What do you do in your role with Think Artfully?

As Head of Output, I take clients' creative briefs and match them with the right talent for the job, then make sure everything lands on time and within budget. I oversee the rest of the department day to day, keeping projects and operations running smoothly, managing the team, and reporting back to management on productivity and how the business is ticking along.

What are your favourite things about the services Think Artfully provides?

We find a solution for almost any budget, however ambitious the idea. Our artists, scribers, editors, and animators can turn their hand to nearly anything you put in front of them.

I'm also proud of how tightly we run projects. When you brief us, you're in safe hands - and that extends to how we use new tools, too. I wrote recently about using AI in visual storytelling: it's a brilliant accelerant once the groundwork is right, but it's never a substitute for knowing how to structure a story. That judgment is something we've built up over 30 years, and it shapes every project we take on, AI-assisted or not.

How did you get started in your career? How do you think your background has helped you in your role?

After a degree in media production, I started out as a runner for various TV and post-production companies. A few connections later, I managed to get a role as a junior rep for a storyboarding company in Soho, and the rest is history.

I always knew I wanted to work in the creative industry, but I never had any prior experience. What helped most was talking to the right people and showing up enthusiastic and friendly. That's stayed true throughout my career; relationships and curiosity tend to open more doors than a CV does.

What is the most effective project you’ve worked on? And why?

Any animatic that gets a client through research, or any pitch that helps them win the business - that's effectiveness in my book. I've got plenty of personal favourites, but nothing beats sitting down with a creative team and helping them find the clearest way to get their idea across, whether that's through a set of drawings or a finished piece of animation.

What changes have you noticed in the creative services industry since you’ve been in it?

Client budgets have tightened over the years. Agencies just aren't putting as much into research stimulus as they were five years ago, so finding cost-effective ways to get ideas drawn up has become more important than ever.

The other big shift is AI. It's changed how a lot of agencies approach storyboards and animatics, and on balance I think that's a positive thing because when it's used thoughtfully, it can speed things up and open doors that weren't there before. But it hasn't changed what actually makes an animatic work. Knowing how to pace a narrative, pick the shots that land an idea, and keep things at the right level of finish - that's still down to experience, not the tool you're using.

We've also seen a real rise in demand for our live scribing service, especially for talks, conferences, and events. Having a digital artist working remotely and capturing ideas as they happen is genuinely exciting, and clients can see exactly why, it turns information into something memorable on the spot.

What’s one thing you want people to know about Think Artfully?

We genuinely care about getting our clients' ideas through the research process. I love reading a script and working with a client to turn it into an animatic that does the idea justice. Seeing something we've worked on land as a finished TV ad or campaign - knowing we played a part in getting it there - never stops feeling good.

What do you enjoy doing when you’re not working?

Spending time with my wife and two kids, walking our dog, running as much as I can, and playing tennis and cricket whenever time allows.