Over the last 20+ years I've become a design leader in branding and design that has driven the creative quality for global brands in agencies and in-house design teams. I've enjoyed working in multidisciplinary teams throughout my career in well known agencies such as FITCH in London and Interbrand and Philips Design in Amsterdam.
More recently I have gone solo as an independent creative director, working for a range of clients, agencies and brands in the UK as well as abroad.
After graduating in The Netherlands I moved to London to continue to studying graphic design at the Royal College of Art. After graduating with a MA in Graphic Design my working life started at FITCH and have since gained a wide range of experience and skills across many areas within branding, retail and design.
Solid creative thinking with a natural ability to lead, adapt and organise are my core strengths. My keen eye for detail ensures creative output is on strategy, on brand and creatively sound at every stage of the process. Design strategy and approach are always rooted in consumer insights, market research and in line with business objectives.
Being a good communicator and a pragmatic leader I aim to inspire, motivate and influence people in a positive way. I take pride in forging strong relationships with everyone I work with. A real team player at heart that thrives in a busy creative environment, but also loves quiet reflection on my own.
The lack of women in creative leadership roles and general lack of diversity in the design industry has prompted me to co-found Women Unltd, a platform that wants to empower and inspire aspiring and current female creative leaders, so they can unlock their full potential and achieve things they once thought were impossible. Women Unltd. organises personal branding workshops, talks and networking events for women in the creative and marketing industries.
In my spare time I like to mentor and coach design students and young creatives.
What people say about me
Sonia Richardson
Client Services Team Lead at The Might Shed
Client Services Team Lead at The Might Shed
Sione is an absolute joy to collaborate with on any sticky brand problem you would care to invite her to solve. Her thinking is always clear; she is adept at creating and managing a team tasked with delivering creative strategies and at untangling complex strands with a positive and refreshingly 'sleeves rolled up' approach.
I had the pleasure of working with Sione as Creative Director on a hugely iconic brand. What I enjoyed most about working with Sione was her positive energy and warmth. Her door is always open, and she meets every challenge with positivity - there is never a 'we can't because,' but always a 'how might we,' which I hugely value.
There is a rare gem in Sione - her passion for creative solutions brings positive energy to all projects, and she is equally an excellent mentor, giving honest, practical guidance while inspiring teams she is part of (or leads) to give 100%.
Sione understands the consumer and can put herself in their shoes to create design solutions that answer problems and deliver results.
In my experience, Sione is a hugely confident and capable creative leader who values input from all aspects of a creative or marketing team - from the Global Creative Director to Client Services, to Digital Teams and Artwork services, Sione can speak the language of many skillsets and creates excellent team dynamics in the process.
Erika Hardy
Head of Marketing at Everards Brewery
Head of Marketing at Everards Brewery
Sione stepped in to help us to set a firm branding foundation for our business following a recent relaunch. Sione brought fresh thinking, creativity and introduced a great framework for us to move forward with branding including photography and online. Our website which was recently nominated for a prestigious 'Restaurant & Marketer Innovator' Award, was a key project with Sione playing a central role creating a vision and coaching our agency. She was really flexible in her approach and gave my team and I lots of guidance. I look forward to continuing to work with Sione as our business moves to a new home and new marketing opportunities arise.
Gary Scriven
Creative Director & Brand and Identity Design Consultant
Creative Director & Brand and Identity Design Consultant
Sione is a highly professional and dedicated designer with a positive team player approach. She was a key member of my team, with delegated responsibility for several business units. In this role she fostered positive commissioner working relationships, effectively managed project teams and delivered excellent design solutions. Sione's ability to keep calm and "on track", combined with her energy and approachable nature is a great asset to any team.
Rob Findlay
Managing Director at ADK Insights
Managing Director at ADK Insights
It was good to work with Sione on branding and identity projects for clients in the Netherlands and internationally. She has a great grasp of design from ideas to implementation, a clear and logical mind and very welcome sense of humour.
Caroline van Hoff
Senior Brand Design Manager at Heineken
Senior Brand Design Manager at Heineken
I have always enjoyed working with Sione, she is very nice and open person , a team player and a good communicator. Her design skills excel in clarity in messaging and content and her design style is very clean, simply to the point with a beautiful aesthetic flavour.
Elodie Swanberg
Co-Founder and CEO at POMMINE
Co-Founder and CEO at POMMINE
Sione is a very creative person and approach projects with confidence and enthusiasm. She has a true understanding of consumer needs and the best part is that Sione is just fun to work with.
Michele Mathijssen
Freelance Art Director & Magazine Editor
Freelance Art Director & Magazine Editor
Sione is a detailed worker with wide experience in design and retail. I found this a helpful and good combination. Down to earth, hard worker. We had a good time working together.