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Accolades and Recognition
• Shortlist for CIM Marketing awards, 2009
• Winners DME Award, 2009
• Shortlist, Product Design, Cardiff Design Festival
• Featured in Wired Magazine, June 2010
• Cited in The Chair, by Dr. Anne Massey, Professor of Design History at Kingston University, London
• Nominee for Brit Insurance Designs of the Year Award, 2011
• Product exhibited at Design Museum, London, 2011
• Product featured in Sir Ridley Scott’s Prometheus, 2012 (opposite)
• Design Council chose Nomad as a design icon that has helped to make the UK a leading design nation, 2012
Introduction
Following a traffic accident, my brother Mark was left paraplegic. His introduction to life as a paraplegic left him frustrated, especially when he was buying products specific to his condition. We didn’t think this was fair. Based on keen insights driven by solid research, I began to build a brand that challenged established industry notions – a lifestyle brand that was both warm and cool; engaging, yet fiercely independent; and aspirational while approachable. Before Nomad, disability-based products were sold to patients, rather than people. The tone and language used in this market was cold, condescending and very much outdated. The marketplace does however sell medical products, so requires a high element of trust and authority from its brands. A major obstacle to overcome was how to make a start-up company credible in a market place dominated by large, well-trusted names. We chose design as our driver. In under a year, Nomad became a respected and credible international brand. A clear marketing strategy from the outset allowed Nomad to define a niche for itself, differentiating it in a crowded and competitive market.
Nomad Mrk1 (Wired Magazine)
Nomad Brand – Making Our Mark
The name Nomad was chosen internally as it represented values of freedom and movement. A Nomad stands against the establishment and is an individual, a free-thinker. Soft phonetics are welcoming and the word, when used in lower case is rounded, friendly and approachable. I constructed a compelling story for the brand, centred around my inspirational brother, Mark. Here was a man who would not give up after a life-changing accident, but instead rose again to co-found Nomad. Nomad’s brand values were developed to reinforce this story. The Nomad journey had started. I now had to roll out our concept across all touch points.
Product Photography and Advertisements
The adverts were industry leading at the time and gave Nomad a genuine competitive advantage over other brands. As a challenger brand, the quality of our marketing allowed to disrupt while retaining the impression of professionalism and authority. The key stages in the development of our adverts were: • Establish brand value consistency and identity for advert concepts
(differentiate through design; place as aspirational, technical, cool). • Refine and select final creative direction. • Interview photographers and convey Nomad values. • Arrange and co-direct the shoot. • Manage project costs, times and deliverables.
The result helped Nomad to become winner of the Design Management Europe Award – against pan-European companies from all sectors (past winners include Virgin Atlantic).
Communicating Our Passion
Nomad’s marketing materials were developed to be another source of differentiation. Through superior design values, visually appealing and highly tactile materials were developed . Once again, this was unheard of in the mobility market at the time. This coherent, consistent approach to marketing collateral reinforced the perception of Nomad as a design-led brand. Nomad obtained a shortlist for Welsh Chartered Institute of Marketing awards (2009) for these materials
Website and Digital
I oversaw the design of the website. The mobility market is particularly well suited to online activity and Nomad developed a fully-inclusive/accessible website as a lead generation tool that was consistent with its brand values. As an essential part of a congruent presence, an integrated digital approach was used from the start, with Nomad being very active on social media and blogging regularly. Again, this was a new approach for the marketplace, but is now commonplace.
Making a Stand
I was responsible for leading the organisation and logistics of the launch event (Naidex 2009). This included overseeing the design of the experiential environment. Competitor’s spaces all tried to convey too much information, resulting in a busy, overloading aesthetic. • A disruptive yet elegant solution was to minimise the visuals • A strong black background with very little else would attract attention • Congruent with brand values • Gain positive market awareness by standing out
Life after Nomad: Freelance
