About me.

Picture of Mat Venn

I'm a multidiscipline, award-winning design director and lead product designer. Creative/visual with strong UX knowledge and skillset. Innovation + strategy. Mobile first advocate. I have over 25 years of design experience, I’m a natural problem solver, with an empathetic and holistic understanding of user needs.

I have been a principal designer on native apps and large digital transformation projects for major brands such as Virgin Active, British Airways, Nectar, Sainsbury's, as well as first party apps for Nokia, award-winning betting apps for Betfair, and native banking apps for HSBC, Barclays, RBS and NatWest. I have a great deal of banking and fintech experience and specialise in mobile apps and innovation.

I run design teams, yet remain proudly hands on, and strive to create an environment that takes in the complexity and delivers the simplicity.

A zero to one native and a great fractional design director. I strive to be that perfect 'swiss army knife' design leader for my clients.

Want more? I studied Typography, I write about design and technology, work with startups and SME's to define and ideate solutions to problems, lead the charge of minimal reductive design and champion the importance of retaining the craft and design thinking in product design.

As well as all that I am a proud dad and a keen cyclist and runner.

Currently learning classical piano and writing my book.

My CV is available on request.

Picture of Mat Venn
Creative Direction
Conceptualisation, design strategy, brief forming, and overall client/stakeholder liaison of multiple high profile projects.

Ideation
Idea generation, design sprints, propositions, workshops, brainstorming.

UI
Intelligent, straightforward and intuitive interface design, best in class UI for native mobile apps, along with responsive and adaptive web. Custom icon creation, colour theory, typographic led, clean, functional and minimal. Fully conversant with iOS/Android GUI guidelines. Homogenous, brand-aligned UI across all platforms. Rapid prototyping.

UX
Wireframes, flows, experience maps, research and testing. I retain a large knowledge of UX principles and always place the needs of the user first.

Technology
Ai and natural-language user interface
Expertise with iOS/Android native as well as React handover and integration. Proven track record working with agile scrum teams both on-site and remote.

Code

Webflow, HTML/CSS, Javascript.

Management
High level oversight & design management. Experience with managing large and small design teams

Leadership
Team management, leadership, mentoring and public speaking.