Hi, I’m Matt Bray
Freelance art director / graphic designer / website builder with approaching 30 years industry experience covering both print and web design (yes I need to update my photo soon). Based in Oxford, I have worked on location in London as well as across the rest of the UK, and with clients around the globe from as far away as Canada, Japan and Australia.
How I work
I love problem solving!
I’ve been told that I’m “solutions-based” and can think “outside of the box” which, thinking about it, may be true as there are a few examples which come to mind of where the answer comes from the unexpected like with Worton Kitchen Garden’s table booker or Oxford University Press’s interactive PDF brief.
No two jobs are the same, and no two clients are the same, this is what I love about my work. I’ll spend a lot of time listening (and thinking) and believe that for the best results dialogue is key. I may not get it spot on first time, but I’m not one of “those” people who claim that because I’m the designer I’m right. If we’re to work well together it must be a collaborative partnership, this way everyone is happy with the result.
I’ll thrive on your feedback, positive and negative. It’s only through feedback that things can get to their peak potential.
If I don’t know (or can’t do) something I’ll let you know. Then I can find a solution, either through me or another provider.
What I work with
Photoshop was in its infancy when I was at art school (1992 version 2.5 to be exact) as were QuarkXpress and Illustrator. Technology has progressed a lot, and quickly, over the years. I’ve switched my preferred design packages now away from Adobe, but still “keep my hand in”. I am very capable and spread my time across:
- Affinity Designer
- Affinity Publisher
- Affinity Photo
- Adobe Photoshop
- Adobe InDesign
- Adobe Illustrator
- Adobe AfterEffects
- Adobe Premier
- WordPress
- HTML
- CSS
- JQuery (basic)
Size isn’t everything
Me… Yes, there is only one of me, but I’ve got a great network of highly talented designers, illustrators, developers, SEO gurus, copywriters, directors, producers etc. as well as larger agencies who I’ve worked with, so together or individually we can tackle pretty much anything.
You… I’ve worked on some brand names you’re sure to recognise in FMCG, B2B, B2C, charities, universities, loads of smaller companies starting out or growing, and even a government department!
And… while I can create something from nothing, it’s always nice to have a brief (even if it’s brief).
But… if you’re not sure exactly what you need we can discuss that too.
#MadeByDyslexia
Expect creative thinking and occasionally rather creative spelling! It’s certainly a lot easier than in the past, now that spell checkers are ever present, however they don’t always correct to the word I was trying to spell. I read and re-read (and re-re-re-read) emails before sending, to try and stop anything slipping through, but this does mean it may take longer for me to send you a reply.
To repurpose the infuriating on-hold phrase “Your email is important to me… My reply to you making sense is even more important”.