It’s all about me.
NEIL RICHARDS
UX, UI & DIGITAL DESIGNER, FORMER CHILD
I was born in Bristol, England in 1975 and raised in a small village at the foot of the Mendip hills.
My love for art and technology started at an early age. I was fortunate to be growing up in the 1980’s which meant I got to experience the transition from analogue to digital firsthand — writing simple code on our ZX Spectrum and burning through batteries on my Pac-man handheld game.
I studied Fine Art at university, primarily concentrating on painting, but experimenting with film photography, video and other mixed media. Our university department only had one computer, that you could book out for an hour at a time — so my digital revolution was as slow as a 56k modem.
WEB DESIGNER 1.0
During a short stint as an AutoCAD draftsman, I soon realised that computers could give me the control that I always wanted, but I needed a more creative outlet.
Some friends from university had moved back up to Liverpool and taken a post-graduate course in Multimedia Technology, so I packed my bags and headed North.
After an intensive 9 months of studying Photoshop, Premiere, Director, Dreamweaver and Flash, I was offered a job as a Web Designer for a small start-up agency called The WebShed.
It was 1999, so it was the early days of the internet, but with those restrictions also came huge opportunities — we felt like we were forging the way for the industry.
I soon found my niche within the company, building Flash microsites for games companies. We ran both of the European websites for Square Enix and Capcom, so for every microsite I built, I would also have to translate them into multiple languages.
I designed and built sites for the Resident Evil franchise, Marvel Vs Capcom 2, P.N.03, Devil May Cry, Steel Battalion, Onimusha, Maximo, Capcom Vs SNK 2 and many more — each giving a taste of the game, with easter eggs, playable games or unlockable content.
After WebShed I worked for various agencies between Manchester and Liverpool, with three years at advertising agency McCann Erickson. That’s where my work shifted from websites to online advertising, learning more techniques in Flash animation and coding and where my conceptual skills were utilised for online and offline campaigns.
FINALLY FREE(LANCE)
After nine years working in full-time positions I took the plunge and went freelance. I really enjoyed the freedom that freelance brought, working for various agencies in Manchester, including Code, BJL, JWT, Amaze and many more — all across a wide range of sectors including retail, healthcare, automotive, entertainment and lifestlye.
It also allowed me to pursue passion projects, including designing an app for comedian (and podcaster extraordinaire) Adam Buxton’s music video show BUG. One of my career highlights was sitting in the pub with him after watching one of the shows, with a handstamp I designed on the hands of everyone around the table.
DOWNUNDER
The next chapter of my story takes place in Melbourne, Australia where I have lived for the last 8 years with my wife and daughter. I picked up my first freelance project in week one and have since been lucky enough to work with some of the best agencies in Melbourne, including, efront, Bravo, Local Peoples, Deepend (VERSA) and Hoyne.
CASE STUDIES
PHOTOGRAPHY
I am a keen photographer and have shot film for over 28 years, with a collection of 350+ cameras.
I organise and style TFP (Time for prints) shoots in my spare time, shooting a mixture of digital, film and instant formats. Follow @websitesarelovely on Instagram or visit neilrichardsphotography.com
LETTERING, ILLUSTRATION & SKETCHES
I studied Fine Art at university, so I have always been a visual designer, sketching ideas and working through problems — the quickest way to explain a solution. I also experiment with lettering and illustration for personal projects, and I am aiming to write and illustrate a children’s book.
Get in touch.
NEIL RICHARDS
UX, UI & DIGITAL DESIGNER
I have been fortunate to work for some of the best agencies in the UK and Australia, across a wide range of projects and sectors — with a career spanning over 20 years. I am currently on the look out for the next step in my career, so if you have any exciting opportunities, please contact me via email to request my CV or arrange a chat.