I am a strategic designer, academic and creative leader with more than twenty years’ experience working at the intersection of design, culture, technology and futures practice.

My work has centred on long-term strategic commissions with a wide range of partners – leading universities, forward-looking non-profits, civic and cultural institutions, and innovative organisations. Across these contexts, I bring together strategic design and futures thinking to navigate complex organisational challenges and support organisations in shaping their long-term direction.

My project portfolio includes the development of Manchester’s ‘Original Modern’ city strategy with Peter Saville for Manchester City Council; work with Save the Children, Transition Network and Catalyst on design fiction experiments exploring emerging technologies in the digital economy; defining strategic business models for the Medici Quartet with NESTA; shaping a mission-led strategy with Open Data Services; and developing speculative futures in collaboration with Gehl Architects.

Alongside my professional practice, I am Professor of Strategic Design and Futures at Loughborough University, where my work focuses on advancing futures-informed approaches to organisational design and strategy.

My early career began in the arts at the iconic record label Factory Records, known for artists such as Joy Division, New Order and the Durutti Column, under the mentorship of the late Anthony H. Wilson.

When the music industry faced turbulence during the early waves of digital disruption, I shifted my creative focus towards design. I went on to lead the interdisciplinary design practice four23 as CEO, guiding the studio for more than a decade as it grew into an internationally recognised creative practice partnering with global corporations, charities, academic institutions, civic organisations and international artists. During this period, I led multi-disciplinary teams of researchers, strategists, designers, technologists and producers on projects including the re-framing of U2’s Bullet the Blue Sky tour visual narrative, immersive storytelling initiatives with the Fight For Peace foundation in Rio de Janeiro, and large-scale interactive public installations for London Design Festival.

I live with my partner, designer Harriet Paterson, and our daughter in Sheffield, on the edge of the Peak District.