Selected projects:

November 26, 2022 - No Comments!

SPEZIAL F.C.

Last weekend i went down to the Spezial F.C. exhibition at Circlesquare. Since 2015, the premium sub-line of adidas – which is curated by Gary Aspden – has become renowned for diving into the Three Stripes’ extensive archives, and reimagining heritage styles through a modern lens for each of its collections.

The exhibition, celebrating the symbolic magnitude Adidas has had, both on and off the football pitch -  adidas SPEZIAL has been at the heart of football cultures, especially in the North of England.

Comprising both vintage and reissued styles alongside unreleased samples, working prototypes, and a selection of football boots, the exhibition showcases a deep love of the beautiful game.

Check out the rest of my photos on my photojournal

November 8, 2022 - No Comments!

Manchester Art Fair

Friday night art fair launch party action down at Manchester Central. Some great artists on display from across the country and beyond.

 

Highlights for me were the Orbis Community. A not-for-profit Community based in Gateshead. It was great chatting to one of their board members and learning about their collective. I particularly loved the work of Adam Pointer, Rock and Rose and Helen McClafferty.

 

 

A few photos from the fair are below, with some more over on my photojournal.

 

October 24, 2022 - No Comments!

Chatsworth House

 

A couple of weeks ago I visited Chatsworth House. Having not been before or for a very long time I was expecting the standard National Trust type old estate, country house experience. I was very much mistaken... The Devonshire Family and the Duke and Duchess particularly, have curated an engaging and interesting balance of their modern art collection balanced with the rich history and restoration of the original house and its features.

 

 

Highlights are a gold stripped back sculpture from Damien Hirst, Hockney's hung casually in the corridor (apparently they saw it hanging in the Whitechapel Gallery and bought it straight from the gallery wall to hang in the their living room!), as well as a walk in wardrobe type room filled works from with Picasso and Matisse.

 

Some of the other highlights are the painted optical illusions as well as the stories from the knowledgable staff throughtout the house.

The gardens are also great, and with both modern and classic artworks dotted throughout.

 

Check my photojournal for more images from the visit and weekend in the Peak District.

October 17, 2022 - No Comments!

Red Bull – Gaming Sphere

Love this incredible footage around the Red Bull Gaming Sphere space in London shared recently on instagram.

 

I worked on the branding and identity for the Gaming Spheres several years ago when they were first developing their gaming and e-games concept and strategy. This was following on from a number of the other Red Bull identities I created for them.

The Sphere regularly hosts tournaments, bootcamps and workshops, enabling professionals, amateurs and fans to level up their game.

 

 

October 14, 2022 - No Comments!

Big Prize… and big names ;)

Nice little mention in PR Week today, as Rise at Seven clinch agency of the year... article below...

UK PRWeek Awards 2022.
Best Agency (outside London) - Winner – Rise at Seven

This award goes to Rise at Seven, whose approach of combining PR with SEO has paid dividends.

Launched during the pandemic by Carrie Rose and Stephen Kenwright, in just three years Sheffield-based Rise at Seven has grown into a major player. It now has 140 employees and offices in London, Sheffield and Manchester.

Read: PRWeek UK Awards 2022: Winners revealed

April 2022 saw the opening of Rise at Seven’s first US office in New York and the agency boasts clients such as Interflora, boohoo, GoCompare, and Parkdean Resorts. The agency was the fastest growing in the PRWeek Top 150 2022, with revenue quadrupling to almost £4m in 2021 and the size of its team doubling from less than 50 to more than 100. Revenue is continuing to soar, reaching £6.8m in 2022 – a year in which Rise at Seven made £1.5m in profit.

The secret of its success? A client offering combining PR with SEO to increase brand awareness and digital impact, according to Rose. The past year has seen it continue to win big name clients, such as Revolution Beauty and Dermalogica. And the agency has attracted some big names to its ranks. Dave Bennett, the former global managing director of Exposure and Freuds director, joined as comms director in March; and the agency appointed Ben Topliss, ex-design director at IMA-Home, as head of design in May.

In a bid to stay ahead of the pack, Rise at Seven recently built a tool that extracts thousands of searches from its clients’ internal site search analytics and matches them to Google Trends. This informs activity in a fraction of the time compared to traditional insight processes.

The judges said

The niche this agency serves feels very current right now, and the growth and culture Rise at Seven has achieved in just a few short years is really quite astounding.

October 13, 2022 - No Comments!

Castlefield Viaduct

Last month I was lucky enough to have been  given a private tour of the striking Victorian-era steel Castlefield viaduct.


Built in 1892, the Castlefield Viaduct is a core part of Manchester's remarkable industrial heritage. It has been abandoned since the 60’s but the National Trust have been bringing it back to life, creating Manchester’s own green ‘sky park’.

I'd definitely recommend giving it a visit and supporting the project, you can sign up for free tickets here: nationaltrust.org.uk/castlefield-viaduct 

A few of my photos are below, but check out some more on my photojournal

August 6, 2022 - No Comments!

Meeting The Shoe Maker

It was a real privilege yesterday to get to meet Joe Foster, founder of Reebok and hear his story first hand (particularly after having worked so much on Reebok campaigns and launches over the last few years) about how he created a sportswear brand that has been sold twice now for a total value of over £6 billion!

 

What a legend!

Whalley based Lanx shoes hosted the event as part of their first Creators weekend. I've been aware of the brand and it was cool to meet Marco and his team at Lanx HQ. Proper sound guys making proper shoes. Great to meet people passionate about their craft.

 

Check out my photojournal for some more photos from the evening.

 

June 3, 2022 - No Comments!

adidas Solarglide – LDN Oxford Street

This was a fun one, creating an in-store running activation and retail experience to launch the latest adidas Solarglide running shoe, in the adidas London Flagship store on Oxford Street.

 

I created a sprint game where consumers tested themselves (and the shoe) in a race - fastest feet first! Smart phone integration allowed for campaign extensions and friendly rivalries to form across social as well as in-store.

May 25, 2022 - No Comments!

New Work Alert… adidas: Predator x Swarovski

One of my last projects at IMA-Home was a really fun one. A limited edition football boot collaboration between adidas and Swarovski - diamond studded Preds. Unreal.

The brief called for a retail takeover in the London flagship adidas store to launch and celebrate the £300 badboy blingers! Jumpers for goalposts anyone? ​

Shine bright, stand out, play the occasion.

May 10, 2022 - No Comments!

Rising Up

Big news... so six weeks ago I started a new chapter in my career and made the move to Rise at Seven, joining in a newly created role as Head of Design. It was an opportunity I simply couldn't turn down, especially when the the founder says things like the quote below to the press.

"There weren’t many people in the world that we felt could do the job we’ve brought Ben in for, his background in fashion, product design and concept art design makes him the perfect leader for the Rise at Seven brand and our growing studio,” said Carrie Rose, CEO and Co-Founder of Rise at Seven.

“I’m excited to see how he can use his extensive background to scale our studio offering to be executed by the biggest and brightest team of creatives in the industry."

Such incredible words are truly humbling and I'm excited at whats to come in this new adventure!

You can read more about my new role on some seriously legit news sites (which is pretty surreal) - as well as more of my awkward posing on; Campaign Mag, Prolific North, PR Week, and Business Desk amongst others...

April 18, 2022 - No Comments!

Hockney at the Fitzwilliam

I got the chance to visit the Hockneys Eye exhibition at the Fitzwilliam museum over the Easter weekend whilst down in Cambridge and it's one of the most beautifully curated exhibitions I've been to.


Hockneys work is incredible, as expected, but it's been positioned in and around the Fitzwilliam's existing works, playing on both the technical aspects of the artwork as well as juxtaposing themes. All while highlighted against vibrant green colour blocking. Totally unexpected and totally excellent.

Well worth checking out if you are in the vicinity.
Some more photos will be up soon over on my photo journal.

Head down to the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge, 15 March-29 August.

April 16, 2022 - No Comments!

Remote Direction

Some BTS action here from a photoshoot I art directed back at the start of February for adidas and their Bra Revolution campaign. The shoot took place in NYC whilst I remotely art directed from my sofa in Manchester late into the evening.

Working with the talented photographer Vivian Kim and my incredible IMA NYC homies across the pond.