I am a designer who helps companies explore opportunities and bring ideas to life.

Specialities
include:

Working with leaders to build innovation cultures.
Training teams to get results with design methods.
Facilitating rapid breakthroughs with sprints and workshops.
Helping ideas progress through an organization and reach the market.

ABOUT NEIL

My background includes 14 years as a design and studio leader at IDEO. As a designer, I helped create many successful products, services and brands. As a studio leader, I learned what it takes to manage a creative culture and set the conditions for designers to do their best work. This experience has enabled me to help organizations with their content, teams and culture.

My career began in journalism. Prior to joining IDEO, I spent a decade in London as the editor-in-chief of major British culture magazines, including Mixmag and The Face. I use this experience when coaching teams and individuals to deploy effective storytelling.

The role I play today is a hybrid of design director and creative coach. My goal is to help both ideas and people to progress. This could involve anything from leading a large design program to facilitating a strategy session. The thread running through all of it is my fascination with one question: what does it take for people to be their best creative selves?

Recent engagements include:

Tampa Bay Buccaneers / Designing the fan experience

Danone / Building an innovation culture

WNDR museum / Brand development

Spotify / Experience design

McDonald’s / Future store experiences

WeWork / Organization design

Deloitte / Human-centered design coaching

Vans / Facilitating strategy development

Note: I’m not an agency. I’m an experienced designer who will come into your company and help you build momentum, whether on the level of individual coaching, supporting teams, or reinventing the whole culture. When appropriate, I can pull in additional designers from my network to address a particular challenge.