The work we put out into the world and share with our clients goes through a creative process which touches all corners of our studio. Our Craft Behind The Creative series highlights each member of the Cargo team whilst showcasing the close collaboration between our design, development and digital marketing teams.
Dan initially joined Cargo in August 2023 as a Junior Designer before stepping into the role of Designer in November 2024. During his time so far at Cargo, Dan has become a key figure in the design team, helping to deliver creative concepts and artwork across print and digital whilst building his experience in UI and UX to help with building scalable digital experiences for clients.
After studying at Northumbria University and graduating with a First-Class Honours degree in Graphic Design (Branding) in 2021, Dan moved back to his hometown of York to work as a Designer and Print Technician at a signage shop, whilst working part-time in Wetherspoons on an evening. Dan left these roles to complete a stint of travelling before he landed his Junior Designer role at Cargo on his return, even though he did call Carl ‘Mark’ on his application email.
Having that background in print and signage gave me a hands-on understanding of how designs actually worked in the real world before I moved into the agency side
Dan has been in the creative industry professionally since he left university, but he’s been building upon his design skills since secondary school. At GCSE level, Dan studied Graphics and Product Design and was taking on some freelance projects alongside his time at school.
Dan is inspired daily by looking at what other creative agencies are putting out into the world, whether he sees something on Instagram, in design awards or in a book or magazine. A few of the agencies he likes in particular are DixonBaxi and Koto, but his favourite is Nomad Studio, a brand agency who have a knack for taking on sports-focused brands, with recent stand-out projects including the Tottenham Hotspur rebrand and the Football Manager games. Their clean, digital and motion-first style that helps push their brand projects to another level is something which inspires Dan in his own work.
Dan’s day in the Cargo studio begins early.
His first focus are the jobs like print ads, flyers and eBooks for clients because it’s the perfect way to warm up for the day. From there, his attention turns to some heavier projects, like UI and UX design, wireframing and auditing sites or working on larger, more big-picture campaign work like Echelon campaigns or brand projects. Switching between these different speeds and design styles every day has helped Dan become more agile as a designer, but he also enjoys being able to flick between print and digital to prevent any creative block from setting in.
Dan works on a real mix of projects. From branding visuals and brochures to campaign rollouts and exhibition stands, as well as working on the power of a brand toolkit, there’s always something different falling on Dan’s desk. Recently, his focus has been on digital work, like UX audits, wireframing and designing for both web and mobile.
Handling a broad range of projects has made me more of an all-rounder, making sure a brand stays consistent whether it’s on a massive banner or a phone screen.
Usually, Dan is the one who takes the initial brief, conducts in-depth research and begins mood boarding before turning the ideas into polished, on-brand visuals. As somewhat of a middleman between technical research and concepts from the content team and the technical build of the development team, Dan’s main focus is on the details, ensuring the designs are pixel-perfect and set up ready for a smooth handover, whether they are going to the development team at Cargo, the client or the printer.
Teamwork is an important part of a day at Cargo throughout the whole studio. Dan is constantly collaborating with the design team to improve their work and keep the design standards high, with their conversations ranging from brand projects to campaign ideation. Elsewhere in the team, Dan works closely with the development team, managing queries, testing websites and providing assets as they build to keep sites pixel perfect. Dan’s support extends to the content and digital marketing team, helping with social designs or neatening up a presentation, acting as the in-house Figma Guru.
As standard when working in the fast-paced creative industry, tight turnarounds can be challenging. Dan often faces these challenges, especially on print projects, monthly publications like newsletters and bigger documents. Shifting from a brand-heavy background at university to a more technical, digital-first mindset for web projects has been an important part of Dan’s development as a designer, as well as just designing with more reasoning and insight rather than for looks, but these are all challenges which continue to support his progress as a designer at Cargo.
Moving from a high-volume print shop to a high-standards agency was a steep learning curve for me as a junior but I’ve learned to take feedback as a positive tool for growth rather than a setback.
The Vita Say It Out Loud campaign: it was great to work on something with a real important message using simple, impactful typography to get men talking about mental health. This one really resonated with me on a personal level.
Echelon campaigns: rolling out a theme across the UK, US, Canada and Mexico taught me a lot about managing brand consistency on a large scale and seeing it come together, from my taglines through to sales pages, will never not be satisfying.
My most played is Dracula by Tame Impala. Anything funky or indie, you can’t go wrong.
My guilty pleasure tune is anything Dua Lipa.
Black coffee. Nice and minimalist, like my desk.
The team – we’re all on a similar wavelength and, while we’re definitely grafters, we’re always up for a laugh.
Winning at the NE Marketing Awards. Nothing beats seeing the hard work get recognised and the Rusty’s after party was a standout too, even if there were a few sore heads the next morning.
