Soft Pastels, Surfing and Coastal Wall Art, Saltburn
2021 - Present
I'm a Pastel Artist and Graphic Designer based in Saltburn-by-the-Sea, drawing inspiration from the town’s history, people, and ocean.
In 2018, I joined the ‘Saltburn Studios & Gallery’ where the creativity around me pushed me to explore art beyond my graphic design work.
My ‘For the Love of the Ocean, Surfing and Saltburn – Collection’ came about by chance… I wanted to brighten up my home with some surfy, feel-good artwork of Saltburn, in a style similar to my favourite artists Paul Horton & Lucy Pittaway. However, I couldn’t find anyone who specialised in soft pastel paintings of both Surfing & Saltburn, so I decided to give it a go myself…
My artwork aims to depict Surfing at Saltburn in a fun, bright, and uplifting way!
Website:
www.mattwhaley.art
Website UX/UI design, online campaigns, ad banners, digital screens, email and social media
2018 - Present
Thorntons Limited is a British chocolate manufacturer owned by the Italian confectionery company, Ferrero. It was established in 1911 by Joseph William Thornton and his father in Sheffield, Yorkshire, England.
For over a century, Thorntons has specialised in crafting high-quality chocolate, sweets, toffee, fudge and other confectionery.
I’ve been working as their digital designer since 2018, working on a variety of digital campaigns & platforms including web, email, and social media.
Liaising closely with their design studio & digital team I have been responsible for designing and developing their website, creating ad banners, emails, Facebook & Instagram ads and also producing animated digital screens for their storefronts (before all stores were closed, back in 2021)
Key achievement
• Designing & developing their website alongside the digital teams in both the UK & Italy (launched in 2022).
Web Design & Social Media
2013
Carling is the best-selling beer in the UK.
In the summer of 2013, I was invited to London by Molson Coors, to work with the creative agency 'Creature of London' on their new Carling website.
The new website was built with Carling's target audience in mind (18-24 young social explorers), aiming to make the website more of a content destination site rather than a dull faceless corporate brand one.
Working alongside the TV ad campaigns (featuring Carling duo, Ben and Mark who utter the new slogan 'It's good but it’s not quite Carling') they wanted the new website to drive reappraisal of the Carling brand by showing it to be modern, easy to use and accessible.
My role was to design the look, feel and user experience of each page throughout the website on both desktop & mobile devices.
Web Design & Development, Email Marketing, online campaigns and social media
2015 – 2018, 2023 – Present
Greene King is the UK's largest pub retailer and brewer, who own over 2,000 pubs, restaurants, and hotels across the UK. Including brands like Hungry Horse, Chef & Brewer, Loch Fyne and Wacky Warehouse.
Due to increased work coming through their studio they needed additional freelancers, so I agreed to a 1-month contract (which ended up lasting over 3 years).
I worked as a digital designer working on a variety of digital campaigns & platforms including web, email, and social media, across 5 different pub, restaurant & hotel brands.
Liaising closely with Brand Managers, PR, Social and the CRM team, I was responsible for managing 5 pub/restaurant websites, helping to promote monthly campaigns, events and content. Working at the forefront of the Digital Design & Ecommerce team I have been instrumental in driving higher web visits and online guest bookings, through insight and analysis of Google Analytics and guest surveys!
Key achievements
• Developing the Loch Fyne Seafood & Grill restaurants website, from a brand in decline to a growth brand, with web visits and online guest bookings continuing to outperform year on year!
• I managed 5 different pub and restaurant brand websites, across 4 different CMS platforms.
• I was also lucky enough to be part of the Greene King football team which won the ‘Carlsberg Partners Day Cup’ at Wembley Stadium.
Photography, Art Direction, Web Design and Development
2012
Fantom Styling is a Range Rover customisation specialist based in Nottingham, England.
I collaborated with Owen Oxley (from Elevator Studio) to work on their photography and website re-design.
Photography
We chose two types of themes for this shoot Clean & Classy and Gritty & Moody, to really show off the style of these expensive cars and make them centre of attention. Then in Photoshop we developed a unique look and feel for the Fantom brand... with each photo having a dark/ghostly background to help draw out the vibrancy and attractiveness of these unique custom cars.
Web Design
The website was designed to be clean, simple and easy to navigate, with a glossy and corporate feel. Driving sales and positioning the brand at the high end of the market were our main goals. Built with HTML 5 & CSS 3, it's been designed to work on all devices and modern browsers.
Email Marketing, Strategy and Design Consultant
2014
Ideal World is a TV shopping channel in the UK, showing the best in friendly, entertaining shopping. The channel broadcasts from its studios in Peterborough.
Liaising closely with Brand Managers and the CRM team, I was responsible for reviewing their email marketing strategy to identify any opportunities or gaps. Working at the forefront of the CRM team I was able to help them develop a new strategy, from creating mobile-friendly email designs to increasing their ROI.
This was all achieved by keeping the emails simple and clear for the end user, making small, regular changes, A/B-Split testing, insight and analysis… resulting in higher click-to-open rates and web visits!
Branding, Photography, Web Design & Development
2014
Total Precision Limited is a manufacturer of high-quality engineering components for various sectors including the Automotive, Rail, and Electronics Industries.
I created their logo & brand identity, photography, and website design.
Although the company was only formed in 2013 the two directors alone boast over 45 years of experience in the industry.
Logo (Vertical Clamp)
The logo was designed to represent a ‘Vertical Clamp’ which is an Injection Moulding Tool – If you look closely you’ll see that the middle T represents where the plastic would be injected into the tool, and the two horizontal rectangles represent an Injection Moulding Tool clamping together to form the name TOTAL.
Photography
I went with a mixture of machine action shots and close-up product shots to give a real feel of who and what the company is all about.
Web Design
The website was designed to be clean, simple and easy to navigate, with a glossy and corporate feel. Driving enquiries and portraying high-quality service/products were the two main aims. Built with HTML 5 & CSS 3, it's a responsive website designed to work on all devices and modern browsers.
Photography
2013
Ratchet Clothing is an urban streetwear clothing brand (for 12 - 17-year-olds), which had over 350,000 followers online in the UK and the USA back in 2013.
Its founder Dhillan Bhardwaj has designed clothes for the likes of Rihanna & Miley Cyrus, and he even got invited for tea with the Prime Minister. He is now famous for making a million at 16 - view his TEDx Talk video.
I knew Dhillan before he got famous, and during Ratchet’s early days I volunteered to help him and his team photograph their Autumn/Winter collection 2013.
Branding, Graphic Design & Print
2012
RedFloor supply and professionally install warm water underfloor heating systems anywhere in the UK.
Their full company name is 'Heating Installation Technicians Limited', but such a long name was proving too difficult for their customers to remember, so they came to me requesting a new & easy to remember brand name and logo.
Brand name
RedFloor - Two short & easy to remember words, that are self-explanatory.
Logo (Heat Wave)
The logo colour is red to represent heat, with a wavy line at the base of the logo to represent a heat wave under the floor.
Branding, Graphic Design & Print
2013
Din-o-mite 3-D Colouring Book is unlike traditional 3-D (red and green lenses), this revolutionary colouring system looks great even without the special glasses... but, when you put them on, the colours literally 'pop' right off the page. It also comes with a set of pen inks that were specially formulated to produce the maximum 3-D effect.
I was contacted by Show n' Tell Publishing, based in L.A. and asked to turn their best-selling children's book 'Din-o-mite in Aaron's Closet' (written by Richard Wrate) into a 3-D Colouring Book.
I jumped at the chance to get involved in such an exciting project and get my hands stuck into developing this revolutionary colouring system from the ground up. Working together with the team in Los Angeles (via Skype) we developed different techniques and variations to get the best 3-D effect from every page.
My role was to design and develop a 32-page colouring book using illustrations (By Roberto Casale) featured in the children's book 'Din-o-mite in Aaron's Closet', develop their brand identity & logo (in keeping with their storybook logo), front & back covers, 3-D glasses and pen insert to explain how each ink colour works.
This book is currently only available to buy in the United States and online at the Chuck Jones Center for Creativity, in Los Angeles.
Photography, Web Design & Development and Marketing
2001 – 2011
Mojosurf is a learn-to-surf adventure tour company based on the east coast of Australia.
Winners of the 2009 'Golden Backpacks - Best Tour/Activity, New South Wales, Australia' award.
I worked as their web designer for 10 years (between 2001 - 2011). Plus, I also spent 5 years working on the tours as a photographer, where I was able to capture the essence of each surf trip on camera and use the photos for marketing material, such as brochures, websites (including travel agency websites) and social media.
Branding, Web Design & Development, Social Media, and Digital Marketing
2013 – 2014
Icedudes Clothing is a funky and stylish penguin brand, designed for penguin lovers of all ages to enjoy.
A friend of mine (who runs a clothing company) contacted me one day and said "why don't you put your penguin designs (from my animated ecards website) on t-shirts? I bet kids would love them! And from that day Icedudes Clothing was born.
Created more as a hobby than a business, I decided to have a go at designing kids’ clothing...
Logo
I took my penguin illustration (originally created back in 2000) and gave it a white key-line so that it could be dropped onto a black background for a more luxurious feel. Then I got the name and logo trademarked.
Photography
I wanted to bring a sense of fun and cheekiness to the imagery, whilst at the same time making them cool and vibrant.
Web Design
The website was designed to be clean, simple and easy to navigate. Driving sales and positioning the brand at the higher end of the market were our two main aims. It was a responsive e-commerce website, designed to work on all devices and modern browsers.
Due to legal issues around the use of the trademark, the brand has now stopped trading.
Web Design, Brand Identity, Email Marketing and Banner Ads
2006 – 2012
Egg was the UK's first-ever internet bank, specialising in savings and general insurance, together with loans, credit cards and mortgage products.
I worked there as a digital designer working closely with clients, copywriters and account handlers.
I was responsible for creating exciting concepts and design solutions for integrated on and offline campaigns, including UI design, illustrations, banner ads, marketing and acquisition emails, to help promote new products and drive brand awareness.
I was involved in developing and evolving the Barclaycard, Egg, and Citi brand guidelines over a 6-year period. I also liaised with the internal communications team to help them communicate to the overall business via intranet banner ads, TV animations and online demos.
Key achievements
• In conjunction with the brand, I undertook a complete brand refresh of egg.com. Improving the homepage click-through rates by 29% per day, and doubling the click-to-accept rate.
• Developed and evolved Egg’s email marketing formats/layouts for over 6 years, improving customer open rates, click-through rates and conversion rates, to an audience of over one million people.
• Designed and created the banner ads for the 2009 Egg Savings acquisitions campaign on external websites, including an AOL homepage takeover. The result was a 6% higher than expected click-through rate with the £100 million target being hit in record time for the business.
