Alisdair Macdonald BRIEF PORTFOLIO / WINTER 2024

graphic design

Spring 2024 / Unicef UK

This year I was asked to design the annual report for Unicef UK. Following a rough style that had been set in-house and working within the brand guidelines, I was able to introduce some space and flow to the design. With a carefully considered typographic hierarchy and a mostly muted palette, I allowed the photography or the data graphics to play the hero role, while subtly drawing the reader to key information. The result was an easy to navigate and unintimidating 160-page book, that has been extremely well received and produced much positive feedback.
I have worked as a designer with Unicef for many years, projects vary from print and online consumer-facing campaigns, to reports and documents for stakeholders and internal use. I have worked closely with their marketing, campaign and creative managers to help refine their UK branding. Above is one example; a 'brand brief' document I produced to help communicate their 'For Every Child in Danger' campaign.

infographics

Clean, clear communication is something that I love.

I enjoy working with data and finding creative and beautiful ways to present it. I have been fortunate to produce work for many different organisation – here is just a small selection of projects I have particularly enjoyed.

This project is probably one of the best examples I have of data-graphic design. I designed it alongside a data analysis and editor, for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The brief was to design a professional and sleek book, that would impress stakeholders and investors across the world.

THE 101

I developed a style of infographic feature for Nature Journal – condensing the data from an in-depth supplement magazine, focussed on a particular topic, the '101' was born to present a single graphic overview. The format was such a hit, it is still being used today (over a decade on), the above is a small selection of the early designs, tackling subjects from sleep health to lung cancer.

scientific visualisation

I have a love of nature, how things work and a fascination of the cellular level. It gives me great pleasure to work on projects bringing research in this exciting area to life.

BIG PHARMA

Above are an example of a few scientific illustrations that I have produced for subjects published on by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society. I developed an illustrative style for them which has proven very successful, greatly increased their web presence and even won a couple of awards. As a freelancer specialising in this field, I have worked on scientific communications for many companies, institutes and agencies in the science and healthcare sector and continue to do so regularly.

Branding

I love to work on projects with start-ups and small businesses. It's an exciting opportunity to get in there from the start and help forge a visual identity that makes an impact.

loaded

Loaded Bikes are a small, young start-up that asked me to create their visual identity. A clean, technical, slightly moody look and feel, to appeal to serious adventure bikers of all styles. Starting with the logo design, I have developed the brand as the company has grown – and are now going from strength to strength, having won several new business awards.

style

LOAD UP: ROLL OUT! is their message. I have created many devices to be used in a variety of ways to help them develop their presence online, at events, exhibitions and to consumers.

Brochures, flyers and small-scale advertising has grown sales at the scale they need.

I have worked on branding projects both small and huge. Some of my first contracts were with Macmillan Cancer Support and then Amnesty International, where, as part of a team, I helped to create and develop major rebrands. More recently with the rebranding of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society and rebranding the merger of Guy's & St Thomas' and Royal Brompton & Harefield Hospitals Specialist Care for private patients.

hey!

About Me

I am Alisdair, I live in Cornwall, UK. I am a husband and a dadda. I have experience working in companies as staff but the majority of my working life has been freelance – this has built in me determination and resilience. I am very driven and will always do my best for my clients and for myself.

Thank you for taking a look here. I'd love to hear from you.

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Credits:

All images copywrite Alisdair Macdonald. Created with 1 image by sinhyu - "Cross-section Dicot, Monocot and Root of Plant Stem under the microscope for classroom education. "