Graphic Design for the Greater Manchester Fringe Festival

Just a couple of month until the next Greater Manchester Fringe Festival and it looks set to be a great one.

I've been helping the team with graphic design since the festival came back in 2020, listening and tweaking, iterating the design every year to improve on what went before, and they now have a really strong recognisable identity.

Here's a sample from the design guide;

I try to be as helpful as I can. As a graphic designer I'm told I'm quite 'sympathetic', I'm not going to say 'You need these colours' or 'it has to look like that'. I've been around enough to know that a good designer is just a guide, leading folks up the mountain, helping them visualise their own idea, not the designer's own whims.

One of the main advantages I have is that I'm multi-disciplined. I can do graphic, web and illustration, to cover all the bases that a project might need. Also motion graphics when needed. Certainly with this one, the character of 'Liza Beenelli' had be revised and re-designed a few times over the years.

Manchester Graphic Design

There are some amazing apps out there that really help speed things along in terms of getting works done. I'm now offering canva for slide decks and some other design services.

If you've heard of it, Canva is a way to let a designer do wth design work, while giving a client access to make changes without breaking the overall design of a piece - similar to how websites work, but for offline media like slide decks and print.

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Greater Manchester Fringe
More branding samples

The Art of Scamps

Updated March 2025

Need scamps? You're in the right place.

Good quality scamps help win pitches.

Rough and ready quick drawings getting ideas down on paper. A lot of my output involves making scamp artwork. For production companies and collaborations with other creative agencies who need to generate visuals quickly.

Scamps are very similar to storyboards or mock-ups. They help frame an idea, giving an art director or advertiser something to see that can help 'proof' a good idea, pushing it to the next stage, or decide if they aren't quite working, to help find the right direction.

They're an important early part of the creative process where speed and clarity are more important than the quality of the image.

Note: I often work under NDA's (non-disclosure agreements). That means the work is not for public display, on websites or social media. Scamps are often only for private use and owned by the company they are created for. The examples on this page are from real projects, and I've been permitted to share them. Just in case you're production company looking for a scamps artist and are worried about privacy.

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Scamp artwork examples

These examples are from various projects I've worked on with leading production houses around the UK. From TV adverts to product design, it's often about facilitation, taking other people's ideas and converting them into images without being precious.

As you'll see in these examples, even at the early stage colour can be introduced a little, which often helps align with branding when presenting to clients. I've worked under direction with an art director to help achieve their vision, and I can offer ideas too.

Scamps happen at the very beginning of the process, and can on occasion stressful when they are created alongside conversations - that can go in different directions, but they don't have to be.

I have a background in comic art and improv comedy, and studied sequential art and communication design as a student. Learning the shorthand for storytelling and attention-grabbing that comics use so often really helps when it comes to composing images. Scamps can get messy quickly, and less is often more when it comes to choosing images for a presentation.

Get in touch for more info and rates.

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Refresh, not rebrand.

In late 2024 my local running club, Manchester Road Runners, were looking for a new shirt design to celebrate 12 years of being a lovely active community. What they didn't ask for is a rebrand on the logo, but I'm always looking for opportunities and took the liberty of suggesting a very, very small refresh on their very established logo.

This is not a rebrand.

I think 'rebrand' gets overused in design and not always for the right reasons. There's no need to change something if it works, and with over 100 runners every week and growing, Manchester Road Runners don't really need an image change.

Sans serif?

I was reminded of the 'design trauma' stories of large brands going around the houses on wild varieties of different ideas to refresh a logo, then settling on something resembling what they already had.

With the 'MRR' logo, this is all I suggested. Remove the seriphs. Those are the little cross bars on the ends of letters that define a serif font, often used to define the difference between classical or contemporary style.
I rounded corners a little here, and added a bit more leading (space between rows) so the whole thing fits into a square easier for social media. Other than that this is still the original logo as designed by Chris ryder one of the founding members of my Manchester orderers and a good pal.

Just like the community at Manchester Road Runners who offer support new the runners who rock up every week, this logo refresh is just a gentle nudge of positive progress.

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New Graphic Design and Illustration for 2024

Updated Jan 2024

Here are some recent projects to start the year, hope you have a creative 2024

Looking for new graphic design or illustration? Here are a few things to consider to ensure you get the best results.

Discuss your project goals: Start with the end in mind and work backwards. By explaining the purpose of your project we can look at the best way to achieve it.

Are you looking for ideas, or do you know exactly what you need? Both are fine. More information is good if you’re on a tight budget, though if you have some flexibility, that makes room to explore more visual styles and value-adds to get the most out of the end result.

Request a portfolio review. You can always ask or look at my existing work to help you find a jumping-off point for what you need to achieve your vision.

Timelines and deadlines: In my experience timelines are often really short or really long. The sooner you ask for sketches, the sooner we can get a feel for how long the overall project will take. Deadlines, even if they are long ones, always help push a project forward to completion

Don't be afraid to give feedback or ask for suggestions. A good illustrator/designer can be proud without being precious. It’s often good to understand why design decisions are made so they can provide valuable insights and enhance your project.

These are just a few suggestions to get you started. Each project is unique, so feel free to ask any questions. Reach out via the contact form.

Manchester and Camden Fringe illustration and brand design

Live art / Graphic recording

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Graphic Design for Your Event

Updated for 2024

Are you taking a show to a festival this year? Need a poster design for your posters, flyers and socials? I can help.

Festivals are crowded markets so it's important to get a design that communicates quickly and looks professional. It's often the first thing a potential audience member will see, and the reaction you need is "That looks good" not "What is it?". Get in touch.

Good posters are crucial part of persuading potential audience members to come and see your show.

Poster design for events, campaigns and promotions. We work a lot with the live events industry where design needs to be high impact. We provide posters alongside branding and social media packages.

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Motion Graphics Showreel

Motion Graphics, Design & Illustration. I've connected with some amazing new clients this year and collaborated on some wonderful projects.

There have been a few long hours and late nights, but I can feel creative boundaries being pushed in the finished work going out the door (FYI, It makes an excited 'whooshing' sound).

Last 2 years I've been super focused. To step up, be seen, and keep it fresh. At the beginning of the year I rebranded, changing 'John Cooper Design' into Rocket Steps, Creative Studio ( reckon that's where the 'whooshing' sound came from).

It's helped me clarify my ethos. I don't outsource, I work directly with clients and the best ideas win.

I don't think I'd have had the confidence 10 years ago to be as bold with ideas as I am now. Also, I'm experienced enough to be humble when the client's idea is great, and I just need to execute it with style.

Start your new project

What Rocket Steps does;

Illustration
Motion graphics & animation
Website design
Branding
Explainer videos
Graphic design
Graphic recording

Working directly with clients

I work directly with clients end-to-end. From ideas sessions to final delivery, to get the most from their budget and suggest ways to make the most of what they need.

Collaboration

I'm used by agencies and events companies for illustration and live art, when my style suits their needs. Being a solo studio means I can be super flexible on times, places and deadlines.

Looking to hire a motion graphics designer?

You can book me by the day or by the project. I can help you pin down a brief (a description of the work you need doing) and suggestions the best ways to tell your story and get your message across.

Need to hire an illustrator?

You can book me by the hour or the day. Never used an illustrator before, or have questions that's fine too. Whether you have a clear idea of what you want, or would you benefit from a handful of quick sketches to get the ball rolling.

Character design for GMFringe - 2023 Update

Here's a great way to get a lot of mileage from your illustration work, refreshing or updating what's already there.

For 'Liza Beenelli', the brand mascot of the Great Manchester fringe, it seems just right to update her image for 2023. She's had loads of updates, and she still looks great.

If you need illustration you want to get as much value as possible. Here it makes sense to keep the 'master' illustration and change little bits at a time, so we still recognise the brand mascot.

Brand mascots are cool.

And they work too. From Tony the tiger or the meerkats to Colonel Sanders. Having a character that captures your brand is a wonderful wordless attention-grabbing way to remind everyone who you are and what you do. All in a single relatable image. So why don't more companies do it?

I'm speculating, but from my experience, I'd say budget plays one part but also, consistency over time.

Many creative agencies have in-house graphic designers and outsource illustration, this is a practical and pretty sensible decision. Graphic design is more affordable to replicate in-house if there's a staff change later, using a style guide. With brand mascots in illustration, "drawing a new face" in the style of an existing image can be a much trickier ask* further down the line.

This project works because it's a direct relationship with the illustrator. It's John (hello, this is me). If a brand mascot it something you're thinking about to give your brand a bit of personality, I can happily answer any questions. How much? how long? More importantly, what is your brand's spirit animal?

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Wrap party update - 2022

April 22022.
Here's a great example of a full design package, for the GM Fringe. The central illustration has been reused across the different designs to maintain a strong identity while getting maximum value from a piece of the original illustration.

This is Liza Bee-nelli, the mascot for the Greater Manchester Fringe Festival. The character design is a reimagining of the Fringe Mascot from 2017, when she was first introduced to promote shows. For this new version, I started with a pencil sketch in ClipStudio, then took it into Affinity Designer, my new favourite playground for designing vector artwork, as the mascot had to be flexible enough to be recreated at any size.

I've been using Affinity designer for around 16 months now and it's more than proven itself as a professional workflow tool, it just clicks with me a lot more than illustrator ever did. In particular features like layers and gradients are just a joy to use.

Here's the previous character design mascot logo from 2016, designed in illustrator. She's come a long way!

2016 Lisa mascot

Card Game Illustration

Over the last few months, I've collaborated with Prof Martin Fitgerald at the University of Bradford, creating illustrations for a card game titled' 'Capturing the Sun'.

Mock-up of box design

The game is designed to help with cognitive restructuring (a term used in CBT) and is aimed at people with long-term psychiatric conditions. Based on the Mouri folk tale of Maui, the Polynesian Demi-god who captures the sun with powerful ropes to make the day last longer. As described in the games manual;

"This game is designed to help people who experience serious mental illness to make their own powerful ropes so they can capture the skills, knowledge and understandings required for recovery, so they too, can live in the light."

It's been a fascinating project to work on as an illustrator, and I've always wanted to illustrate games.

Martin's a fan of monochrome linocut illustration and liked my work, so I leaned into that for these card game illustrations.

Deck cards depicted the terms used in cognitive restructuring, the challenge was then finding the right visual metaphor to describe the term. Some were straightforward, such as 'fortune telling' being depicted by a crystal ball.

Others needed more revisions to get right. We were exploring visual ideas that aren't too prescriptive - or lead to incorrectly interpreting the meaning. In the case of 'Generalizations', the concept sketch began as a fog cloud, which was fine but not very, then an image of different hats, labelled 'hats' to signify the general. This had the opposite effect, being visually interesting but a little confusing for the term it was trying to encapsulate. We settled on a signpost with vague directions like 'here' and 'there', which was a good balance of communication design.

The question cards needed faces. Heads of people from a diversity of backgrounds and ethnicities. As each card poses a dilemma, these folks expressions should be deep in thought, pondering their situation. In early drafts it was easy to push a little too far, drawing folks who looked very stressed out, so expressions were pulled back a little for a more subtle look. A raised eyebrow here or slight pout there was enough to capture what was needed without the character leaning into what could be perceived as negative.

The game also needed a box cover and logo. The logo was based on Mau the sun god and the general feel was simple, using the clarity and monochrome lino-cut aesthetic to give the game it's style. Here's a mock-up of the final cover design of the sun god.

Do you need illustration or graphic design for your next project or want creative input to help put your ideas in motion?

Early sketches, exploring ideas for the box and cards.

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'Futureproofing' graphic design

I've just completed work on the Childrens University of Manchester learning platform. As a freelance graphic designer, I was first brought in to work on these projects they were created in Flash around 12 years ago. Today, in what's now the final iteration of the website, all the content has been converted into either HTML5 or PDF. The goal has been to take the old, still valuable, learning content and convert it into a (hopefully) future-proof format, so it can live long and prosper.

Some of the original modules were designed by myself, and other older sections by other designers, with all content being created and written by students and staff at the university.

The HTMLs sections didn't need any attention and still work fine.

Making PDF's from old Flash files

The first task was 'harvesting' the original content from old flash files. For content I created I could go back to my source files. With designs not created by myself, I had to be a little more resourceful with only access to SWF files.
With flash now deactivated on all web browsers, I used Adobe debugging tool to open the SWF's, and experimented with a few different ways to extract the graphics. From importing the SWFs into an old version of Flash to the rudimentary method of using a high res 2k monitor to screen grab and isolate elements, reduced them, clean up, and even re-traced back into vectors from pixels. This was time-consuming but also offered good results.

Harvesting the text was another challenge. In some cases I got lucky and text from the flash file was being loaded externally from an XML file. The worst case was screen-grabbing text and running it through an OCR program (optical character recognition). This converted graphics into text which then needed proofing to check for things like letter 'o's not showing up as zeros. Again time-consuming but worthwhile.

Once all the content was gathered the new design work could begin. Creating layouts and new graphics where needed to glue together the continuity, or make clear elements that were previously motion graphics.

I was given the flexibility to come up with some new cover images. It's been a bit like being a design archaeologist, unearthing the past. The staff at the university were really pleased with the results and I'd like to think if you came to the website fresh today, You'd just see the learning content, which I hope will be evergreen.

John is a freelance graphic designer based in Manchester with clients around the world. If you have a project or need design advice, contact him here;

Edinburgh Festival Poster Design

Heading off to the Edinburgh festival this year? Need festival posters designing? Flyers and a social media pack for all your online stuff? I've got you covered.

How about some illustration to really make your idea pop out? Edinburgh is a tough space to promote in at festival time (I should know), publicity needs to be super targeted so potential punters can see what you're about in the 2 seconds it takes to walk by your poster. Get in touch for a quote.

Toby Foster's Disco

Poster illustration design

Comedy at the Kings

Branding and logo design - Wentworth Music Festival

Good poster design captures attention, conveys a clear message, and leaves a lasting impression. This is important at festivals where competition is fierce. Effective posters balance striking visuals with concise, well-structured text, ensuring that the viewer understands the purpose at a glance. A strong focal point, whether an image, bold typography, or a compelling headline, draws the eye and establishes hierarchy. Colour choices should complement the theme while maintaining readability and contrast, ensuring that key information stands out.

Typography plays a crucial role; fonts should be legible from a distance and should work harmoniously with the design’s overall aesthetic. The layout must guide the viewer’s eye naturally, using spacing, alignment, and proportion to maintain clarity. White space, rather than being empty, helps prevent visual clutter and improves readability.

A successful poster maintains consistency in branding, whether for an event, product, or campaign, ensuring it aligns with the intended audience. High-quality images or illustrations enhance visual appeal, while simplicity keeps the message focused. Including a clear call to action, such as a website, date, or location, ensures the audience knows the next step. Ultimately, a well-designed poster is both visually engaging and functionally effective, striking a balance between creativity and communication.

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Graphic Design

Branding & Graphic Design: Making Presentations

Making Presentations is a training company that specialises in presenting skills, online and face to face.

The design work, logo, icons and deck slides are all bespoke. This is communication design, where the artwork has a very specific job to. The icons are more detailed illustrations, to keep online attendees engaged longer. The series of deck slides also are illustrations, in a simple neutral style to connect with as broad a demographic as possible and guide the attendees through their training journey.

Making Presentations founder Richard Pascoe put a lot of thought into what he needed for his artwork slide deck, and it shows.

Isometric graphic design

Isometric design is a form of 3D drawing that's ideal for maps and infographics. The location in this example is Wasing Park in Berkshire. The event theme was 'enchanted forest', so the fantastical elements are placed around the outside, to keep the informative elements clear.

See more graphic design styles here.

Graphic Design for the Greater Manchester Fringe Festival

Manchester Graphic Design

The Art of Scamps

Need scamps? You're in the right place.

Good quality scamps help win pitches.