Aardman

Selected projects from Aardman Animations

Aardman is known for its warmth, creativity, and character, all qualities that shaped the projects I worked on during my 7 years there as a freelance senior designer. From Wallace & Gromit to BBC Bitesize, I helped create playful, visually rich digital experiences that blended storytelling with purpose.

The work spanned education, culture, and public engagement, and included BAFTA and BIMA award-winning collaborations like the Tate Movie Project, as well as projects for the Royal Shakespeare Company, The Gruffalo, and CBBC.

Music inc

Game designer

Mobile & tablet game

The UK music industry loses millions each year to piracy, with many young people unaware of its long-term impact. To address this, the Intellectual Property Office partnered with Aardman to create Music Inc, an educational game for mobile and tablet devices. The game helps players understand how piracy affects artists and the wider industry by making its consequences more tangible.

As a Game Designer at Aardman, I simplified the complexity of a role-playing game to create an intuitive, engaging experience for a teenage audience. The result was a dynamic blend of gameplay and in-game statistics that made the industry’s challenges feel tangible and relatable. Music Inc was recognised with a TIGA nomination for Best Educational Game.

ux Process

To support a successful redesign, I ran a structured end-to-end UX process grounded in research, collaboration and accessibility.

Conducted competitor reviews, heuristic evaluations, analytics analysis, surveys and stakeholder interviews to uncover pain points and shape design principles.

Created personas, sitemaps, wireflows and wireframes to define journeys and structure content around user needs.

Validated proposed navigation using tree testing and refined wireframes through moderated usability sessions.

Carried out accessibility reviews during the design phase, ensuring final outputs met or exceeded WCAG AA standards.

Delivered detailed design specifications and high-fidelity prototypes to support developers and maintain consistency through build.

Impact

The redesign delivered clear, measurable results for The Donkey Sanctuary while helping embed UX thinking across the organisation.

Donations rose significantly, with the new funnel driving a 56% increase in regular monthly givers, a key source of long-term funding.

Cross-team alignment strengthened through stakeholder workshops and high-fidelity designs that provided clarity, direction, and a shared reference point for product, marketing, and development teams.

Wayfinding was simplified, particularly in the Visit Us section. Tree testing revealed that users could now locate key information up to 76% more efficiently, improving both visitor experience and on-site engagement.

UX maturity grew across the organisation. By sharing insights and bringing stakeholders into the research and design process, I helped foster a more evidence-led, user-focused culture. This made future design decisions easier and more aligned.