THE NO BULLSHIT
BRANDING BLOG

Let’s stop pretending the Highlands is “full of good branding”. It’s not. Right now, the Scottish Highlands is flooded with AI logos, £40 “brand packages” and generic visuals that all look like they’ve been spat out of the same template. Businesses that are genuinely brilliant at what they do are wrapping themselves in branding that looks cheap, confused and forgettable. That’s not a lack of designers (because I exist in the Highlands) - it is a pure lack of standards. And wi

Stop Penalising Creatives for Being Good at Their Job. There’s a misconception that the longer a task takes, the more valuable it is. In the creative industry, that idea is not just outdated - it’s actively damaging. It punishes the exact people who are skilled enough to produce high-quality work quickly and allowing back-room designer and AI to penetrate the design industry and create a landscape of cheap, crappy brand that does you (and the Highlands) no favors. Let me say

You’ve seen the posts: “I asked ChatGPT to write my captions!” Cute. Useful, even. But let’s be honest - a caption isn’t a brand . Can ChatGPT build a brand? Kinda - on paper. It can spit out taglines, colour palettes and a neat little positioning statement. What it can’t do is connect-with your ideal client, your market nuance, your lived experience, your reputation, your goals. That’s where real strategy lives (and that's where I come in). Here’s the TL;DR ChatGPT can’t bui

I’ve been doing this a long time. I have a First-Class Honours degree in Visual Communication and Design and I’ve worked in branding, UI/UX design and brand development  since 2017 - long before AI templates and Canva “brands” flooded the market. I’ve spent years building strategies, brands and websites that don’t just look  good - they perform. So when I say an idea won’t work, it’s not coming from ego or stubbornness. It’s experience. Some client ideas just don’t work out

When you work with me, you’re not just getting a designer - you’re getting someone who’s personally invested in what your brand becomes. Every pixel, every post, every headline - it all gets my full attention. Agencies can be great for the right kind of business, but if you’re a medium-scale brand looking for momentum, you probably don’t need another retainer, another layer of communication, or another meeting that could’ve been an email. You need clarity. Speed. Strategy. An