Before moving into teaching, I spent around 18 years working professionally in surface pattern and product design across textiles, homeware, stationery, ceramics and giftware.
During my industry career, I worked within companies supplying major retailers and brands including Liberty, Harrods and John Lewis, and licensed my own designs to manufacturers including Ulster Weavers, Dunoon, London Tea Pot Company, and Denby. I also worked within an embroidery textile company producing licensed products for the London 2012 Olympic Games.
In November 2025, I received the Business Postgraduate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Award from Staffordshire Business School’s Department of Digital Technology, Innovation and Business, recognising my postgraduate work in innovation and entrepreneurship.
Alongside my academic role, I maintain an independent creative practice and run a small digital creative business. My practice explores surface pattern, print and digital making, combining the visual qualities of traditional processes with contemporary digital tools and technologies.
Professional memberships and activities
- Fellow of Advance HE (FHEA)
- SEDA Professional Development Framework Award: Learning, Teaching and Assessing – Staff and Educational Development Association, 2023
Academic qualifications
- MSc Entrepreneurship (Distinction) – Staffordshire University, 2025
- PGCert in Higher & Professional Education – Staffordshire University, 2023
- MA Arts & Creative Technologies (Distinction) – Staffordshire University, 2019
- BA (Hons) Surface Pattern Design (First Class) – Staffordshire University, 2006
- HND Fine Art – Newcastle-under-Lyme College, 2003
Expertise
- Employability and entrepreneurship
- Creative enterprise
- Professional practice
- Multidisciplinary art and design
- Creative project development
- Digital innovation
- Digital marketing
- E-commerce and online business
- Website development and digital content
- Curriculum and learning resource development
- Surface pattern and product design
- Print and pattern
- Colour and trend research
- Digital creative practice including Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Procreate, Canva and AVA CAD/CAM (textile CAD), alongside applied use of generative AI for creative practice, digital business, data analysis and AI-assisted application development.
Research interests
My research interests are closely connected to my creative and entrepreneurial practice. I am interested in the relationship between traditional creative processes and contemporary digital technologies, particularly how the visual characteristics of print, pattern and making can be interpreted through digital tools.
I am also interested in creative entrepreneurship and the changing opportunities available to independent creative practitioners. This includes digital product development, e-commerce, digital marketing, online audience development, and the use of websites, newsletters, blogs, video and social media to build sustainable creative practice.
An emerging area of interest within my entrepreneurial practice is the applied use of generative AI. I am exploring how it can support research, idea development, business insight and digital innovation, and how evolving technologies can be used thoughtfully within contemporary creative practice.
Enterprise and commercial interests
My commercial interests centre on creative entrepreneurship, digital products and the development of an independent online creative business. Through Patternologie, I develop and sell digital creative tools and resources for an international market, drawing on my professional background in surface pattern and design.
My wider interests include digital product development, e-commerce, online marketing and audience development. I have also developed a digital creative application, extending my practice into the development of technology-led tools for creative practitioners.
Teaching
I teach across employability, entrepreneurship and multidisciplinary art and design within higher education, supporting students in developing their creative practice alongside the professional skills needed to navigate opportunities beyond university.
My teaching encompasses professional practice, collaborative working and creative project development, alongside multidisciplinary approaches to art and design. I support students in exploring career possibilities, developing professional identities and understanding how creative skills can be applied within a range of professional contexts.
My approach draws on extensive creative industry experience, academic practice and entrepreneurship, connecting creative development with the practical realities of professional working.