Caught Your Eye

Caught Your Eye Graphic Design and Marketing

Even if I say so myself, two books that will boost your business. And both are less than a London pint!
22/07/2026

Even if I say so myself, two books that will boost your business. And both are less than a London pint!

The Ritual Before the WorkEvery designer has a pre‑project ritual.Mine?A clean desk.A fresh notebook.A playlist that fee...
12/06/2026

The Ritual Before the Work

Every designer has a pre‑project ritual.
Mine?
A clean desk.
A fresh notebook.
A playlist that feels like momentum.
And a moment of stillness before the chaos begins.

Creativity isn’t just magic.
There's a bit of ritual + intention + repetition in there too.

What's your pre work ritual?

Some of my best ideas come from places that have nothing to do with design.A cracked pavement, mislaid cobbles.A museum ...
11/06/2026

Some of my best ideas come from places that have nothing to do with design.
A cracked pavement, mislaid cobbles.
A museum label, some errant signage.
A bus ticket found on a visit home, from before the age of swipe.
A shadow on a wall, not just Hitchcock or Chandler but a distortion or fade.
Get out there and look at the world differently. Watch people go by. Daydream a little. You'll be surprised what you see.

Designers are collectors.
We gather the world and rearrange it.

Early in my career I worked with a client who had a genuinely brilliant product. Thoughtful, well-made, solving a real p...
10/06/2026

Early in my career I worked with a client who had a genuinely brilliant product.

Thoughtful, well-made, solving a real problem for a clearly defined audience.
Everything a business is supposed to be.

But every time we got close to a decision — on the brand, the messaging, the market positioning — they'd pause. Bring in another opinion. Reopen a conversation we'd already closed. Not because the work was wrong. Because committing to one direction felt like closing the door on all the others.

It took me a while to name what I was watching. It wasn't perfectionism, though it looked like it. It wasn't indecision, though it produced the same result. It was a fear of clarity. A belief, somewhere just below the surface, that staying open meant staying safe. That as long as nothing was finalised, nothing could fail.

The business drifted for two years. Good people, good product, no consistent signal. Customers couldn't quite lock on. The brand said several things at once, it might as well have said nothing. Competitors with inferior products but sharper positioning ate the breakfast they could have enjoyed. I've seen versions of that story more times than I can count since. In startups and established businesses, in solopreneurs and leadership teams. The specifics change. The pattern doesn't.

Clarity feels like risk because it requires you to choose. But the absence of clarity isn't safety. It's just a slower, quieter way of losing ground. The most dangerous place in business isn't out on a limb. It's permanently standing in the mud at the foot of the tree, still deciding which branch to climb. What would you commit to, if you stopped waiting for certainty first?

Infrastructure / FundamentalsBusiness fundamentals. Infrastructure, not decoration.
03/06/2026

Infrastructure / Fundamentals
Business fundamentals. Infrastructure, not decoration.

Competitive Reality and EcosystemThe full constellation of relationships a business depends on.
02/06/2026

Competitive Reality and Ecosystem

The full constellation of relationships a business depends on.

Perception and SignalWhat your business looks like before anyone speaks to you.
01/06/2026

Perception and Signal

What your business looks like before anyone speaks to you.

Many businesses invest in design but skip the strategic foundations.They choose colours they like, not colours that comm...
29/05/2026

Many businesses invest in design but skip the strategic foundations.

They choose colours they like, not colours that communicate.
They choose layouts that look good, not layouts that guide behaviour.

The remedy: strategy first, aesthetics second — always.

👉 DM “STRATEGY” if you want a strategic design conversation.

The Founder Who Realised Their Brand Was Quietly Costing Them OpportunitiesIt’s rarely a dramatic moment. More often, it...
27/05/2026

The Founder Who Realised Their Brand Was Quietly Costing Them Opportunities

It’s rarely a dramatic moment. More often, it’s something small, a prospect who doesn’t reply, a partnership that fizzles, a pitch that feels harder than it should. The leader starts to notice a pattern, not of failure but of friction. They’re doing good work, building strong relationships, delivering real value, yet something isn’t landing with the power they expected. Eventually, almost reluctantly, they turn their attention to the brand: the website that hasn’t been touched in years, the pitch deck that feels like a relic, the visuals that never quite matched the quality of the work. They don’t want to believe it matters, because they’ve built their business on substance, not surface. But slowly, quietly, they begin to see the truth: the brand isn’t misrepresenting them; it’s underselling them. It’s not wrong, it’s just behind. In a world where perception shapes opportunity, “behind” is a cost.

What’s striking is how quickly things shift once they acknowledge it. The founder doesn’t suddenly become obsessed with aesthetics; they become invested in alignment. They want the outside to reflect the inside, the story to match the reality, the first impression to carry the weight of everything they’ve built. And when the new brand emerges, 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘳𝘺 - the opportunities don’t magically appear; they simply stop slipping away. The brand stops being a barrier and becomes a bridge. The same leader, often surprised by their own reaction, feels something they haven’t felt in a long time: momentum without resistance.

Marketing managers in SMEs are the unsung heroes of modern business.One minute they’re writing copy.The next they’re fix...
25/05/2026

Marketing managers in SMEs are the unsung heroes of modern business.

One minute they’re writing copy.
The next they’re fixing the website.
Then they’re designing a brochure, planning a campaign, answering sales, and explaining — again — why the logo shouldn’t be stretched.

They’re not underperforming.
They’re overloaded.
Most don’t need more tools.
They need fewer decisions.

A brand system that reduces friction instead of creating it.
Good design isn’t about aesthetics.
It’s about oxygen.

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