Matthew Baxter general portfolio

general portfolio 2015

Matthew Baxter

I am an award-winning senior creative, used to fulfilling team leadership and client facing roles. I have worked both agency and client-side, and have director-level and hands-on experience of broadcast, interactive, web, UX, motion graphic and corporate video, print and environmental design as a designer, director and writer.

As a creative thinker and strategist I am used to working with stakeholders to devise the right brief, and then successfully taking it from concept to presentation and then to execution. I am a lateral-thinker and problem-solver who nevertheless has a commercial and delivery oriented outlook, informed by extensive experience of excelling under both budgetary and deadline pressure.

My work, in-house and agency-side, has given me a depth of creative and technical insight, as well as direct experience of strategy and planning, brand Identity creation and integrated communications. Providing the right user-experience and good accessibility have always been high priorities for me, as has making brand values integral to the message or experience.

From early in my career I have built and led creative and technical teams. I am committed to getting the best out of people at all levels of experience and competency; leading teams on major projects, through significant change and acting as the creative voice within senior management. I am used to presenting at chief executive level and having responsibility for establishing and developing client relationships - but I can get my hands dirty too.

My experience has made me a communicator; able to take co-workers and clients, from brief to delivery by listening, thinking and explaining ideas with clarity and passion.

introduction

[email protected] m 07785 460247 t 01932 843078 profile http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/matthew-baxter/16/425/574 portfolio http://baxtercreative.carbonmade.com/ blog http://matbax.wordpress.com/

Matthew Baxter

Forensic approach to the brief and understanding of client needs

Conceptual thinking and Creative Direction

Presentation and communication of ideas both in writing and in person

Design for the digital, broadcast and physical environments

Extensive experience of video production, direction and post-production

User Experience and Interaction design

Creative & technical team development & management

Mentoring and development of junior colleagues

Script and copywriting

core competencies


Matthew Baxter

From December 2012, head of UX & design, Caplin SystemsI lead the creative team at one of the leading web trading solutions providers from research to visual design, ensuring Caplin products are intuitive, fit for purpose and a pleasure to use and look at. I have built an agile team of researchers, architects and designers that is creative, flexible, collaborative and commercial.

February 2010 to November 2012, creative consultant I acted as a consultant for education, retail and catering clients on branding, internal communications, marketing and ecommerce. I also worked ‘hands-on’ as a UX and graphic designer, writer and director on web, video and physical projects.

January 2005 to November 2009, creative director DVA I owned the relationships with the major clients, and ran my team as a cohesive unit including researchers, designers, developers and content producers, delivering effective, award-winning and commercially successful marketing, internal communications, digital asset management and interactive presentation systems.

January 2003 to November 2004, creative director BDP I developed concepts and presented at board level, then wrote, art directed and directed award-winning pieces, including interactive training and communications projects, commercials and promos.

April 1998 to October 2002, creative director Sky NewsCreative head of Sky News, Sky News Active and Sky News online, the RTS news channel of the year in 2002 and 2003. I was responsible for all promos and screen-based design work; managing a large team of designers, promo makers, technicians and the live team, operational 24 hours a day.

experience


Matthew Baxter

July 1997 to April 1998, freelance designer/directorWorking as creative director, designer, director and writer on station identity, promos and image campaign projects for Discovery and Vh-1.

1988 to 1997, director Baxter Hobbins SidesA design specialising in motion-graphics, including station branding, promos, titles, commercials, post-production, effects and content graphics in the UK and France.

1983 to 1988, designer / senior designer, BBC TVI started on the original electronic graphics crew on ‘Breakfast Time’, I ended up leading the design and effects team on ‘Newsnight’, I also directed on ‘pre-records’.

education and training

Bachelor of Arts Degree 2.1 in Graphic DesignBBC General Production course BBC Studio Direction course

experience


Matthew Baxter

IVCA Clarion commendation

PepsiCo International talent sustainment award

RM Marketing Innovation award

IVCA commendation for video

2 Soho Shorts awards for animation

New York Festivals awards for interactive design and promos

Promax World Class award for virtual reality

RTS News Channel of the Year 2002 & 2003

Promax Gold award for promo campaign

4 CGI awards for computer animation

2 BDA awards for design

Promax Silver and World Awards for promos, titles, stings and design

RTS award for graphic design

Waters Technology award for best web-based development environment 2014

awards & honours


Matthew Baxter

I have been making complex information and important messages quick and simple to understand and use for nearly 30 years, on television, in the digital environment and in print. I focus on making what I do appropriate, intuitive, fit for purpose and a pleasure to use and look at, and I create working environments in which my team can do the same.

I am a creative, commercial, client-facing, team-leader with a lot of experience, energy and commitment.

My background is long-term digital, but media-neutral in outlook and training, and I am always looking to do exciting work with good people.

summary


On-screen branding, including idents and bumpers and interstitials

For BSkyB


As creative head of Sky News, Sky News Active and Sky News online, I led the team that created, promoted, developed and defended the Sky News brand. I was responsible for all promos and screen-based design work, including the world’s first interactive television service.

I was also responsible for managing news creative services; a team of 28 designers and promo makers, including the post-production technicians and the live team, operational 24 hours a day.

Sky News


live graphics styling and news wall

For BSkyB


The on-air graphic grid, palette, typopgraphic styling, transitions and animation have to cope with the extreme rigours of 24 hour live news as well as presenting a crisp modern and instantly recognisable interpretation of the brand values.

This does that. It also acted as a template for our competitors rebrands.

Sky News


Promos for Sky News’ general election coverage using motion-capture and photo-montage techniques

For Sky News

Winner of a ‘Soho Shorts’ award

To move Sky News to a distinct position for its’ election coverage I chose to play up personalities rather than create yet another animated metaphor for the democratic process. Tabloid newspapers had already taken this direction to create interest and I felt it suited the lighter, edgier Sky News approach.

Motion capture married with a very stylised character design style creates a strange and memorable effect that gave the promos impact, and is challenging to direct.

Sky News


A training video with reference book introducing customer care to bus drivers

For GoSkills, the sector skills council for passenger transport

Good communication and the right attitude are vital in customer service. “The Ride” was conceived to show, through a drama based on real experiences, the benefits of getting it right.

Shot over 3 days with a cast of 14, ‘The Ride’ was post-produced in-house. The script was devised to work in conjunction with the curriculum modules for NVQ’s. The message is clearly, concisely delivered in a way that has relevance to the intended audience.

The Ride


An interactive guide for employers, staff and trainers, examining diversity issues within the workplace and demonstrating the legal, moral and business case

For GoSkills, the sector skills council for passenger transport

An IVCA Clarion winner

A group of actors, diverse in ability, ethnicity, sexuality and faith, play characters in scenes covering sexuality, gender, disability, age, race and religion. The menu is a series of ‘red herrings’; the characters don’t represent the stereotypical category.

I researched, wrote, cast, designed and directed the piece. I also commissioned the specially composed musical score.

Rebecca Harvey, Capability and Capacity Programme Manager at Government Skills said: “The DVD challenged my own stereotypes in an interesting and enjoyable way. The scenarios made the case for diversity in a sometimes amusing, but always moving, way. Well done GoSkills!”

Respect the Difference, Value the Mix.


Video component of a staff development course for senior marketing managers

For Realise Consulting and Heineken International

Created for Heineken as a key element of a training programme for senior marketing managers. This is a series of videos: mock-documentaries designed to set the scene for hypothetical scenarios played out in problem-solving sessions. But there’s a twist: some of the videos include interviews in which a character comments on the previous day’s events, and the individuals involved. This was achieved by scripting, recording and re-editing to a pre-agreed format overnight, before uploading the new videos for use the next morning in Amsterdam.

The videos livened up the sessions considerably, and increased their effectiveness to the extent that Elena Murnigotti, Manager Portfolio and Innovation Capability, Global Commerce at Heineken International, called the result “Incredible”. Rob Mitchell of Realise Consulting, who had facilitated the programme thought them “brilliant”.

Business World

view a clip: http://youtu.be/_4-T0G

7QQ

Ik


CGi sequences, synthetic reconstructions, graphics and post-production special effects

For Cicada Films

Massive geological fault lines lie beneath some of the most populous regions of northern Europe. Eventually earthquakes, stretching from Austria to Ireland will bring destruction on an unprecedented scale.

We were commissioned to produce CGi reconstructions of similar events in the distant past and visualisations of the effect the earthquakes would have on the infrastructure of today’s cities and industry.

The programme was broadcast on The National Geographic Channel in Europe and the US, and producer Christian Holland was convinced that the graphic sequences were a crucial factor in the show’s success.

Europe’s SecretEarthquakes


An integrated sales campaign featuring postcards, email, a microsite and competition For RM Ltd

An RM Marketing Innovation award winner

RM wanted to create a buzz amongst primary school teaching staff about their interactive whiteboards and associated technology and generate traffic to the main website.

Primary school teachers are an audience who tend not to respond well to hard-sell tactics or overly technical communications, and yet are charged with much of the IT acquisition and maintenance, as well as being expected to deliver inspiring lessons using interactive whole class teaching equipment.

We developed a staffroom-full of characters, in the form of illustrations and dialogue, and the audience responded well to the simple, humourous approach.

Easiteach, whole classteaching


A promotional drama/documentary film for ‘Connexions’ youth employment and careers centres For CfBT

The ‘Connexions’ centres bring young people who, for one reason or another, have lost their way back into employment, training or education. This short film begins with a drama showing the personal story of a teenage girl who falls into and then recovers from a bad situation with the help of ‘Connexions’, and goes on to show real case-workers and clients telling their stories.

The drama, developed from real case-studies supplied by CfBT was shot on location in London. We blended shots in post-production to allow our character to walk through her past telling her story in the streets she walked in earlier years when things were going wrong.The film has been used to raise awareness, and funding, for CfBT ‘Connexions’ Centres across the UK, and as an introduction to the work of the CfBT further afield.

That’s not me


A website for a management consultancy featuring specially commissioned portrait and reportage photography

For The Berkeley Partnership

The Berkeley Partnership are not interested in growing a corporate structure, they care about the work and their clients.

The presentation of ‘the Berkeley way’ is key to this website, going as far as ingraining it into the navigation. There is no corporate voice or sign-posting, you are guided and informed by individuals, whilst the philosophy and the endorsements of are written in the third person, by an engaged observer.

To show concept visually, I commissioned two photographic projects: Clean, clear colour portraiture to accompany the personal voices, and grittier black and white ‘reportage’ for the observational pieces.

The content managed site was designed to allow constant organic development without the need for technical intervention.

The BerkeleyPartnership


An interactive DVD presentation featuring a travelogue video, 3D graphics and downloadable information modules For Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel Lucent needed a presentation for their pioneering all-digital network for Manx Telecom on the Isle of Man.

The solution was a documentary-style travelogue cutting out jargon, and taking authority from interviews with Managing Directors and Chief Technology Officers at O2 and Manx Telecom, the riht voices for Alcatel Lucent’s target CEO level audience.

I wrote and directed the video, and designed and directed the graphics sequences.

The response was enthusiastic and Jan Piet Wielenga, leading Alcatel Lucent’s Marketing Team, said: “The piece as a whole takes our presentation up to a new level.”

Next GenerationNetwork


Subaru sponsorship sequences

A set of opening and closing sponsorship sequence for Sportsline on Sky News

For Subaru Europe and Sky News

A series of domestic scenes in which the concluding shot shows the family man acting out his rallying dreams - wearing a rally helmet and deranged expression.

The sequences were conceived to be shot on location on 35mm, and were designed to play on the unconventional image and sporting heritage of the Subaru brand.

Rally Dreams


Opening and closing sponsorship sequence for the European resorts report on Sky News

For Isuzu UK and Sky News

The piece makes use of the middle letters in an Isuzu sign on the roadside to make the word ‘sun’ with the help of a local relaxing at a roadside taverna. The piece was shot using motion-control with a minimum of post-production – only the gecko is synthetic.

Isuzu Sun


A presentation campaign using familiar film and television styles and dialogue composed from song lyrics

For MTV/Vh-1

A Gold Promax award winner

I directed, co-wrote and designed these sequences (we also made ‘Rom-com’ and police interrogation pieces) principally created to re-position Vh-1 as more quirky and less of a stuffy AOR channel - a critisism raised in research.

Shot on film with minimal sets, I felt we were still able to achieve the right ‘look’ for a reasonable price.

Vh-1 Lyrics


An internal marketing campaign for an in-house recruitment website

For PepsiCo International

My CareerConnection


A video-led microsite, to encourage PepsiCo executives to re-locate to Russia


Winner of the PepsiCo International communications award

This is a major internal communications campaign to highlight the career opportunities in emerging markets like Russia.

I felt that the most appropriate way to address this was to use video as the information carrier, and PepsiCo’s intranet as the delivery medium.

Shot on location in Moscow, the film showed the working and social environments for PepsiCo people. Employees tell their personal stories regarding the move, the challenges and the opportunities.

Inspire: Russia


An interactive microsite, featuring an information matrix and ‘drag and drop’ game for PepsiCo International


This is a tool for self and supervisor assessment of manager potential. Although it was important that the activities were fun to do, there was always an underlying serious function to this interactive programme.

We designed, developed and created an interactive information matrix in ‘flash’ that allows the user to follow potential career paths and get information about what they will need to achieve their goal in each case. It tests knowledge and understanding at the end of the process.

The visual theme ‘rising stars’ is complemented by a sound-based ‘pointer’ system that helps guide the user.

The piece, originally intended only for use in the UK, is now in use across PepsiCo internationally.

The LeadershipModel


A international staff intake and initiation resource, allowing new starters to receive all appropriate information about their job and workplace


The front end of the piece is the ‘new-starter pack’ consisting of generic printed and video materials, and an interactive application linking to an intranet based resource.

The back end allows HR departments to compile totally personalised online information modules for each new employee, to accompany the pack.

What’s in Store?


A network-based staff retention and development resource, designed for individual employees and line-managers


Winner of a PepsiCo International award for talent sustainment

This online resource was conceived using video, interactive information matrices and downloadable presentations and assessments designed to let individuals and their line-managers work together to plan rewarding, sustainable careers.

I was lead creative, and directed the videos for the resource. The look, style and tempo of the piece were important to create the right relationship between the company, the resource and the user. It needed to be branded without being too ‘corporate’ and authoritative without being dull or distant. Most of all, it had to be engaging for the user.

C & B & me


Online branding and design for a ‘boutique’ department store

For Living in Store

Living in Store


Caplin vision

The Caplin Design ethos

For Caplin Systems

The Caplin Design ethos was an initiative I started as team principal, to guide decision making by our designers and architects. When working closely with developer teams, or embedded on-site with clients, it is easy to lose site of the big picture. This codification of our approach is helpful for us, our colleagues and clients; helping us to guage our progress and providing success metrics for our work.

For Caplin Design, optimal user experience means excellent ergonomics matched with a superb feel. Our approach will always have the user as its focus, but we balance this with business objectives and the facilitating technology. In practical terms any Caplin solution is designed around the user with the following objectives....

Maximize speed & accuracyMinimize error and fatigueCreate a pleasing & practical interfaceUphold the client’s brand values

To create effective user experiences you have to balance the demands of the user, the needs of the business and the capabilities of the technology.

business

psychology

user

task

technology

physiology

UI

UX

To design successful user interfaces, you have to understand the drivers,

needs, capabilities and pressure points of the end user.


Hit the Numbers

A real-time data-streaming test-bed designed to provide visual ergonomic data to guide design decisions

For Caplin Systems

We are looking to take the next step and obtain objective data on how interface and visual design decisions can take a good product and make it the perfect tool; increasing speed and accuracy, minimising error and fatigue.

Hit the Numbers is a series of tests created by Caplin Design to replicate the basic actions and stresses of trading, without allowing the candidate to fall back on their domain knowledge to overcome the issues caused by bad typographic, colour, contrast and layout choices, so we know what works and what doesn’t in every context. In this way we make sure we create interfaces that perfectly meet the needs of the users, whilst respecting our clients branding.

[email protected] m 077855460247 t 01932 843078 profile http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/matthew-baxter/16/425/574 portfolio http://baxtercreative.carbonmade.com/ blog http://matbax.wordpress.com/

Video exemplar persona for marketing concept work

For Realise Consulting and Heineken International

In UX I have used personas as a user proxy and focus for design work. This fake “selfie” movie supposedly found by the senior marketeers on “You Tube” is designed to do the same thing; helping marketing teams speak in the right voice and use the correct media for different target customers.

A Day in the Life
