Five kinds of problem. One person responsible for all of them.
One discipline · Many outcomes
A broader set of tools. Connected by one way of thinking.
Strategy, design, technology and production thinking, working together.
Where the work usually starts
- 01
A range that has to hold together
A product range only works if one set of decisions survives across every pack, every format and every new addition. Neil develops the identity, packaging structure, production artwork and range architecture together, so a new flavour, size or retailer listing extends the system instead of breaking it. This includes hand-off to print and manufacture, and the 3D visualisation used to approve a range before it exists physically.
- 02
A catalogue that has to become sellable
A store can look right and still be unusable underneath: inconsistent product data, a category structure nobody can navigate, or a migration that risks losing the logic a catalogue was built on. Neil structures product information, metafields and category logic so a varied range is easy to find, easy to compare and ready to feed to the platforms that need it, including a platform migration carried out without losing what already worked.
- 03
A business that has to be understood before it can be sold
Some businesses have real expertise that their current identity, website or service language does not communicate. Before any design work starts, the offer itself often needs to be worked out: what the business actually does, who it is for, and how to say that clearly. Neil researches the category, structures the service offer, then carries that positioning through identity, website language and a working site.
- 04
A defined problem inside an existing team
Agencies and in-house teams sometimes need a senior specialist to own one part of a project properly, rather than another pair of hands. Neil takes responsibility for a bounded packaging, production, catalogue or ecommerce workstream, with role, approvals and handback agreed before work begins.
- 05
A repeated process that should become a system
Some problems are not a design job at all. A task repeated often enough, with rules that can be defined, is usually better solved as a tool than as another document. Neil builds bounded AI-assisted workflows for exactly that: a defined task, clear rules and a human decision point, not an autonomous promise.
Why continuity matters
Connected problems lose coherence when the design decision becomes separated from production or implementation. Keeping the same senior designer close to the business, the design and the final use makes it easier to catch the places where those things would otherwise disagree. That can be the difference between packaging that looks right and packaging that works in production, or between a website that looks finished and one that actually explains the business.
If your situation does not map neatly onto one of the five, that is normal.
Most real problems don't. Describe what is happening and Neil will tell you directly whether it is a fit.
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