J4G Design is a user-centred design studio in Fulham, and I’m Christopher — the person you’ll actually deal with, start to finish. The studio is here to make your business better and your life easier. I’m committed to real results, so whatever you need you’ll get my absolute all, delivered directly and without the hassle and red tape that seems to get in the way everywhere else. That’s the whole idea behind “I’ve got you — tell me more”; you bring me the problem, and we work out the rest together.
I work with businesses small and large, as well as other freelancers, to take their brands to the next level or get them off the ground. I enjoy being ‘their guy’, a go-to for anything they need, which means I take care of all the technical hassle associated with running a business and being online. Frankly, with 15+ years in the industry there isn’t anything I can’t help with.
I am naturally curious and over the years have evolved from solely a UX designer to being a freelance software, website, logo, brand and graphic designer. When I started out, I did a lot of work that was specific to web app and website design: gathering requirements; wireframing, information architecture and project delivery working with Scrum teams. As time went on and I worked with more clients — including The Home Office, National Institute for Health Research, NHS Scotland, Informa and Thrive Tribe — and on more projects I found areas that I enjoyed and gaps in my knowledge base, so I worked to add UI design, content design, graphic design, logo design and brand design to my skill set.
This was a very conscious decision and it means I bring a unique and complete perspective to projects I work on with clients now. As we shape your product together I am less dependent on other creatives, and I have a strong perspective on taking over from someone else and on how best to future-proof whatever we’re working on — whether it’s a logo, a website or software. Because everything starts with the person who’ll actually use what we build, the work stays genuinely user-centred rather than just good-looking.
What I believe
When I started out on my own, it was because I’d grown frustrated working inside other people’s systems, where helping a business grow had somehow been made harder than it needed to be — layers of red tape, decisions that waited on other people, and dependencies that slowed everything down. So I built J4G around a different set of beliefs, and I’ve tried hard to hold on to them as the studio has grown. I’d rather our relationship ran on trust than on a contract that ties you in, and I’d rather make a decision and move than wait for permission, because momentum is usually what carries a project over the line.
I want to be your one studio — the person who handles whatever you need, and who, when it’s something I don’t yet know, either learns it alongside you or finds the right person who does. And on the rare occasion I get something wrong, I’ll simply say so, say sorry, and put it right, because I’d always rather be accountable and human than polished and defensive. As I grow there’s a quiet temptation to loosen some of that, because it would make life easier in places, but it would also feel wrong — the whole point is to stay genuinely helpful and human.
My background and education
I graduated in Product Design at Brunel University, where I did a 12-month placement in the User Experience team at Betfair. Once I graduated I went straight into consulting, working as a Design Consultant at PA Consulting for four years before becoming a contractor. That was in 2016 — the year I founded J4G Design.
Side note
I am also a plant-based athlete: I’m a fencer. It’s something I’ve always done, and I’ve had the pleasure of competing at World Cups for Great Britain and at the Commonwealth Fencing Championships for Scotland (where I won a bronze medal).