During his time in undergraduate studies, via agency Workstation Solutions, he honed typography skills at Abbot Mead Vickers Electronic Studio, creating press and billboard adverts for Volvo, Vodafone, and The Observer.

Event design and media development

After graduation, James worked in Event Design for several years, providing design and digital direction for event companies, helping them reshape from legacy analog approaches to a faster, more appealing digital world. Projects included British Gas, NHS, Mercedes Benz, Northwest Water, Reed Elsevier, Gallileo, Dickson Hong Kong and others.

Medical visuals and educational multimedia

With significantly developed 3D and multimedia skills, James expanded practice into medical publishing – in particular for Mosby Wolfe, working within teams creating interactive multimedia for trainee brain and heart surgeons, alongside 3D modelling and animation for various medical education publications.

James went on to work as a key member of the startup team for Wide Learning, providing user interface design and graphic content development for e-learning compliance training, as well as design and delivery of exhibition units.

Freelance

Working with digital design agencies over many years led to providing numerous graphic design and visual services to advertising and marketing design agencies, alongside annual reports, brand development projects, fashion product visuals and consumer electronic and product visualisations, including concept visuals for Pentagram/Psion and interactive multimedia for Virgin Airlines Design Group.

Royal Academy Schools and Central St Martins, UCL

James took up a part time post within the Royal Academy Schools, providing digital and technical support to Post-Grad level students.

After a year this led to a more substantial role at Central St Martins as a digital technician in the School of Art, Charing Cross. Activities across many departments ranged from significant budget research and planning, purchasing, installation coordination, to student oriented technical support and tutorial assistance at BA/MA level.

James was invited to develop and deliver visiting student courses in Digital Design Skills for the Central St Martins Summer Schools (DALI), and taught these over a period of years.

Somerset and Current Design Practice

Leaving London in 2007 and arriving in Somerset in 2008, taking on a third property renovation and raising children led to a change in working practice. Providing design services in partnership, James and Joely have carried out numerous projects for a variety of clients – some old, some new.

The scope of work has ranged from simple business branding to full-service corporate interior design projects, digital model libraries for furniture companies, Theory of Change interactives (Somerset Wildlife Trust), and AI video stories.

Significant service has been provided over many years to the charity Save The Children (UK and International), designing numerous annual reports and many other major publications as well as long-form narrative animation.

The partnership also provides marketing, branding and communications support to TRP Research and Simantea, both Taunton based enterprises.

Art and Technology

James held several exhibitions of paintings (Oil and Acrylics) in the years following graduation. He believes art is a significant activity, and will inevitably return to creating artworks in some form – with the current aim of exploring the visceral relationship between humans and city environments in 2D/3D pieces.

He continues to engage with new or cutting edge technologies, and past experience includes drone videography and photogrammetry, VR systems and 3D printing, alongside an ongoing interest in Unreal Engine and adjacent technologies.