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 it does have a tendency to add unwanted typographic widows and orphans. {sigh}

Effective point of sale starts with understanding the customer journey. With years of strategy-driven experience, I’ve created shopper touchpoints for global brand toolkits that work hard in-store. A genuine passion for the retail space helps enormously too.

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HTC SMARTPHONE LAUNCH
After winning HTC’s BTL account, we took their M8 smartphone to market, launching with a retailer toolkit, designing temporary and permanent point of sale material. I reworked the concept with a single-minded visual approach for even greater impact in store.

CENTRUM MULTIVITAMINS
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.

From initial scamps to photographic art direction and final layouts, I’ve designed countless publications. Whether printed, digital, large or small, they have to earn their keep. Proven commercial principles are applied to every layout. The design isn’t just attractive, it works hard to drive sales.

ERNEST JONES WATCH COLLECTION PITCHES
At Complete Customer Communications, I designed concepts for Ernest Jones, pitching for their annual watch collection publication. We proudly won back-to-back pitches. I’m a fan of watches, so being surrounded by expensive timepieces art directing 2 week photoshoots was a treat.

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
A personal project exploring the graphic representation of sound waves to make distinctive front cover designs for Bang & Olufsen audio equipment brochures. And being Bang & Olufsen, only a finely crafted presentation box will do.

GRESHAM BLAKE
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 always had a real affection for the medium. There’s something particularly satisfying about seeing your work on the shelf in store. And even more so when it ends up in customers’ baskets.

CONCEPT ROLLS-ROYCE CAR CARE KIT
Rolls-Royce isn’t a client, at least not for now. However, I felt compelled to explore how their Pentagram-led identity might translate into a bespoke car-care range. Rendered in Adobe Dimension, this concept is an exercise in balancing modern restraint with the opulence synonymous with the brand.

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 LABEL 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?

Designing a new identity is always an exciting process. It starts with asking the right questions and getting under the skin of the brand. What does it stand for and what makes it tick? I love a bit of storytelling too, occasionally hiding a visual easter egg for the observant. For some clients it’s a global business. For others, it’s one person’s long-held daydream brought to life.

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ZOE BROWNE COPY & CONTENT
Having produced freelance design work for Zoe Browne’s US clients, it was her turn to have a new identity. The approach was as friendly and approachable as Zoe herself. The palette was inspired by her San Diego home, while the letter O’s in her name were converted into speech bubbles, representing her copy and content work.

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

JAMES KAY ARCHITECT
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 shaping its identity from the ground up. The Shop logo, inspired by the traditional hanging sign, set the tone. A simple retail cue that anchored the brand. From there, the wider identity flowed naturally, extending that familiar sign language into a cohesive and distinctive visual system.