Information-led design
Healthcare communications often contain a lot of information. Good design is about creating hierarchy, helping people find what matters and avoiding unnecessary visual noise.
NHS & healthcare creative experience
Creative communications built for healthcare.
More than 25 years of creative experience, including extensive work with NHS organisations across the North East. I provide experienced design and production support for patient communications, campaigns, publications, internal communications, digital content and print.
25+ years
overall creative and production experience
NHS experience
healthcare communications across multiple organisations
Print + digital
from patient leaflets to online campaigns
North East
Durham, Darlington, Newcastle, Northumbria and beyond
Blue Onion is an independent design business.
References to NHS organisations on this page describe previous
creative experience and project work.
Experience behind the work
Healthcare design needs more than good artwork.
It needs clarity, consistency, production knowledge and an understanding that communications often have to work for very different audiences.
My NHS experience has included annual reports, newsletters, patient information, campaigns, flyers, large-format graphics, branding and digital communications for organisations across the North East.
That sits alongside more than 25 years working in print, publishing, branding, marketing and digital — so I'm equally comfortable discussing the idea, producing the artwork and understanding how the finished piece actually needs to be made and used.
NHS organisations represented in my previous project experience
Durham
Darlington
Sunderland
Newcastle
Gateshead
Northumbria
Tees, Esk & Wear
NHS Fleet Solutions
Practical creative experience
From the brief to the finished piece.
My background isn't limited to one part of the creative process. I've spent years working across client management, design, production, publishing, print and digital, which helps when a project has to move from an initial idea into something that genuinely works in practice.
Brand consistency
Campaigns rarely exist as one item. Posters, leaflets, presentations, social graphics and internal material all need to feel like parts of the same communication.
Real print knowledge
More than 25 years working with printers and publications means I understand artwork production as well as design — from small patient literature to reports, exhibition graphics and large-format material.
Print + digital thinking
Communications increasingly move between physical and digital formats. I can work across both rather than treating web, email, social and traditional artwork as unrelated disciplines.
Why experience helps
Sometimes you need somebody who can just pick up the brief.
Not every project needs an agency process around it. Communications and marketing teams sometimes need an experienced pair of hands who can understand existing material, work within an established visual direction and move a project forward.
That's where an independent designer can be particularly useful. You deal directly with the person producing the work, without layers of account management between the brief and the artwork.
I can support one-off requirements, campaigns or ongoing overflow work where an internal team simply needs additional experienced creative capacity.
Creative support
The sort of work I can help with.
Individual projects, campaign assets or additional creative resource alongside an existing communications team.
Reports & publications
Annual reports, newsletters, booklets, guides and longer-form communications.
Patient information
Leaflets, information sheets, posters and supporting visual communications.
Campaign creative
Campaign identities, posters, flyers, display material and coordinated creative assets.
Internal communications
Staff communications, presentations, newsletters and organisational material.
Digital & social
Email creative, digital graphics, web assets and social media campaign material.
Print & large format
Production-ready artwork for print, displays, banners, exhibitions and large-format applications.
Need experienced creative support?
Give me the brief. Let's see what it needs.
Whether it's a single piece of artwork, additional campaign capacity or a larger print and digital project, I'm happy to discuss what you need and whether I'm the right fit.
Start a conversation
Have a project in mind?
Tell me a little about what you need, where the project is up to and any timescales you are working to. I can help with individual projects, ongoing creative support or overflow work for agencies and marketing teams.
Based
County Durham · North East England
Need an extra pair of creative hands?
I also provide flexible project-based and overflow design support for agencies, in-house teams and marketing departments.
Project enquiry
Send me a brief
A few details are enough to get the conversation started.