Ben Walker
Founder & Creative Director
Ben oversees Firefly’s creative projects, ensuring all communications are delivered to a consistently high standard and meet client expectations.
Background
Ben was born in Edinburgh and grew up in Melrose in the Scottish Borders. He went on to complete an Art and Design Foundation course at The Borders College, before studying Graphic Design at Cumbria Institute of the Arts and graduating with distinction.
After graduating, Ben learnt to apply his skills working full-time for a couple of well-established design and marketing agencies in Edinburgh. He delivered creative communications for an impressive range of brands, designing for sectors including education, forestry, healthcare, tourism, hospitality, sports, leisure and technology, as well as government bodies.
After seven years of full-time experience, Ben began working in a freelance capacity, gradually building up his reputation as a talented designer for various creative agencies in Edinburgh. Working on an eclectic range of projects in disciplines spanning branding, digital, advertising, packaging and point of sale, Ben gained a valuable and comprehensive insight into the way different agencies operate. This knowledge, alongside the loyal client base he had developed, lay the foundations for Firefly, which he established in 2014.
Role at Firefly
Enthusiastic, organised and professional, Ben strives for perfection in every project, combining his creativity and technical knowledge to build remarkable brands and add value to client’s businesses. An expert in branding, design for print, design for digital media, advertising and marketing, he works closely with the designers on projects, from the brief to the creative outcome.
As the design industry evolves, so does Firefly. Ben has refined and developed the agency’s processes and structures over time to reflect its core values. From providing extensive services and creating for diverse sectors, to caring for the environment and supporting learning, Ben has taken leaps to establish Firefly as more than a design agency.
Sharing knowledge
Over the years Ben has been involved in numerous educational initiatives and takes pride in sharing his experience and knowledge of design. This has included:
- Temporarily standing in as a Creative & Digital Industries lecturer on the Graphic Design course at The Borders College.
- Providing design lectures for BBC Make It Digital at Edinburgh College, guiding students on how to create a logo and business card for their own personal brand.
- Volunteering as a mentor at Creative Edinburgh, helping budding graphic designers to develop and refine their portfolios and CVs.
- Delivering design training for AnywhereWorks’ design team in Chennai. This involves setting creative project briefs and supporting the team to develop their understanding and skills in areas including branding, advertising, user experience and logo design. In May 2019, Ben had the opportunity to travel to India to meet the team, where he spent time delivering presentations on design principles and processes, contributing to meetings and providing feedback on live projects.
Personal interests
Outside of work, Ben enjoys spending time with family and friends, playing tennis, watching rugby and is a bit of an ace on the barbecue.
He also loves cooking and often spends weekends in the kitchen preparing meals for guests, special occasions, or making big batches to freeze for the week ahead.
Environmental action
Ben has worked hard to make Firefly a climate positive company. He has implemented a number of sustainable actions, including regular team litter picks in the area surrounding the studio in Leith and planting ten trees for every new client.
He also made the transformational decision to close the studio one day every week for the team to work from home. This cuts out unnecessary commutes and reduces carbon emissions.
Selected brand experience
Throughout his career Ben has worked with an extensive range of brands, including The Co-operative, Dettol, The Famous Grouse, Heinz, Highland Spring, Kwik Fit, Orkney Cheddar, Quality Meat Scotland, Scottish Power, Tennent’s, Visit Scotland, and Yorkshire Dales National Park.
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“Firefly has been an absolute joy to work with. We commissioned them to create a promotional animation for us and on seeing the storyboard, we were so impressed with the work they did that we ended up contracting them to design a series of printed materials too.
Creative, friendly and responsive, they’ve truly delivered on what we asked for and more. We had a very tight turnaround on our project and they made it all happen in good time. I wouldn’t hesitate to use them again.”
Steph Wright
Project Development Manager
Cancer Innovation Challenge
