STRUCTURE. PRESENT. DESIGN. Graphic design for labels, logos, packaging, brochures and communication materials, developed for clear, consistent use across print and digital. DISTINGUISH. DEFINE. REPRESENT. Logo design, visual identities, mascots and characters developed to give businesses and products a distinctive, recognizable presence across print, packaging and digital media. Clarify. EXPLAIN. SIMPLIFY. Business comics, infographics, explainer visuals and visual storytelling that make complex information clearer, more direct and easier to understand. INTERPRET ILLUSTRATE. INFORM. Editorial, commercial and corporate illustration created to interpret ideas, support content and give publications, campaigns and communications original imagery. 0{{current_slide_index}}

Graphic Design · Creative Direction · Visual Systems

Graphic Design & Creative Direction

I develop brand identities, packaging systems, visual communication, information design, campaigns and digital design for companies, institutions, publishers and specialist teams.

Some assignments begin with one object — a logo, a package, an interface or a publication. Others develop into complete systems that have to remain coherent across products, print, digital communication, illustration and motion.

35+ years professional experience · English · German · French · Based near Montpellier, France · International commissions

Senior Creative Direction · Hands-on Production

The design and the finished application stay connected

I work directly with the people commissioning the project and remain involved from the first visual decisions through production. That is particularly useful when one piece grows into a wider identity, product range, campaign or communication system.

Brand Identity

Logos, wordmarks, typography, color systems, supporting graphic elements and visual rules that can expand consistently.

Packaging & Product

Packaging architecture, labels, dielines, production artwork, product families and presentation imagery developed for real manufacturing requirements.

Information Design

Complex information made readable through hierarchy, diagrams, tables, icon systems, editorial structure and interface thinking.

Campaigns & Communication

Print, digital, presentation and campaign materials built around one recognizable visual idea.

UX & Digital Systems

Interface concepts, iconography, personas, visual frameworks and product communication for technical and digital environments.

Illustration & Motion

Original illustration, character work and moving image when they are integral to the communication rather than decorative additions.

Featured Case Study · Switzerland · 2014–2018

Sanafort AG — four years of creative direction across an entire company

Sanafort is one of the clearest examples of how I work when a client needs continuity across identity, packaging, product information, print, campaigns, web and moving image.

Sanafort vitamin and mineral packaging range designed under the creative direction of Ian David Marsden
Sanafort vitamin and mineral packaging: one brand system across multiple products.

Brand, packaging, information and production as one system

As Creative Director for Sanafort AG, I developed the corporate identity, product-family architecture, packaging, print-ready dielines, catalogs, flyers, campaign materials, product imagery, responsive website and wider visual communication.

The work also included a six-film illustrated explainer series for Mycotrition GmbH, connected to Hawlik product communication and produced in German, English and French.

Role: Creative Director · Brand Identity & Packaging Designer · Illustrator · Visual Systems Designer · Motion Graphics Designer

Les Costes artisan olive oil and fig vinegar with original illustrated packaging labels by Ian David Marsden in a southern French setting

Southern France · Artisan Food Packaging · 2017

Les Costes — Illustration-Led Packaging for Artisan Foods

For Les Costes, an artisanal producer in southern France, I created illustrated labels for olive oil and fig vinegar. Expressive botanical vector artwork, decorative lettering and contrasting colour palettes give each product its own character while connecting the two as a coherent range.

Explore the Les Costes label design project →

Wine Label Design · Illustration · Packaging

Wine identities with a more individual visual voice

Wine packaging does not have to rely on the familiar visual conventions of the category. I particularly enjoy projects where drawing, hand lettering and the visible gesture of the illustrator become part of the identity — alongside typography, bottle format, print finishes and the wider architecture of the range.

I work on individual labels, complete wine families and brand redesigns, combining graphic design with original illustration and custom lettering where appropriate. The objective is not illustration for its own sake, but a bottle that feels distinctive, credible and recognizably its own.

Top Source Columbia Valley Syrah-Grenache, Sauvignon Blanc and Walla Walla Valley Syrah wine labels designed by Ian David Marsden
Top Source — a Washington State wine range rebuilt around a new master identity and three individual label designs.

Washington State · USA · Brand Redesign

Top Source — Washington State Wines

A three-wine redesign combining a new Top Source master identity, mountain symbol, metallic gold detailing and individually drawn regional wine identities. The project was less about replacing what already worked than about rebuilding the hierarchy so the expressive hand-drawn elements could become the strength of the range.

View Top Source project →

Domaine Les Tuileries Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon with hand-drawn wine labels by Ian David Marsden
Domaine Les Tuileries — custom lettering, illustrated characters and a hand-drawn identity across three wines.

France · Hand-Drawn Identity · US Market

Domaine Les Tuileries

For Domaine Les Tuileries I developed a deliberately more narrative wine identity: hand-drawn logo lettering, illustrated characters, humor and a restrained color system across Pinot Noir, Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon. The loose ink line and custom lettering are not added decoration — they are the identity.

View Domaine Les Tuileries project →

Roc de Couder wine bottle for Mas de Figuier in the Pic Saint-Loup with illustrated label by Ian David Marsden

Pic Saint-Loup · France · Illustrated Label

Roc de Couder — Mas de Figuier

An illustrated label created for a Pic Saint-Loup cuvée, using the wine name, local context and original drawing as the basis of the identity. It is a more focused project than the two ranges above, but demonstrates how an individual wine can develop a strong visual personality without requiring a complete brand overhaul.

View Roc de Couder project →

From restrained redesign to entirely hand-drawn identity

The visual language should come from the wine, producer and intended market rather than from a fixed house style. For some projects that means careful editing and hierarchy. For others, illustration, handwritten lettering and the artist’s mark can become the most recognizable part of the bottle.

Selected Creative Direction & Design Case Studies

Different briefs, different visual systems

These projects show creative direction applied to SaaS, executive education, professional training and game design. The deliverables differ, but each required a coherent visual system rather than a single isolated graphic.

iShepherd TRM360 brand identity, UX iconography and visual system by Ian David Marsden

Zurich · SaaS · Brand & UX

iShepherd / TRM360

Brand identity, interface thinking, more than 60 original UX icons, personas, illustration, animation and marketing communication for a compliance platform.

View project →

Strategic Wealth Creator System visual identity, UI UX concept and information design by Ian David Marsden

Executive Education · Visual Systems · UI/UX

Strategic Wealth Creator System™

An executive-learning methodology translated into a visual identity, modular UI/UX concept, diagrams, information architecture and instructional illustration.

Role includes: UI/UX Concept Designer

View project →

Software Engineering Essentials 60-card training deck box with illustrated sample cards and coding monitor

Professional Training · Product & Information Design

Software Engineering Essentials

A 60-card professional training system combining visual system design, character illustration, iconography, packaging and production into one coherent physical product.

Role: Creative Director · Visual System Designer · Illustrator · Character Designer · Iconographer · Packaging & Production Lead

View project →

Pillage autour du Pic illustrated board game with box, board, cards and printed components designed by Ian David Marsden

France · Game Design · Art Direction

Pillage

A 2024 game project for L’esprit du Pic productions. I designed the game rules and developed the art direction and illustrations, connecting gameplay, visual identity and production as one system.

Role: Art Director · Game Designer · Illustrator

View in Case Studies →

Product Design · Surface Illustration · Manufacturing

Design also has to survive production

A visual concept is only part of the job. Manufactured objects introduce shape, curvature, print areas, materials, suppliers and technical constraints. Illustration and graphic design have to work on the real object — not only in the presentation artwork.

RITZENHOFF KitchenFarm ceramic collection designed and illustrated by Ian David Marsden, including Salt Pig, Sugarbird and illustrated herb jars
RITZENHOFF KitchenFarm — illustration developed as part of the form and character of the manufactured objects.

RITZENHOFF Designer Collection · 2013–2018

Illustration designed around the object

From 2013 to 2018 I created original designs for the RITZENHOFF Designer Collection, working across decorated glassware, ceramics and collectible household objects as part of the official RITZENHOFF Designer Family.

The drawings had to work on curved surfaces, within defined decoration areas and as part of objects designed to be handled, used and viewed from different angles. Form, print placement and production therefore influenced the illustration from the beginning.

Work included: illustration · surface design · product graphics · production artwork · glassware · ceramics · collectible objects

Explore the RITZENHOFF collection →

RITZENHOFF Coffee Love illustrated cappuccino cups designed by Ian David Marsden
Coffee Love — character illustration composed to work around the curved surface of a cappuccino cup.
RITZENHOFF Viking Weizenbier glass and coordinated coasters designed and illustrated by Ian David Marsden
Viking Weizenbier — a vertical illustration developed for the proportions of a tall wheat-beer glass and coordinated coasters.

The RITZENHOFF work sits between illustration, graphic design and product design: the image still needs personality, but it also has to become accurate, reproducible artwork for a manufactured object.

International Work

Switzerland, Germany, France, the UK and United States

International collaboration has been part of my work for decades. I am Swiss, based in southern France, and work directly in English, German and French.

Switzerland & DACH clients

My Swiss career includes long-term editorial, corporate and creative work. I have also worked directly with German companies and organizations across product design, packaging, mobility, health communication and illustration. Projects can be discussed in Hochdeutsch or Schwiizerdütsch as well as English.

France

From my studio near Montpellier I work with companies and organizations both locally and internationally. French projects have included identity, editorial and motion design for AN2V, including work around its PIXEL publication and digital brand applications.

Regional work also includes connected identity, catalog, product-photography and web communication for businesses such as Domaine Cammaous, showing that the same system-led approach applies to smaller companies as well as larger international organizations.

UK & United States

Projects have included entertainment branding in Beverly Hills, wine identity in Washington State, publishing and corporate communication in the US, and educational and communication projects for UK organizations.

Experience & Selected Clients

35+ years across design, illustration and visual communication

My work has included long-term creative direction, product design, branding, publishing, editorial illustration, campaign work, digital communication and visual systems for organizations ranging from specialist companies to international brands.

First official Google Doodle artist · Wacom Featured Artist · ESMA Montpellier faculty

Selected clients of Ian David Marsden including Google, Coca-Cola, Mercedes-Benz, Wacom, Dräger, Henkel and other international organizations
Selected clients and project partners.

View Clients & Project Partners →

How I Work

From brief to production

The scale changes from project to project, but the sequence is straightforward: understand the problem, develop the visual language, apply it consistently and prepare the work for its real destination.

01

Direction

Clarify the audience, market, application and communication problem before designing the surface.

02

Development

Develop identity, typography, illustration, layout, iconography, information structure or interface concepts as required.

03

Application

Extend the chosen direction across the required products, packaging, print, campaigns, presentations or digital environments.

04

Production

Prepare technically correct files for printers, manufacturers, developers, presentations, digital platforms or motion production.

Design and illustration often overlap

A product identity may need custom illustration. A technical platform may need visual metaphors. A campaign may depend on characters. A publication may need both editorial structure and original artwork.

Because I work in both disciplines, illustration can be developed as part of the design rather than added after the visual system has already been decided.

A note on working together

“He’ll think things through together with you and understand what you are aiming for. He’ll point out what works — and more importantly, what doesn’t — and then execute it as agreed.”

Tom Geudens — Graph Database Expert, Neo4j

The studio is intentionally small. I produce the work personally rather than passing it through outsourcing layers, and commissioned imagery is hand-drawn rather than generated with AI.

Your Project

Need graphic design or creative direction?

Send me a short outline of the project, intended audience, applications and timing. It does not need to arrive as a fully resolved design brief.

English · Deutsch · Français

Extended Archive

More Graphic Design & Creative Direction Work

The projects above are a selected introduction. If you would like to browse more deeply, the gallery below contains a much wider archive of identity design, packaging, publications, digital work, signage, product graphics and visual communication developed over many years.

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