptive global campaign to compete against the commercial status quo. Factual statements set in bold typography, icons and a blood red gritty texture would set the vernacular to create a poignant and emotive campaign.

Digital media, propaganda posters and signs were designed to be used online, at promotional events and outdoors to grab attention.

The campaign would be launched across social media, advertised on the biggest tech websites and staged at gaming conventions.

May 2016 - May 2016 United Kingdom

Eye-D Creative

Creative / Senior Designer

Concept design / Visual design / Layout

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My role at Eye-D was to develop visual brand look & feel ideas for a mobile computer game to be included in a pitch.

This involved creating key artwork for the game, poster artwork, interface designs and logo ideas.
January 2016 - February 2016 United Kingdom

Squint/Opera

Creative / Senior Designer

Concept design / Visual design / Layout

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My role was to develop a look & feel for a premium retail space digital brochure for a property set to be built in Dubai.

This involved designing the layout and look & feel across a print and digital brochure.
May 2015 - June 2015 United Kingdom

Amazon.com

Creative / Senior Designer

Creative direction / Art Direction / Visual design

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I was initially brought in to Amazon as a senior designer on a three-month contract. This contract
was later extended to nine months due to good performance.

My role at Amazon was to design and direct creative for the Kindle Fire tablet, specifically,
ads that appeared full screen on the tablet device.

In my nine months there I designed, directed and produced over fifty ad campaigns, working on over 30 global clients.

The role varied to designing from scratch, to a brief, or working with existing clients and their creative to direct specifically to the Kindle platform.

Amazon give me vital experience to further develop and mature my design and creative direction skills.


April 2014 - December 2014

WCRS

Creative / Senior Designer

Creative campaign / Layout

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During my six weeks at WCRS, I worked on the ‘Simple Personal Fair’ Santander campaign until its launch. My role was to work closely with the art director on the campaign to design advertising layouts across print and digital to bring the concept to life.

My design featured in press, outdoor and online advertising as well as internal media.
January 2014 - February 2014 United Kingdom

Leo Burnett

Creative / Senior Designer

Layout / Visual design / Storyboarding

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First I worked on the storyboard and layout of digital flash banners for Homebase Design Lounge, both web and tablet device platforms.

Second I designed visuals and graphics for the Max Factor UK website to glamorise and create a luxurious atmosphere around up and coming products.
December 2013 - December 2013

Education

Kingston University

BA Graphic Design

London, United Kingdom

Skills

Branding, Creative Concepts, Design Marketing, Logo Identity Design, Ux,

Testimonial

Finlay Bulbeck
Contracts Manager
Riverside Training Spalding

"From the first conversation, you can understand Gareth was someone who was passionate about his work. We had a great understanding of different designs/brands and the history which is part of it. I would highly recommend Gareth to anyone who needs consultation or brand identity design!

The whole team has been extremely happy with the whole project, Gareth has dedicated a lot of his time to our brand and the results speak for themselves. He decided in the beginning to choose a dedicated design path and it worked, leading to a more in-depth display of how the brand can be used. From a solid start, we decided to continue working with Gareth on our Prospectus. This current project has helped showcase our business with a vibrant new direction and an asset which we can now use digitally as well.

The results of what has been produced are going to significantly push the direction of our business. With our constant expansions into new areas, we needed a design that can evolve and last. Gareth has delivered this with expertise and has managed to successfully create a bespoke brand that can be used throughout our whole company allowing the company to grow and market more areas.”

Testimonial

Vincent Hudson
Executive Director, Service and Product Design
Hiveworks

“Gareth came to Hiveworks in March/April of 2019 to help us specifically with creating the branding for a completely new application we were designing for a fintech client.

The brief was completely open, which meant that Gareth had to do a bit of work to create his own brief to inform his work. He did a great job of assembling all of the information he needed and then proceeded on a very systematic process to examine potential names and eventually brand directions for the application.

I was very impressed by the quality of his work and our client was very pleased with the overall brand direction. Gareth was very personable with all the staff at Hiveworks and we’d be happy to have him back with us if the need arises in the future.”

Testimonial

Louise Graham
Senior Producer
Breakthrough and Make More Impact

“Gareth is an incredible designer who really cares about the client, their vision & project. On all of my projects, Gareth has put his heart and soul into the finished output and always over-delivers and over exceeds my expectations.

He is extremely talented with a lot of skill and I love his mix of styles. His years of brand-building experience really shine through in everything he produces. Constantly impressed.”