Hi, I'm Nicola
Bristol-based graphic designer – finding visual ways to solve communication problems
My passion is for helping small businesses transform their potential into something real.
Every job I’ve ever done – teaching, translation, design – has been about helping people with communication. Making complex ideas clear and using in-depth investigative processes to get there (translating complex medical and architectural papers without prior knowledge of these fields made me something of a research sleuth!)
When I started out doing visual design for companies, I was given one-line briefs. Design a bath product! Who for? Women! What age? Any age!
This was unsatisfying! When I went freelance, I wanted to do it very differently. I started doing everything possible to find out about my clients and their audience. That learning went deeper and deeper - into brand strategy, marketing, UX and UI product design - to develop a deeply systematic approach to my design practice. I applied this knowledge and found the website I was building ranked 8th on Google, generating pages and pages of enquiry forms. I felt like I now understood the secret of how to build a successful website.
I love the flow of design and put my all into it. Mostly, I love feeling like I can really help someone – seeing the impact my work can have on their small business results and their direction, clarity and confidence. The image of ripples turning to waves – my studio name – came about when I saw the true impact my work could have.
If you’re local to this beautiful city of Bristol, let’s grab a coffee and have a chat. If you’re outside Bristol I can meet online – I work with clients as far afield as China and Dubai, so it’s no problem!