Good questions.
Strong ideas.
Thoughtful design.
I’ve always been interested in more than how something looks.
I’m interested in why it works.
Why does one sequence of images create emotion while another doesn’t?
How do colour, rhythm, sound and composition change the meaning of a story?
And how can we use familiar visual languages in unexpected ways?
These questions connect my academic research with my work in art direction, design and motion.
Live Cinema as a visual language.
In 2012, my Master’s research investigated the construction, deconstruction and poetics of real-time narrative through Live Cinema.
I explored how moving images, montage, sound, performance and technology work together to construct meaning.
The research examined how manipulating images and sound during a live performance can expand traditional cinematic storytelling. Changing a sequence, repeating an image or shifting the rhythm can create different emotional and intellectual associations.
That exploration made me more attentive to how individual creative decisions shape the experience of a story.
What it taught me:
don’t stop at the first idea.
When I receive a brief, I ask:
What are we really trying to say?
What should the audience understand or feel?
What happens if we look at the problem from another perspective?
Research gives me space to explore before I execute. I draw from cinema, art, design, culture and technology to find unexpected connections and develop a visual language that makes sense for the idea.
From research to brand storytelling.
A brand is also constructing a narrative. Every campaign, film, social post and digital experience contributes to what people see, understand, feel and remember about it.
I bring my research into decisions about imagery, typography, pacing and movement. A campaign film, a short social edit and a static image each communicate differently.
The challenge is to adapt the storytelling while preserving the central idea and a recognisable visual identity.
Exploring AI and new creative workflows.
Today, I’m also researching generative AI and experimenting with new AI workflows across design, motion and visual storytelling.
I explore how these tools can support concept development, visual experimentation and production, and how they can work alongside established design, editing and animation techniques. I’m particularly interested in maintaining creative control, visual consistency and craft as ideas move between tools and formats.
This continues a question at the heart of my earlier research: how can creators combine new technologies with established creative languages to discover different ways of communicating?
I’m still exploring how stories are constructed, how visual languages evolve and how each creative choice can make a message more meaningful.