Art Director and Creative Practitioner: specialising in

Graphic Design, Film, Photography, Illustration, Motion Graphics, and 3D

My approach is fundamentally human-centred, utilising design thinking to create work that fosters connection and delivers tangible value.

I have had the privilege of partnering with hundreds of individuals and organisations, equipping them with the creative strategies and tools necessary to share their unique stories with the world
*- Aidy Brooks.*

Current professional practice, roles and responsibilities::

Creative Director

15+ Years

Conceptual and Visual Direction

Line manages Junior and Senior Creatives

Brand Design and Strategy

Web and Marketing

Illustration

Motion Graphics

Film and Photography

Mural Design

Working directly with CEO’s, Directors, Project Managers, External Stakeholders across a broad range of industries.

Head of Creative

8+ Years

Conceptual and Visual Direction

Marketing and Advertising

Brand Development

Web Design

Film and Photography

Product Design

Motion Graphics

Working directly with Company Directors, External Stakeholders, Collaborators, App and Web developers, Marketing and Design Team.

Art Direction

Expertise that ensures the creation of compelling, innovative campaigns that captivate audiences and drive results.

Full suite design packages working with multiple teams and stakeholders.

Aidy & Co

Client: AF Live

Branding, Web Design, Marketing Strategy, Print and eCards, Van Livery

Working with a small team of Designers, Copywriters, Project Managers, Company Directors and Stakeholders.

Conceptualisation - Management - Design Production - Client Liaison

Minirig

Project: Product Campaign

Product Design, Garment Design, Marketing Strategy, Web Page Design, Email

Working alongside Company Director, Design and Marketing Team, Production Manager.

Conceptualisation - Management - Film and Photography - Design Production

9Trees

Project: Brand and Marketing

Website Design, Gift Card Design, Certificate Design, Social Media Content, Logo Animation.

Working alongside Company Directors, Design and Marketing Team

Conceptualisation - Management - Design and Animation - Client Liaison

Creative Campaigns

Identifying target audiences, engaging and inspiring action

Cross-platform marketing campaigns for print, web, email and social media.

3 hours to create a campaign

Minirig - Print Advertising for Love Saves the Day Festival

The Challenge

Design and delivery of print ready files to Out of Hand for the production of a large scale billboard.
Delivery deadline 17:00 (request received at 14:15)

Target Audience Research

Defining festival goer demographics and alignment to Minirig target audiences.

Engagement and Action

Fast planning, conceptualisation, methods of approach, production and ‘sign-off’

Outcomes

Strong management and team collaboration for the drafting, photoshoot, design, optimisation and delivery of files.
Direct social media engagement instagram posts from festival goers.
‘The best ad we’ve seen in a long time’ - Out of Hand team

Crafting cohesive, integrated campaigns across media channels.

AF Live- Website, social and email campaign

AF Live analytics data showed that industry professionals frequented the website, so we devised a marketing strategy centered on creating an informative resource specifically for them

Core4 Values

We identified 4 key elements to the brand and worked with copywriters to create engaging content for each category.

Marketing Strategy

We devised a system for generating 3 content types from a single article for maximum exposure

Website Content

Each of the categories were tagged and could serve as a searchable resource for industry professionals

Social Media Content

Each of the categories were translated into Instagram carousels

Email Content

All assets were converted and optimised for Mailchimp

People

Science

Technology

Innovation

Website Launch promo with animated logo

Conceptual and Visual Direction

Speed, clarity and efficiency.

Strong concepts evolve from a deep understanding of the end-user and a clear purpose for the project.

Presenting creative concepts and campaign ideas to stakeholders, incorporating feedback to refine and optimise outcomes

Ideation

An amalgamation of intensive research, creative exploration and concept development

Critique and peer review

Context and Visualisation

Prototyping of concepts and the translation of ideas into assets, identifying potential problems, solutions and methods of approach.

Client / stakeholder critique and review

Structure and Refinement

Detailed development of a specific concept, deconstructing, planning and optimisation for the production process.

Team meeting

Logistics and Production

Allocation of people, time and resources. Methods of approach, critique and review.

Key attributes

Storyboarding - Stylescaping - Wireframing - Management - Visualisation - Pitch Presentation

Brand Alignment

My deep understanding and advanced technical knowledge comes from 15 years experience creating, developing and working alongside brands from a broad range of industries.

Continuity - Consistency - Integrity

Communication

**Visualisation** - adhering to strict technical requirements for consistent ‘look and feel’
**Messaging** - ensuring the correct ‘tone of voice’ across all touch-points
**Resources** - developing internal libraries and ensuring adherence to legal standards

Experience

**End User** - strategising, planning and delivering seamless experiences across all ‘touch points’
**Client** - managing and exceeding expectations
**Team** - nurturing the values and practices within the work environment

Narrative

**Story** - honouring, exploring and developing the values, history and personality of the brand.
**Mission** - promoting and nurturing the brand vision internally and externally

Conceptual and Visionary Thinking

Foresight, leadership and hands-on approach.

Areas of focus include: people, production and product.

New ideas, strategies and design solutions to elevate the brand's visual presence and engagement with target audiences.

People

The Minirig Shop

New Ideas: My pitch to the Company Directors was the creation of a central home for the Minirig Brand. A physical location for people to celebrate the history, culture and products. The proposal converts unused space into increased sales and revenue, whilst enhancing brand presence and marketing opportunities.

Solutions: Visualisations and interior design, build and construction, mural creation, product development, marketing campaign creation.

Effectiveness: The shop continues to generate consistent revenue and has boosted the website SEO on Google. It serves as a central space for social media content. Consisting of live Dj’s, a Minirig Archive, new products and apparel, the day of launch attracted over a hundred additional sales, with people queueing out of the car park.

Production

Minirig Creative Solutions

New Ideas: My desire was to bring the Minirig products to life, creating more engaging content for our customers. To seek a transition from purely 2D formats/photography based promotions. However, the Company Directors opposed the use of 3D models, with this in mind I devised a production method that captured the physical product through videography and green screen technology.

Solutions: With only an old Canon 5D mrk iii, I was able to utilise open source firmware (Magiclantern) to unlock the censor of the camera. This allowed for RAW video capture that could be used to successfully extract a clean, rotating image of the product.

Effectiveness: RAW film provided us with uncompressed 14bit colour for enhanced ‘colour keying’. The rotating Minirig succeeded in helping me secure investment for a Canon R5C with 4:2:2 colour, now forming the basis for all animated promotional material.

Product

Minirig Limited Editions

New Ideas: My vision was to use the Minirig products as an artist’s canvas. I proposed producing an in-house, hand painted prototype product. These limited edition products would elevate the brand on social media and generate additional revenue streams.

Solutions: Designs were laser engraved onto the product and then hand sprayed with a specific type of translucent paint to add colour and uniqueness. Packaging was personalised and marketing campaigns created for promotion.

Effectiveness: Our limited Edition range sells out within minutes, offers an increased profit margins, enhanced engagement on social media and enables creative collaborations with a plethora of local and international artists.

Inhouse Custom Minirig Icon_1_0_0 copy.jpg

Leadership

My creative practice is rooted in an innate desire to connect and engage with people

I use design thinking to explore, define and deliver on our collective potential. To truly bring out the very best in people.

Providing guidance, feedback, and support

Aidy & Co - Clients

Client Testimonials

Paul Rose - Company Director

I would thoroughly recommend Aidy. He was integral to our business rebranding. His ideas and ability to 'get' what AF Live values has been extremely refreshing and I am confident he would be an asset to any company looking to improve their online image.

Carly Heath - Consultant

Aidy is an absolute delight to work with, always quick to come back with artwork and consistently comes up with a creative approach. An asset on any team.

Mike Cunningham - Director

Aidy & Co have a real passion for your business! They really helped us with our brand and messaging, as well as amazing graphics for social media and other channels like LinkedIn… Excellent chap, Excellent service, excellent rate!

Aidy & Co - Creatives

Fostering professional growth and creative excellence

Client Testimonials

Sean - Senior Creative

Aidy is a highly creative thinker with strong art direction capabilities, bringing originality, clarity, and vision to projects. He approaches his work with a high level of thoroughness and attention to detail, balancing creative exploration with practical execution. Aidy is also highly capable of managing projects end-to-end, implementing a clear, structured process that keeps work on track and stakeholders aligned.

Student Testimonials

Daniel - Junior Creative

… Aside from Aidy being a tutor, I have experienced first hand his ability to lead and direct small or large projects that are completed with high-end outputs… Aidy is a top chap who is incredibly kind and a joy to work with.

Ruairi - Junior Creative

I worked with Aidy as part of Aidy & Co, he was instrumental in helping me to bridge the gap between the technical abilities I'd gained from my course and using them in a professional environment.

Team Management and Collaboration

Evaluating and critiquing design concepts and executions to ensure the highest quality of work.

Utilising multiple tools and software simultaneously to manage internal and external teams

Efficient and effective systems for managing multiple projects, stakeholders and assets.

Team Management

Systems of allocation and direct, real-time feedback

Asset Management

Management of complex inventories and time specific tasks

Future Planning

Systems for managing external and internal stakeholders

Inspiring and guiding designers and creatives.

Proff. Ruth Farrar

Senior Lecturer in Creative Media and Enterprise + Director of Artswork Media at Bath Spa University

“Aidy proved to be a very inspiring guest lecturer for our students. During his series of talks, Aidy's extensive experience and expertise was evident in the abundance of creative case studies he shared with us from his portfolio. Aidy was also particularly skilled in helping students apply their newly acquired knowledge of design principles to add polish to their own creative media practice. Highly recommended.”

Software and Hardware Expertise

Advanced technical awareness and hands-on, practical knowledge.

An intuitive, hands-on approach to all creative tools provides me with a deep understanding of how to achieve extremely high standards, in the most efficient way possible.

Self Taught, multidiscipline, cross-platform competency.

Adobe Expertise

One-to-one teaching and mentorship

15 + Years - Photoshop
15 + Years - Illustrator
10 + Years - After Effects

15 + Years - Lightroom
10 + Years - Premiere
10 + Years - Indesign

Student Testimonials

Damien - Student

Had a great first lesson with Aidy. His way of explaining things and enthusiasm was very inspiring and answered all my questions very clearly and effectively. Highly recommended!

Andrew - Mentee

Incredibly valuable, I was completely unsure of my practice and direction of work flow, and now I have a much clearer and thought out plan for the coming months.

Justin - Student

“A wonderfully constructed and concise lesson, delivered with patience and all the necessary detail I required for my project with the identification from Aidy in him understanding completely my needs, brief and need for technical guidance - with him leading me, step by step to the very output I have been visualising for months. Most liberating”

Jack - Mentee

Aidy is very calm, relaxed and approachable and takes things at a steady speed and will accommodate to your needs and level of study. I would recommend this tutor for anyone, from beginner’s to more advanced learners and to anyone looking to improve their editing skills or learning to edit in none destructive ways.