Huckleberry Lane is a clothing brand based in Norfolk, UK. My clients only request was that he wanted to use a tree in the logo.

I'm not sure there was a reason for the tree, other than the fact he liked trees, but it made my job as a designer much easier and it gave me a solid starting point.

The choice of tree was crucial, I didn't want anything too detailed or fussy, and I was very aware of people potentially mistaking the brand for a gardening or a tree surgery business.

In the end I found the perfect tree which complimented the typeface I had chosen, the logo has a lovely balance to it, I love the flow of it and as with any good logo, it is responsive and works equally as well with or without the tree.

The type is bold and strong and I had to issues with separating it from the mark. It stands proud on a sweatshirt or a hoodie, it owns the space and makes a big statement.

Ainsty Ales is an independent brewery based in the heart of the old ‘York & Ainsty Wapentake’ with a fine range of popular core beers, sold throughout the UK.

I was asked by Andy to design the artwork for their ‘seasonal specials’ which are brewed sporadically throughout the year. Each brew is unique, using different blends of hops and ingredients, and each require a pump clip that reflects their character and identity.

Each brief is entirely different based on the recipe of the particular brew, so each pump clip is as bespoke as the next. I have used a range of graphic treatments, from the illustrative approach for ‘Flummoxed Rudolph’, to the graphic patterned effect used on the award winning ‘Cool Citra’, to ensure each pump clip has its own unique style and identity.

A selection of work carried out by Rich Storey Designs for Anglo American, while an employee of Karian and Box

Jacques Dairies are a family run milk delivery company based in East Yorkshire, established in 1989. Their online presence has never been that strong, preferring the traditional, tried and tested techniques of delivering milk to peoples doorsteps. However, as peoples demand for ordering online grew, so did the company’s desire to explore an e-commerce approach to selling their products.

The rebrand ran alongside a full website redesign and build (by themoodychild.co.uk), and it was clear the client was willing to commit whatever was needed to take the business to the next level.

The client was clear on his vision for the logo, with a ‘back of beer mat’ sketch provided, which meant there was not too much room for design manoeuvre. I was happy to stay on brief though, as I knew the end result would work and reflect the business well.

My first concept featured a much more stylised cow on a side elevation, this was rejected however in favour of a cows head, face on. I found a cow that we were all happy with and began the illustration process; I wasn’t fully confident that this was the right approach, due to it being overly complicated and difficult to scale down. However, once it was in situ, it seemed to fit in just right and the balance and symmetry were really on point.

The colour palette was a fairly obvious choice, nothing too crazy, but nice, subtle pastel shades representing the grass and sky. The typeface was another element that really suited the brand and the style of the logo, I stumbled across this font, ‘57th Avenue’ recently and sometimes you just find the right font at the right time, it was perfect for this project, providing a lovely vintage aesthetic, which contrasted the modern look of the logo.

My worries about the responsiveness of the logo, were allayed slightly with the option of releasing the name from the original look up, offering a bolder, typographic alternative for more flexible usage.

Foundations is a bi-annual internal publication for Barratt Homes. It covers a wide range of subjects, and keeps colleagues up to date with all the latest news and developments within the business.

I work closely with the client to create a visually interesting magazine, that is on brand, and that stimulates and engages the reader as well as been clear and informative, often touching on sensitive or serious matters.

Foundations is always a good test of my layout design and typesetting ability. There is often quite a lot of text and imagery to cram onto a page and it requires a great deal of thought regards placement, position and page structure and the rules of typography must be followed at all times to ensure quality and integrity throughout.

I am responsible for the whole process, from the design and art working, to getting the artwork ready for print. There are 6000 copies of each edition printed, so it is essential that nothing is missed and a meticulous eye for detail is required to ensure there are no mistakes when it comes to the final delivery.

*This project was carried out whilst an employee of Karian and Box.

I was approached by Natalie with a very exciting brief to design a logo for her new extreme sports clothing brand, Stdy State. Natalie has always had a passion for extreme sports and wanted to turn that passion into a business. Of course I was more than happy to oblige, the brief was fun, with plenty of potential and I really got a sense of Natalies enthusiasm and drive for what she was about to embark on.

Natalie wanted an edgy, ‘street’ looking logo, which targeted the 18-40 age demographic, with Stussy, Vans, Fox and Roxy mentioned as her brand aspirations. These were all brands I was familiar with, and had great admiration for.

Straight away, I knew I wanted to go down the handwritten, graffiti-style typographic route. I found, and adapted a typeface, to really add that bespoke touch to the logo. Ultimately the success or failure of this design, was in the type; there was no logo mark, so it was critical to spend the time finessing, handcrafting the letterforms and laying them to perfection.

The addition of the full stop, balanced out the letterforms nicely and allowed the introduction of a second colour to the palette. This also acted almost like an icon and added a bit more interest and depth to the overall look and feel.

Finally, I chose a colour palette that really brought the brand to life, the strong ,bold colours emphasised the cool, edgy, street vibe that Natalie was looking for. As Stdy State will be targeting several sports, including Mountain Biking, Wave Boarding and skateboarding, I combined the colours with patterns and textures, such as waves, chevrons and zig zags that could be utilised on various collateral, offering a wider versatility to the brand and giving a unique identity to each facet of the business.

AJ Services is a new start up business based in Essex, which tests, repairs and modifies roll cages for the farming industry. Matt contacted me at the start of lockdown 2020, and wanted a really quick turnaround as the business was moving and evolving very quickly.

I immediately began to explore the ‘AJ’ monogram options, after several sketches, this was the one that stood out instantly, the flow, the symmetry and use of negative space – it just worked on every level and the logo mark was born.

That was the easy bit! The hard work really started when it came to the placement of the logotype. Initially I just had the word ‘Services’ to avoid duplication of the ‘AJ’, but it just didn’t sit right, with too much emphasis on the word ‘Services’. AJS was also put forward to Matt, but that would mean we would lose this beautiful monogram. So AJ Services was written in full, and placed to the side of the logomark.

Wherever I placed the type, it looked awkward and took the shine away from the monogram, so I much prefer to use it on its own, for example on the front of his business card, makes for the perfect lock up. The potential to use it large scale on his van livery was also something that excited me.

This job was turned around in the space of a few days, I enjoyed the fast pace of it and the responsiveness and enthusiasm of the client. It was one of those projects where both client and designer worked in harmony do deliver an end product that delighted us both.

Work in progress

This was an internal campaign to advertise Coop Groups’ employee engagement survey. Working closely with the brand, I used an illustrative style focused on the many faces that make up Coop. It had to be eye catching, bold and engaging to ensure colleagues were aware of the survey and when it was happening.

This work was carried out while an employee of Karian and Box.

Hyper was a side project set by my Creative Director. The brief was to create a fictional client in a sector of my choice, design a brand identity and a set of guidelines that could be rolled out across various comms based collateral.

I chose the health and fitness sector and taking inspiration from GymShark, came up with Hyper, a gymwear and fitness brand.

Firstly I came up with a stylistic, modern, dynamic 'H' logo mark that could be adapted to be used as a frame, or to be overlayed as an effect, with moveable facets which could be rearranged to suit the situation.

The modern logo type followed the same dynamic and mimicked the slight slant of the 'H' mark. This gave a sense of movement, pace and action which is synonymous with sports and fitness.

Once I was happy with the logo I began to experiment with colleague imagery. I wanted the logo and the imagery to work together in unison, with the H shape intertwining with the environment and creating a an interesting frame for the image.

The colour palette is bright, punchy and fresh and elevates the brand and makes it stand out from the crowd.

The Body Institute is brand new personal training company, that specialises is all aspects of health, fitness and nutrition. My client, Chrystel has a real passion for empowering the mind, body and soul and has recently completed her personal training qualifications so she can turn her hobby into a business.

Chrystel is a free spirit and her brief was very open, allowing me to take full direction of the design process. I wanted to create for her, a strong, bold identity, that was gender neutral, classy and powerful. Chrystel is a fiercely independent, head strong person and I really wanted her brand to reflect her personality.

I opted for a very modern and slick primary typeface, and one of my all time favourites, Brandon Grotesque, for the word ‘Body’. This was the focal point of the logo and shouted power and strength, and was really attention grabbing. The addition of a secondary, serif typeface, Archer, provided contrast and variation in weight, with the addition of some barbells to frame the logo, and my signature 7 degree shear, the logo was born.

The chosen colour palette really added to the dynamic and confident look of the logo, the gold foil gave it a certain bling and sophistication, without being too showy, and coupled with a dark blue, cammo background that offered a rich contrast to really make the logo pop.

Wictsun Rail was a project that was close to my heart, as it belongs to my Dad, who decided to set up his own business shortly after deciding the retired life was not the life for him!

After a lifetime in railway signal design and no idea about branding up a business, he left the brief very much open, and up to me to interpret. Often this makes the job of a designer much harder as we don’t have a starting point, but in this case I knew from the outset, exactly the direction I wanted to go. To the extent that this concept was the only one that was delivered, which was signed off with no hesitation – I know, maybe my dad was being easy on me – but I was 100% confident that this was the correct approach needed for the business, and it is not often I have that much courage in my conviction.

I wanted to create a dynamic brand, using railway lines as an inspiration, the diagonals were an interesting feature that I knew could be rolled out across all platforms (no pun intended) and really emphasised the ‘train track’ dynamic. I then developed a custom made typeface for the monogram that incorporated the flowing, continuous, diagonal line theme throughout.

The vivid choice of colours makes this brand really stand out, it’s bold, confident and strong while also having a corporate and professional edge.

The key to this logo’s success was the meticulous detail involved in working the same angle on all aspects of the design, a millimetre out could really effect the dynamic and integrity of the design, an aspect that can be easily transferred to my dads area of expertise.

The Drinkytin is a mobile cocktail bar lovingly built into the shell of an old VW camper van. Chris and his team can be found keeping the punters quenched at weddings, festivals and corporate events all across Yorkshire.

Chris wanted a traditional, rustic style identity to compliment the retro, iconic look of the VW Camper. The brief was clear – no fuss, bells or whistles and no gimmicks. It was clear that typography was going to be key with this brand, carefully selected and crafted with balance and depth, the traditional rubber stamp effect, slab serif **** offered boldness and confidence but with a hint of fun and a nod to the old fashioned Wild West saloon bar signage. Combined with a simpler, contrasting sans serif secondary typeface, the look was completed.

This all sounded simple but the devil was in the detail with his one and we went through countless variations, and fine tuning of placement and balance, before finally deciding on a logo that works equally as effectively in large scale on the side of his van, or smaller scale on his business card.

This logo really captures the essence of what The Drinkytin is all about.

Bishy Road Tutors is a private tuition business set up by a friend of mine, Alasdair. Fed up with the politics of teaching in the mainstream, Al decided to venture into the world of one-to-one tuition.

I think it’s a brave leap of faith for anyone starting up a business from nothing and it shows great courage, and requires immense dedication, so I am always happy to lend a hand, offer my expertise and advise on all aspects of building an identity for the business.

I really had to take control of the direction of the brand, and I had a clear vision of how I wanted this to look. I’ve always been a fan of laurel wreaths – they add a perfect, natural frame to a design and are traditionally used in academia – so I was really keen to utilise that in the design.

The second essential element was the iconic ‘Bishy Road’ sign. For all you non-Yorkies out there, Bishy Road (or Bishopthorpe Road as it is formally known) is a well known part of York, famed for its range of indie shops and cafes and vibrant community. So to tap into that name was a stroke of genius from Al, and an obvious feature that I had to focus on.

For the road sign I chose the classic and timeless Gil Sans typeface, with the sign slightly curved to compliment the shape of the wreath. A rustic, secondary typeface was then introduced to add a bit of old school chalkboard charm.

The flourishes of the mortar board and script were then added to complete a very balanced and compact lock up, which is really pleasing on the eye and oozes, trust and authenticity.

The Mare & Moonshine is a mobile horse box cocktail bar based in York. It specialises in traditional cocktails and speciality gins, and can be found doing the circuits at local weddings and festivals.

Rachel wanted a sophisticated, traditional and classy brand with a twist of ‘Art Deco’. Immediately I started exploring the Art Deco movement, figuring out ways of how I could incorporate elements of it into a logo, without going too over the top.

The key to the success was choosing the right typeface, after many revisions we decided to use ‘Opti Civet’ for the primary typeface. I liked the way it filled the banner space in the middle and thought the weight of it really suited the style of the logo mark.

The colour pallette was another key element, carefully selected, I think the colours scream class and sophistication and the gold leaf of the logo on the business card adds that extra touch of class. Added to that was a subtle background pattern which gave another nod to the Art Deco style, without stealing the limelight too much away from the logo.

The logo mark itself relied a lot on getting the symmetry and proportions correct, the balance of the logotype matched with the precision of the logo mark makes for a perfect lock up; from the signage and livery of the horse box, to the profile picture for social media, it works so well across all levels.

Carbon Velvet are a mother and daughter partnership based in York, who create stunning, luxury, bespoke lamp shades.

After nearly 10 years trading under The Lampshade Loft, Vicky decided it was high time for a change of direction and a brand refresh, she wanted a really luxurious identity to reflect their new, exciting high-end image.

Vicky, being a creative herself, had quite a strong idea of how she wanted the brand to look, the brief was solid and clear, and I set out to create a sophisticated, classic and stylish logo that would compliment their amazing designs.

A classic serif font was the order of the day for the logotype, it had to work both as a ‘CV’ monogram in the roundel lock up, and written out in full in the horizontal version. ‘Modern No.20’ was chosen as the primary typeface; it oozes class and luxury, I love the intricacy on the serifs and the variation in weights on the ascenders. This was combined with a much more contemporary sans serif typeface, ‘Flama Condensed’, aggressively kerned to really add effect and enhance the contrast between the two font styles.

I always present my original concepts to the client in black and white, so they are not influenced or swayed by pretty colours. It’s like decorating a house – you wouldn’t put the paint on the walls without doing the plastering first – so once the logo was decided, I explored many colour options, resulting in a beautiful palette, which combined with a luxurious, plush floral pattern, created a refined style which complimented the logo mark perfectly.

Express Electronics approached me to conduct a rebrand of their business in 2017, as it was nearing its 10 year birthday.

I always advise clients to refresh their logo roughly every 7 years, so in this case a rebrand was long overdue. A rebrand however, is completely different to a logo design for a brand new start up. I can count on one hand the amount of rebrands I have delivered, so I am somewhat inexperienced in this art form.

I am, however fully aware of the sensitivity involved in creating a new logo for a well established company. This was a logo engrained into the fabric of the business, something that is known and loved by all who work there, it is something they see all day, every day and which offers comfort and identity, so there is a lot more pressure to get it right and to treat it with a degree of care, respect and dignity.

I began on focusing on ‘Double E’ alliteration, exploring the potential of creating an interesting monogram to use as the logo mark. I’ve always found the little marks they use to recognise what component is what on a circuit board, so I wanted to incorporate those on to the monogram as well.

The typeface actually turned out to be quite a tricky process, the previous logo used an italic, serif capitalised font – to empathise the ‘Express’ nature – straight from the noughties, full of effects and drop shadow. I thought this was far too aggressive and in your face, so I chose a typeface that was much more, friendly, welcoming and understated. Agreed, it does lose that dynamic element, but I reasoned with the client that you still get that, without it being too overpowering and needy.

The colour palette was carried over from the previous logo, just slightly brightened and with a gradient added to modernise the look and feel and really add that final flourish.

Thora and the Prince is a small, independently owned lifestyle and homestyle boutique located in Haxby, York.

Upon receiving the brief, I immediately set out to create a unique, rustic logo, full of charm, that reflected the quirkiness and bespoke nature of the brand.

Now, I love an ampersand (who doesn’t?), to the extent that I have one tattooed on my arm! So I felt this was the ideal opportunity to utilise one in a logo. I got the old sketchbook and pen out and proceeded on the quest to draw the perfect ampersand, after countless versions, this was the one that I thought complimented the overall look and feel the best.

The ampersand was then sketched out on a tablet and although a little rough around the edges, the client agreed that this added to the rustic charm of the logo. It was then a case of adding a typeface that offered a contrast to the hand drawn focal point of the ampersand. ‘Thora’, the bird was then added and a beautiful, complimentary colour pallet of blush pink and grey was then chosen to finish off the logo nicely.

A typical village garage, Pete Nelson Motor Services is a garage that's been around for years and will be around for years to come.

My client Rachel was tasked by the owners to the give the business a fresh new look and drag it kicking and screaming into the 21st century. This was made even more of a priority as they had just launched a new arm of their enterprise, selling used cars online; meaning the need for a strong online presence couldn't be put off any longer.

Rachel didn’t want a stereotypical ‘silhouette of a car’ garage logo, which I couldn’t have agreed more with. Instead the approach was modern, minimalistic and appealing to the younger generation. I took the opportunity to utilise one of my favourite serif fonts – Museo, and introduced a very fashionable colour palette which combined with a slight shear on the type and a diagonal striped background, creates an ultra modernist, stylistic, typographic logo, with no gimmicky logo mark required.

Millfield Fitness is a fitness studio based in York and Debbie was one of my first ever clients, so I hold this logo close to my heart. I designed it about 10 years ago when Debbie first started the business; I think it has stood the test of time well and has been a mainstay of my portfolio ever since.

I wanted to stay away from the stereotypical fitness / gym logo, with dynamic silhouettes of athletic looking people doing exercise, so instead I opted for a collage of lots of graphic elements associated with exercise, carefully placed, in the form of the letter ‘M’.

I didn’t want the branding to be too feminine so as not the alienate any male customers, but I was also quite conscious of the fact that the client base is predominately female. So I opted for a colour scheme that was quite neutral and combined it with quite a soft, rounded typeface (Quicksand) to create a timeless but contemporary logo with a welcoming, calming and clean look and feel that works across all platforms and situations.

I was asked by Neil to design a logo for his new buisness Fit4Duty, which aims to get people fit using methods familiar with firefighting training. It was an interesting and unique concept and one that immediately stimulated my creative senses.

The personal training / fitness market is a very saturated market, but this idea stood out from the crowd, with the obvious USP being the fact that Neil is a serving firefighter with 20 years worth of exercises, methods and drills up his sleeve, which he was keen to share with the public.

I decided to hit the firefighter concept head on, although it was an obvious solution, I really wanted to embrace the unique nature of the business. I went big and bold with the illustrations, using bright colours and a thick keyline and carefully placed each element symetrically around the central hexagon shape. The inclusion of the laurel wreath added shape and structure and helped balance the logo.

The primary logo is a good example of an ‘unresponsive’ logo, the legibility was jepordized when in small scale; it didn’t look great in monochrome, and it couldn’t be overlaid over an image for example. So in order to offer solutions to these problems, I focused on the bold, strong typography, stripping back all the detail of the original design, and I was happy and confident that this approach could be utilised effectively on its own, where necessary as a secondary logo.

Bike Shed Mechanics is a small business offering all aspects of bicycle maintenance and repair. This was a quick turn around, with a limited budget, but this is a good example of a brand that can be produced over a matter of hours, without a brief by a client with little time to focus on the finer details of his business.

My expertise and experience means I am confident enough to take control of the brand direction and offer just one strong concept that i feel is the right approach. A simple but effective design using a cog as the holder for some nice cursive, handwritten typography, a very ‘hipster’ and on trend look, but a nice result which gave the client a professional looking logo with minimal fuss.

The silver, monochrome colour pallette added that extra value to the final result, enhancing the trust and credibility of the brand.

Dough & Deli was a new venture for a repeat client Angela Feather, who decided to fulfil a lifetime’s ambition of owning and running a deli style cafe.

Angela wanted her brand to reflect the rustic, artisan nature of her business, her USP was high quality, homemade, wholesome baked goods, made from the heart, so it was important the logo reflected her ethics and vision.

I began by exploring rustic style fonts, I opted for this rather nice rubber stamp effect typeface that gave off, homemade, artisan vibes. I combined this with a contrasting, antique and luxurious ampersand that broke up the letterforms offering balance, detail and a touch of class.

This a good example of a responsive logo, the logotype can be used on its own, and works equally well stacked or laid out horizontally. The stacked version looks really effective embroidered onto an apron, and the horizontal version was utilized on the shop signage. The full lock up incorporates a roundel with wood effect, which contains the strap line and the wheatsheaves adding that final flourish and really emphasising the rustic, artisan identity that Angela was so keen to portray.

I feel this logo really hit the brief in terms of creating an identity that really complimented the business, I completely understood the approach Angela was aiming for, and it is a good example of client and designer working together in harmony following a solid brief from the outset to create a really positive result.

This is a selection of logos I have have designed over the years that have not quite made it onto my portfolio. It shows the amount and range of businesses I have worked with, from cupcakes to football teams and everything inbetween.

It also shows how my skills have evolved and progressed, and I believe that is important as a designer, to look back and reflect, and ask yourself, ‘have I learned and have I improved? What would I have done differently now?’. I never stop learning so having these logos on my site act as a good benchmark for my progression.

Some of these businesses have failed and some are still going strong, but at the beginning these were all someones hopes and dreams. It always gives me great pleasure, to see one of my logos from years ago pop up on Facebook, seeing how they’ve grown, knowing that I was there at the very beginning of their journey as they made their first steps into business.

This is a selection of some of the other work I have designed over the years. I cover all aspects of print design, including posters, flyers, banners and invitations. I am very experienced in artworking and preparing artwork for print and take great pride in my work as well as been meticulous in the detail.

I work closely with the client every step of the journey, from beginning to end to ensure all deliverables, from initial consultation to the design and print are taken care of.

Please get in touch if you have a design request.