I’m Richard Portman, a highly experienced, frequently waistcoated, hands-on graphic design director specialising in retail marketing for global brands - from concept through to refined 3D visualisation. Living and working in London, I’m partial to coffee and a biscuit or two. Three.

Disclaimer This site was built using Squarespace. Great platform, but does have a tendency to add typographic widows and orphans. {sigh}

 
RX Burnt Orange seal.png
 
 
 
 

Selling products successfully within a retail environment requires a sound understanding of the customer journey. With years of experience in the field, at Tag Worldwide and DentsuShop, I’ve designed effective point of sale communications for global brand toolkits.

 
 
 
RX Duck Egg.jpg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
HTC M8 toolkit angled pages-Current View.png

Centrum Multivitamin
Working with research material and regular communication with the US client, at Tag Worldwide, we built a retail toolkit activating their refreshed brand principles. Before launch, we prepared material for customer testing - checking its visual impact with heat-mapping technology.

L’OR capsule launch
We were tasked at Tag Worldwide with building a toolkit of retail touchpoints to help deliver the new L’Or capsule promotion to markets all over the world. Broken down into simple gold, silver and bronze variants, each market could tailor their promotional material for their customers and store environments.

 
 
 

Whether printed or digital, publications have to earn their keep. From initial scamps to photographic art direction and final layouts, I’ve combined effective and proven commercial principles to aesthetically pleasing visuals.

 
 
 
RX Burnt Orange SXB.jpg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
EJ spread 2022-Current View.png

Mediteria
The founder of Mediteria briefed me to upgrade his publication to match the high quality ingredients he supplied to Michelin starred restaurants. The signature drizzled graphic, tied the publication together with the opulent food photography.

Bang & Olufsen
Speaking of opulence, the beautiful product design by Bang & Olufsen called for finely detailed product brochures. Each variant used a bespoke colour sound wave, emanating from the device.

Gresham Blake Savile Row
An indulgent twist, reflecting one of the more subversive Savile Row tailors. Inspired by their graphic use of printed fabric, I took their online look book and visualised into the ‘real world’ with an opulent hardback book and presentation case.

John Lewis
Having designed many publications for John Lewis, a timeless simplicity and elegant approach was applied to each piece. All aspects of production fell to us individually in the team. From scamping shots, model casting, art direction to designing and artworking the final publications.

 
 
 

Having won the Royal Society of Arts & Manufacturers Award for packaging, I’ve great affection for the medium. A hugely rewarding experience to see my designs displayed in store, year after year.

 
 
 
RX Duck Egg.jpg
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
RollsRoyceCare kit-Current View.png

John Lewis wooden toy packaging
A project to overhaul internal packaging landed after the regional, historical  branch names were rebranded to John Lewis department stores. The old ‘Mischief’ brand was therefore retired, however this concept blends the playful palette of Mischief, with the familiar John Lewis logo.

Craft Beer Concept
Despite being teetotal, it hasn’t deterred me from the packaging for alcoholic drinks. The emergence of craft beers really lifted the lid on creative execution with their quirky names and brand positioning. I enjoyed playing with high contrast swirls, detailed illustrations and playful typography. Where else can you show a dog wearing a helmet?

 
 
 

Whether it’s a global brand or a fledgling start-up business, the approach to creating a new identity or sub-brand is identical. Understanding the offer, its target audience, the business objectives and communicating its proposition are key deliverables for every project.

 
 
 
 
RX Burnt Orange seal.png
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
ZoeBrowne ID cards duck-Current View.jpg

Bake Me A Gift
Two businessman I’d previously worked with asked me to help design an identity for their new venture, “Bake Me A Gift.” Brownies were delivered in bespoke gift cards, which needed designing too... all 76 of them!

James Kay Architects
In launching James Kay Architects Limited, I was briefed to design an identity reflecting the values of its founder. Simple, contemporary architecture consistently delivered. The timeless approach to the logo’s design is designed to outlast trends and fads, matching his approach to architecture

Canon Pro
We were briefed at Tag Worldwide to redesign Canon’s pro-dealer network identity as their previous version only referenced camera equipment. This selected route was an adaption of their customer facing frame device, maintaining the Canon brand look.

Shop at Tag
Creating Tag’s retail division meant creating its identity. The Shop logo, inspired by a classic hanging sign, established the direction, with the wider brand flowing seamlessly from that distinctive retail cue.