i've never been very good at staying inside the lines
turns out, that became my career.
hi, I’m sam, designer, creative director, illustrator, photographer, idea-maker and founder of Miss’Chief Creative.
i’ve spent more than 30 years in the creative industry, helping businesses, organisations and brilliant humans turn ideas into something people can see, feel and remember. after all those years, I still get ridiculously excited by a blank piece of paper.
i see things a little differently
i notice the tiny details. I ask a lot of questions. i’m curious about people, what makes them
tick and why they do what they do. give me a half-formed idea, a pile of references, a story you’re struggling to tell or even a “Sam, i know what I want but I have absolutely no idea how to explain it” and I’m happy.
because somewhere in all that beautiful mess is usually the thing we’re looking for.
The bit that makes you different and that’s where the good stuff starts.
30+ years and still curious
over the years, i’ve been lucky enough to work across branding, design, illustration, photography, campaigns and creative direction with everyone from household names and large organisations to charities, start-ups and independent businesses.
that experience matters but I never want experience to turn into “this is how we’ve always done it.” id much rather ask: what if we did it differently?
why miss'chief?
i created miss’chief because I wanted to build the kind of creative business I wanted to work with.
human. curious. collaborative. brave. a little rebellious.
no layers of account managers. no agency bullshit. no trying to make your business look like everybody else’s. you get me.
my experience, my ideas, my instinct and probably quite a lot of questions.
we work together to uncover what makes your business unmistakably yours and then we make sure the rest of the world can see it too.
somewhere along the way,
i remembered how to play
and that's become a huge part of miss’chief.
i believe creativity isn't something you either have or you don't.
it's something we're born with. then life gets busy. we become sensible. we worry about getting things wrong. we stop making things simply because making them feels good.
so alongside my design work, i now create workshops, creative experiences and retreats that give grown-ups permission to play again. to make a mess. try something new. get outside. laugh. explore. create without worrying whether they're any good at it. because sometimes the best thing you can do for your creativity is stop trying so bloody hard to be creative.
a little more about me
I’m happiest with a camera in my hand, dogs by my side, ideas scribbled everywhere, dirty trainers, sea air, good coffee and people who make me laugh.
I love beautiful design, imperfect things, interesting humans, adventures, getting outside and ideas that are just ridiculous enough that they might actually work.
I still pull over to look at the moon.
I still believe getting your hands dirty is good for you and I hope i never become so grown-up that i stop wondering “what happens if…?”
because whether I'm creating a brand, running a workshop or taking ten women away to an island for a few days, underneath it all i'm trying to do the same thing,
make people feel something.
and maybe leave them seeing things a little differently than they did before.