I am a highly-experienced and accomplished Art Director who has retained a passion for producing beautiful, innovative work throughout my varied career.

I currently lead a talented team at the John Lewis Partnership, where I run the busy Communications Art Team. Ensuring that quality and creativity are reflected in everything we do, we help 65k Partners engage with the UK’s biggest and best-known, employee-owned business.

Over a successful career, I’ve applied my design aesthetic and creative vision to numerous rebrands and relaunches, maintaining a strong focus on editorial, communications, and marketing design. Taking a holistic, audience-centred approach, I ensure all projects fulfil their commercial requirement (engagement, loyalty, sales etc) without compromising a high-quality design ethic.

I also regularly give strategic and practical design advice to colleagues from different teams – upskilling them and developing their understanding of the approaches, processes, and planning required to maximise creative output.

“Damien worked with me on a redesign of the RSL’s annual magazine Review. He created a totally new look and feel for the magazine, lifting it to make it feel contemporary and fresh while remaining deeply literary and robust.

He worked incredibly hard to a very tight deadline, and was open to all ideas and input and remained good-humoured and communicative throughout the project. He was a pleasure to work with and I look forward to developing the magazine with him across future iterations. Highly recommended!”

— Catherine Riley, Head of Comms and Partnerships, Royal Society of Literature

Always a joy to work with Damien on a shoot – precise, organised, and always arrives with a wealth of ideas. His warm personality always creates a great atmosphere on set.

— Nicky Johnston, celebrity & fashion photographer

“I hired Damien as a freelance designer over two years. He joined my team working in the London office on the European edition. He was fast to learn and quick to adapt to the style of the magazine – a difficult thing to do because of our strict style rules which help maintain the overall design quality and integrity of the publication.

I had a large pool of freelancers and applicants at the time but he was chosen without hesitation to work with the editorial team because of his skills. His work ethic is truly exceptional, he is patient and friendly in a stressful environment and carries the job to the end without fuss. He could work well with anyone in the office. I spent a large proportion of time between our London and Hong Kong office and I could always count on him when I was not around.”

— Cecelia Wong, ex-Art Director at Time Magazine Europe & Asia

I recruited Damien on a freelance basis over a 4 year period. During this time Damien was responsible for art editing several of the Which? magazine titles and leading on the design of our portfolio of marketing guides.

Damien consistently produced strong designs, he worked well on his own as well as within a team, he took great pride and care in everything he did and I found him to be a very professional and dedicated employee.

— Suzanne Taylor, ex-Head of Design, Which?

Damien is a pleasure work with. He approaches each project with a clear vision, provides a fastidious brief, gives creative input throughout, and relishes every challenge. I thoroughly enjoy shooting with him.

— Mark Mackenzie, photographer

Damien is a very talented and versatile designer who works well under pressure and offers creative solutions to potential problems. He has the perfect attitude for a designer.

— Joel Meadows, photojournalist