Brand Designer • Creative Director • Design Technologist
Hereford, UK • 07794 959 775 • rob@designbysoap.co.uk • designbysoap.com
Brand designer and creative director with 15 years experience building visual identities and communication systems for global organisations including Google, Microsoft, IBM, PayPal, and the BBC. Founder of the UK's first specialist information design agency.
Experienced working as a retained, embedded design partner within client organisations – collaborating closely with product, marketing, and leadership teams to develop scalable brand systems, product visual languages, and clear communication frameworks.
Increasingly focused on the intersection of brand, product, and AI-assisted development – directing the creation of tools, platforms, and workflows that enable organisations to apply their brand consistently across digital environments.
Design of scalable visual identities, brand guidelines, and communication frameworks spanning product, marketing, editorial, and interactive contexts.
Extending brand systems into digital products, web applications, and interactive tools – ensuring coherence between brand and user experience.
Long-term collaboration with client product and marketing teams as a retained design partner – providing continuity, strategic direction, and hands-on execution.
Directing the creation of production web applications using AI-assisted workflows (React, TypeScript, Vite), enabling new forms of brand expression, automation, and internal tooling.
Complex information, data visualisation, editorial design, and visual storytelling.
Working knowledge of modern web technologies, REST APIs, Git, deployment pipelines, and OpenAI API integrations – enabling effective collaboration with engineering teams.
Adobe Creative Suite, Figma, React (directed builds), TypeScript (directed builds), n8n, Cloudflare Pages
Director & Co-Founder
Hereford & Brighton | 2010 – Present
Founded and lead the UK's first specialist information design agency, delivering brand identity systems and visual communication frameworks for global organisations. Work frequently conducted as a retained, embedded design partner within client organisations – collaborating directly with product teams, marketing departments, and leadership to evolve and apply brand systems across digital and physical touchpoints.
–Designed and evolved brand identity systems and visual languages for organisations including Google, Microsoft, IBM, PayPal, Barclays, BBC, and the Bank of England.
–Served as long-term retained designer for multiple clients, working closely with internal product and marketing teams to ensure consistent, high-quality application of brand across web products, platforms, editorial content, and campaigns.
–Developed brand guidelines, design systems, and reusable visual frameworks enabling internal teams to apply brand consistently and autonomously.
–Delivered thousands of projects across digital, interactive, editorial, and motion contexts – maintaining hands-on involvement in concept development, design, and execution.
–Directed the application of brand across interactive web experiences, product interfaces, animated content, and data-driven storytelling.
2024 – Present
Conceived and directed the development of a React and TypeScript brand management and data visualisation platform, enabling scalable application of brand assets, automated asset generation, and consistent multi-format output. Defined product concept, specifications, and visual design; directed implementation using AI-assisted development workflows; and reviewed and refined code output to production standard.
Designed and maintained automated workflows supporting brand communication, content publishing, monitoring, and lead generation – integrating OpenAI API, Airtable, Google Sheets, and cloud deployment platforms.
Directed the design and deployment of interactive web experiences and client-facing digital tools, extending brand systems into functional product environments.
Lighting Designer
Surrey | 2008 – 2010
Designed lighting schemes for major architectural projects including Zaha Hadid's Opus building in Dubai and Gatwick Airport North Terminal. Produced visualisations, technical drawings, and photographic documentation.
Brighton | 2007 – 2009
Freelance live music and artist photographer for bands and magazines around Brighton and the south coast.
HarperCollins and international publishers
Author of internationally published book exploring The Beatles' story through data visualisation and information design.
Bournemouth University | 2004 – 2007
Hereford Cathedral School
© 2025 Rob Thomas