Starting as a graphic designer, I gained a first class Graphic Design BA and subsequently worked as a digital designer for a period.

Shortly after I completed an MA in animation at the Royal College of Art.

I developed my craft as a freelance motion director (directing for Unicef, Manchester United, Imperial College London and others) before taking up my current role as Head of Motion at The Guardian.

My motion work has been viewed more than a billion times, helped win a Webby, two D&ADs and has been exhibited at London's Design Museum.

At the Guardian, I frequently work with interactive designers and developers. Together we have created a number of award winning interactive articles (eg. 1, 2 and 3).

I write expressions and scripts in After Effects, building tools for myself and others.

Both at the Guardian and previously as a digital designer, I've worked closely with UI designers and UX experts.

Utilising motion in narrative can help people understand where they are in a process. Playful motion can bring some delight to an otherwise mundane or stressful interaction. Sometimes using motion well means doing very little actual motion at all.

At the Guardian and through my animation masters, I've worked around film and filmmakers who are skilled at creating content that is well paced, emotionally resonant and engaging. These aspects of filmmaking are things I could contribute to the team.

At the Guardian I work closely with the video explainer team. This project uses a range of media to explain wider context behind the news. Graphically this often involves quickly building a simple visual language to help viewers through a complex subject.

A few years ago I created a project to explain photographic principles visually. While the project admittedly needs a refresh, the screen print and unique interactive camera diagram were well reviewed in the press (1, 2, 3), gaining half a million visits, glowing user feedback and healthy view times. It's still regularly used by schools.

The challenge in this case, was not to create some innovation aesthetic, but rather meet two goals: firstly, create tools to help video producer's effectively communicate the news; and secondly, help reinforce our video identity off-site (where the majority of our video is watched).

This project was created under tight constraints: working within the overall design language of the Guardian; working with very tight technical constraints; fitting into video producers existing workflows; making simple to use documentation; working with multiple stakeholders; and creating variations for multiple types of content (eg. news, sport, original film) all for several different video dimensions. A complex job!