Design - a way of life!

We are very lucky at The Phoenix Partners to have a design department that not only has two guys that are great to work with but equally great at what they do. In fact, it probably isn’t going too far to say that design, photography and all associated technology takes up a lot of their life.

Designers see things differently. If getting the right shot when the creative impulse strikes means going that extra mile, rummaging around in flower beds or lying on the floor, well that’s just what needs to happen – isn’t it Roger?
So, being key members of the team, here’s a little bit more about them and their favourite project during their illustrious careers.

Roger Bradshaw – Head of Design

I started life as a photo journalist and, in fact, photography is still hugely important to me. I worked for several different newspapers across the East Midlands before going in-house at a nationwide utilities company. I left to retrain as a graphic designer ooh ... many years ago and have worked in graphic design ever since.

A really fun and memorable project that I was involved with here at the agency came about through a spontaneous bit of pyromania. It was for Castrol and the brief was to produce a giveaway for 200 garage owners (also premium customers) at the launch of a new high performance oil lubricant. It had to be unique and something the recipient would want to see in their everyday working environment.

Castrol had sent us 25 broken and used pieces of motorcycle to incorporate into the piece so we had the idea to set them on fire and took photos at close range using creative angles. The client selected his favourite shot and 200 limited editions were produced. That to me is what design is all about.


Matt Stokes - Designer

I've always been creative; whether it was as a small boy playing make-believe in my grandparents' house, designing projects in Athens during my second year at University or working day-to-day on astonishing projects at The Phoenix Partners. My mind has always been imagining, creating, realising and growing. I work in the best profession in the world designing graphical communication for all manner of clients, both digitally and in print. During my years of working in busy studios I have gained professional qualifications, awards and experience in this addictive industry. I also have developed my photographic ability, firstly as a hobby before incorporating it into my work professionally. I currently live in the beautiful local Charnwood countryside with my wife. In my free time I enjoy running Kilomathons, updating my photo-blog, eating good food and riding my motorbike.

My favourite project is probably because it was incredibly successful in terms of the impact it had. The brief was to create a full blown marketing campaign for Burton College around the term "Get the Burton bug" and implement it, in this case, into a full-time prospectus.

I developed the concept to imply that education was infectious and used this as a style throughout the prospectus. Using photography, I made the bugs come to life with props designed to illustrate courses offered by the college which then adorned the appropriate pages of the prospectus. Taking these concepts, I developed the overall graphical look, choosing appropriate imagery to complete the final clean and clear visual style of the book. As a result of this Burton College won the Best 14-19 Campaign at the FE First Awards in 2008.


To pick the creative brains of Roger or Matt give them a call on 01509 815026.