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 Hawlik Gesundheitsprodukte GmbH, produced in German, English and French.

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

Selected Creative Direction Projects

Different briefs, different systems

The form changes with the problem: SaaS, executive learning, mobility and entertainment branding each require a different combination of design disciplines.

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.

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

Executive Education · Visual Systems

Strategic Wealth Creator System™

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

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Volkswagen SEDRIC autonomous mobility concept artwork and storyboard communication by Ian David Marsden

Germany · Mobility · Concept Communication

Volkswagen SEDRIC

Storyboard-led concept artwork translating an autonomous-mobility platform into a clear launch narrative for presentation, motion, print and press use.

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La Toya Jackson Just Wanna Dance cover and entertainment branding creative direction by Ian David Marsden

United States · Entertainment Branding

La Toya Jackson / Ja-Tail Enterprises

Creative direction across identity, crest design, album and CD packaging, posters, print production and the design and build of LaToyaOnline.

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Product & Packaging

Design also has to survive production

A visual concept is only part of the job. Packaging, labels and manufactured products introduce dimensions, print areas, dielines, suppliers, technical constraints and real objects that have to be handled correctly.

RITZENHOFF Designer Collection product designs by Ian David Marsden

RITZENHOFF Designer Collection

From 2013 to 2018 I created original designs for manufactured glassware, ceramics and collectible objects, working with surface, form, print placement and commercial presentation.

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Top Source Washington State wine label and identity redesign by Ian David Marsden

Top Source Wine Identity

A three-wine family for a Washington State producer, combining wordmark design, individual illustrated identities, typography and print-ready label systems.

View Top Source project →

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.

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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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