I’m a freelance senior designer specialising in brand identity, image creation and editorial design. I aim to work with clients who are doing good in the world, and who value creativity. My approach is thoughtful and in-depth and I bring brands and concepts to life through crafted design paired with strategic thinking. I believe design and creativity can be a powerful tool in transforming or elevating a business.
I’m a collage enthusiast and I host a monthly handmade collage workshop in Bristol called Collage Crew.
I am based at Spike Island Workspace in Bristol, UK.
hello@bethanthomas.co.uk
+44 (0)7817 505520
Bath Festival Orchestra
Brink
City ID
Current Social Club & Kitchen
Dazed Digital
Gender Smart
Level Water
Noxy Brothers
Outpost Coliving & Coworking
Pachamama
Penguin Random House
Soil Association
Stylus Trends Intelligence
Vervaunt
V&A Museum
Wateraware Collective
Witchery Pictures
Branding
Visual Identity
Creative Direction
Logo Design
Editorial & Layout Design
Print Design
Website Design & Styling
Digital & Analogue Collage
Social Media Design
Signage
Design Calendar
Freelance Edition
(Aug 2019)
Peachy Magazine
(Feb 2020)
Kolaj Magazine #29
(July 2020)
Genie
365 Days of Xmas
(Dec 2020)
Future Strategy Club
FSC Mag Issue 4: Design will Save the World
(July 2022)
The way I work:
Thinking
This forms the groundwork needed to understand the company and its service/product, along with its goals and aspirations. This includes gaining knowledge of the company’s position in the market, competitors, target audience, communication and messaging. The thinking informs the creative brief which is crucial for the design.
Design
The design happens after the thinking. Ideas sprout from identifying design problems to solve, and these grow to form brand concepts. Each design decision is informed by the concept, creating a robust and cohesive brand. A final brand is created taking into consideration the outputs needed, and each client is different.
Roll-out
Once a brand identity is created, there is a need for designed assets. Design support can be on an ad-hoc basis or take the form of a retainer. A brand review in 6 months to a year ensures a high standard of consistency.
My Process:
What my clients say about me:
“From the moment we engaged with Bethan, we knew we were in capable hands. She demonstrated a deep understanding of our vision and values, which she skilfully translated into a visually compelling brand identity. Bethan's expertise and attention to detail were evident throughout the entire design process - even with such a tricky brief!
What truly sets Bethan apart is her ability to capture the essence of Wateraware and convey it through her creative design concepts. She crafted a logo that perfectly embodies the ethos of Wateraware Collective, seamlessly blending elements of professionalism, activism, innovation, and community engagement. Bethan's thoughtful approach ensured that our brand identity not only looks visually appealing but also communicates our core message to our target audience effectively.”
Ryan McClure, Wateraware Collective
“Bethan has worked on concert and season identities for Bath Festival Orchestra for the last two seasons. Bethan takes time to understand and interrogate the brief and works collaboratively with us at every stage of the design process. She produces beautiful, creative designs that have the flexibility to be used across all our digital and print channels.”
Bethan Sheppard, Bath Festival Orchestra
“What an absolute star of a human and an incredible designer. The brief was to create a new brand for a swimming community. From the start we knew we'd chosen the right person for the job. The way she researched our target audience to truly understand who they were, how they thought and what they wanted meant that we were always heading in the right direction. Her ability to listen to my ramblings or ideas and process it in a meaningful way was like having someone poke around in your imagination and paint it perfectly (or as close as).
Each round of designs and changes were presented so thoroughly it was easy to see the way through to the final goal. And the way she took feedback. Wow. I can't stress enough just how easy she made it to give feedback. With the next round of changes perfectly representing those notes. The final design was exceptional. Truly greater than anything we thought we would end up with which is down to her superhuman ability to listen, process and create. What a star.
11/10 human being.”
Mark Fox, Level Water
“We had the pleasure of working with Bethan to completely transform our branding and visual identity. She got a great understanding of our values and the way we work - which can’t have been easy - and captured our essence as well as how we aspired to be perceived perfectly. Bethan was comprehensive in the research & discovery stage, and then in creating all of the assets and different elements we would need. Her work has been a fundamental part of the growth we’ve had over the last couple of years. To top it off she was fantastic to work with and was a pleasure to have around! Would certainly recommend to anyone that was asking, thanks Bethan!”
Liam Quinn, Vervaunt
“I commissioned Bethan to produce some collage illustrations for a fairly complex conceptual project, for web and animated video, around systems change and investing. She was a pleasure to work with - had some great ideas from the outset, and presented a very thoughtful and well developed first round of concepts. She was really easy to communicate with and responded to feedback effectively and quickly, providing alternative suggestions when something didn't quite work. The end result was excellent - resonating well with supporters and other stakeholders - and gave what could otherwise have been a fairly wordy research project a much-needed creative edge.”
Debbi Evans, GenderSmart