Ritchie Design
Graphics & Art Direction
Ritchie Design
Graphics & Art Direction
Graphics & Art Direction
Graphics & Art Direction
The aim of this website is to give you a graphic impression of various projects I have undertaken since graduating from Central St Martins Art School 33 years ago. But it needs a few words too.
Central St Martins London
I worked on projects for several major clients including BT and Thames Water
Two years working abroad in Asia and 6 months in Hong Kong with Henry Steiner, creator of the HSBC brand
Worked with wide range of clients such as BHS and Lee Jeans, implementing graphics in retail spaces
Specialists in art direction and production. Our clients included
Whistles, M&S, Oasis, Warehouse, Matthew Williamson, Jade Jagger, Fat Face, White Stuff, TM Lewin and Monsoon
Clients, as featured on this site over the last 23 years, including creative director of Micro Scooters, and an ongoing development with all the clients featured on my website.
I have worked in almost every area of the design industry: product development, art direction, logos, branding & corporate identity, brochures, packaging, retail signage, websites, emails, books, magazines, photo shoots and social media. I love the diversity of challenges that my work brings.
What they don’t teach you at art school Not all my assignments have been purely creative. Over the years I have inevitably gained experience in the business side of Design too. Often the projects involve managing budgets and running teams of designers as well as negotiating with third parties such as printers and suppliers.
I work very closely with my clients. I believe that a project will only be successful if there is tight collaboration. The first task is to establish exactly what my clients need and what message they are seeking to convey to their audience.
Helping clients to fulfil their vision and watching their business grow is both the motivation and the reward.
When I take on a project I tackle every last detail and I see it through right to the end – and then beyond. Even once it has been signed off, the project is still alive in my mind. I am always looking for small ways to sharpen and improve the work. Design styles are constantly changing, businesses are forever shifting focus and markets are always evolving. A designer should be able to respond rapidly to shifting conditions. I like to see this ‘after care’ as one of my strengths.
I have worked for clients in a broad range of industries: food, fashion, architecture, advertising, furniture, visual arts, skincare, executive search, music, photography, publishing, scooters, luxury lunch boxes… Each industry is a world of its own and a new adventure for me.
No two projects are ever the same but my convictions never change. I believe that good design holds its value over a long period and plays a key role in the success of a business. By establishing a strong identity, good design will capture and portray the nature of the business or product in a way that words are unable to do. Poor design can sink a business.
When I set up Design by White, my partner and I, figuratively – and almost literally – worked our way up the High Street, collaborating with many of the great names of UK retail. But big or small is neither here nor there. Some of the best projects for me have been start-ups and small businesses.