About Me.
As a conscientious creative leader with over two decades of experience, I’m eager to find elegant solutions to complex problems. I’ll work with the product or game design team to establish the real story behind a new feature, moulding the UX accordingly and directing the UI design.
Equally adept working to the CI guidelines of a big brand such as Ford or BMW, or the trickiest brief from an ambitious entrepreneur, I’ll confidently demonstrate my ideas to any audience.
My skills cover a broad range of areas, including UX and UI design, branding and typography. I’ll start with a pen and paper and along the way use tools such as Balsamiq for wireframes, Figma for prototypes, Illustrator for icons and Photoshop for, well, almost anything.
My superpower? Asking lots of questions - and listening to the answers.
2024 — 2025
“We’re explorers, creators and magic makers. We forge new paths, building worlds and adventures to surprise and delight players around the world. We create the kind of games the world doesn’t have.”
Rare
At Rare I was part of the central UX/UI team, working on the exciting new IP, Everwild. The nascent project was ready for some serious UX attention, but also in a place where our team could meaningfully contribute to gameplay decisions and influence the shape of the game as a whole.
My tasks encompassed:
Devising a replacement for the game’s old “hotbar” and inventory, introducing a blade style UI panel giving players intuitive access to their collected items.
Developing a full Settings system, based on detailed analysis of player needs and game capabilities, from initial research through to iterating on the final UI with a hugely talented team of artists.
Building relationships across functions from game design to engine, rendering to QA, to ensure a smooth delivery of finished features.
Don’t take my word for it though:
“Russell is an incredible UX designer, combining a wealth of talent from not just his experience in the gaming industry but also the mobile and web sectors. His work is considered, thorough and exhaustive, and he has surpassed expectations with every task we’ve thrown at him. When I hire UX designers, I look for curiosity above all else - a mind that asks questions is a mind that’s halfway to finding the answers - and Russell is one of those people who enjoys the problem just as much as the solution. I’ve enjoyed working with him thoroughly, and can recommend him to anyone looking to scale their UX team further.”
Xander Ashwell, Director of User Experience & Accessibility
Senior UX Designer
2019 — 2023
“We advocate a “games-first” approach to emerging technology. If the game isn’t fun without it, it won’t be fun with it.”
Mythical Games
Steering the creative direction for Nitro Nation World Tour gave me the opportunity to combine my UX/UI skills with my innate passion for all things automotive. My responsibilities included:
Figma wireframes of new feature to improve player engagement.
Hands-on UX/UI such as FTUE design, informed by user research data.
Track design feedback for partner developers.
OEM licensing discussions with new partners.
Decisions on which cars to modify and art directing the 3D models.
Marketing and social media positioning.
Naming the game!
Working on NFL Rivals was a chance to expand my experience with mobile games, focusing on the UX for the player’s Roster screen experience.
I was also part of the team who delivered the first blockchain-based game on the Epic Store - Blankos Block Party - helping to make Web3 gaming mainstream and turning Mythical into a $1B company too.
Defining how the player interacts with the toys they can use to build their own levels was immensely rewarding. It was fun to work out how to allow players to design a level made entirely from donuts, where they can shoot each other with ice cream weapons. My tasks on this ground-breaking PC title included:
White box UX design for new features.
Creating tools for players to build their own worlds.
Early UI iteration from a blank canvas.
Lead UX/UI Designer
2015 — 2019
“Configit takes pride in helping organizations with complex configuration problems, as well as helping to shape the future of configuration software.”
Configit
I led the UX/UI design for a series of major releases of the pioneering Configuration Lifecycle Management (CLM) software, Ace, developed by Copenhagen-based Configit.
The Configit Ace configuration engine simplifies the production and sales of complex products.
We developed an enterprise-grade, user-centred tool for modelling highly configurable items for clients including ABB, John Deere and Jaguar Land Rover.
My work included:
Using Balsamiq for early rapid wireframe explorations.
User research visits to interview our tiny user base within JLR.
Gaining a deep knowledge of the software to enable me to speak the same language as users and developers.
Constructing final UI screens as reference for the development team.
Working as a core part of the agile development team to iterate on updates to improve usability.
Debugging layout issues using browser dev tools to check HTML and CSS.
Designing bespoke icons to reinforce the complex concepts within Ace.
Co-creating a demo app to show how Ace data could drive a customer-facing system as well as a production environment.
Developing a style guide for Ace, with the ultimate aim of building a design library for all Configit products.
Adding significant value to other Configit products by driving the alignment of disparate products through design - making them a suite of complementary tools.
Developing the Configit brand by refining the identity guidelines, including branding for the new UK office such as meeting room signage.
Senior UX Designer
2015
“We give our customers the time and attention needed to fully understand their ambitions, allowing us to create a strategy designed specifically to suit their needs.”
Auburn Creative
I jumped at the chance to work again with Steve, owner of Auburn, having first worked together at DCS. This was an opportunity to get stuck into some UX/CX work for this small agency’s varied range of clients and also to help Auburn to grow.
We established new digital production processes and recruited a new team, both internally and outsourced.
Design work for customers including industrial machinery, management consultancy, removals & storage, and bespoke trade butchers.
Project management for complete website and digital marketing projects.
Branding for the company itself including a new logo, typography choices and colour palette.
Digital Producer
2004 — 2014
“Class-leading automotive websites, digital marketing expertise & future-forward technology.”
Bluesky Interactive
A founding member of the team that took Bluesky Interactive from a small but ambitious start-up to a highly coveted business.
Responsible for digital projects from pitch to delivery and beyond.
Leading a growing team and getting great satisfaction from seeing new recruits create websites from a clean sheet design.
Developed a clear design philosophy which touched every product, including Bluesky’s own identity and tone of voice.
Being a petrolhead helped us stand out as I spoke the same language as clients including Ford, Kia, Sytner Group and H.R. Owen.
Our work collected many industry awards from the likes of Automotive Management and Motor Trader.
Creative Director
2000 — 2004
“DCS Automotive is the European market leader in providing business solutions which span the entire automotive supply chain.”
DCS Automotive
I worked my way through the ranks from junior designer, when the web was still a new concept to the retail automotive industry, to a senior position within the eBusiness Team.
Ultimately I became the company’s sole designer with additional responsibility for various marketing areas including print brochures, events, promotions and product development.
The role really helped me learn the value of clear communication and planning ahead, while appreciating the commercial aspects of creating web-based marketing tools.
Senior Designer
Education
1995 — 1999
BA Transport Design
Coventry University, 2:1