Hey, I’m Ian.
I’m a Sydney-based designer and creative lead with 14 years of experience across brand, motion, video and digital. An obsessive generalist, in other words.
My career has taken in sales, marketing, market research and brand management, all leading me to design. I’ve intentionally sought out design roles in different sectors, to expose myself to different people and problems: financial services, state government, telco and B2B tech, plus six years freelancing with startups, individuals and publishers. I try every day to look outside design to keep my worldview as wide as possible to allow me to make connections others maybe couldn’t. Otherwise you just end up heading the same way as everyone else.
Teaching and learning
I’ve taught people the tools in most of my roles, from training programmes to mentoring other designers. It works both ways. If I ever stop asking “How do you do that?”, it’s over.
AI, hands-on
I get as much satisfaction from getting the process right as I do from the end result. Right now I’m ripping up my workflows with AI, without compromising the outputs or my soul. I’ve built more than ten of my own creative tools so far, including a motion graphics pipeline, Figma plugins and a carousel builder. I’ve connected Claude to After Effects and Webflow to cut days from my workload, and I designed and built Vouch’s Brand Hub with AI in Claude Code. I write about it on the blog and speak on it publicly. The tools are interesting, but I’m more interested in what stays the same when they change, like taste and judgement.
A few facts about me
- I started using Photoshop in 2003, to help make a newspaper for the junior reporters in Hereford, UK. My first creation was a hacked-together knight fighting a dragon.
- I studied music technology, then film production technology, and spent a few years in sales before coming back round to design.
- I’m from the UK, but I’ve been in Sydney for the best part of 15 years, long enough to become a citizen and acquire two little Australians of my own.
- Can’t find me? Check the library.
The work is on the homepage and the thinking is on the blog. Either way, say hello.
What I’m listening to
About this site
HTML, CSS and vanilla JavaScript, stitched together with Eleventy. Built in collaboration with Claude. Hosted on Netlify. It will never be finished.
Experience
Vouch
amaysim
Macquarie Capital
Dept. of Planning and Environment
Ian Cook Design
Actuaries Institute of Australia
IRI-Aztec
Aztec Information Services
Matthew Algie Coffee
Kellogg’s UK
Education
Staffordshire University
Worcester College of Technology