20 Years of Design JD From the Classroom to a Creative Calling

Twenty years is a significant milestone, and moments like this provide a natural opportunity to pause and reflect. This is a chance to look back at the journey, the people, the projects and the decisions that shaped the path along the way.

So, as I write this, it feels right to take a step back and revisit where Design JD first began, how it grew from an idea into a creative studio, and where the business stands today.

Even before 2006, Design JD was born in a secondary school classroom around 2003.
It was never meant to be a business plan. It was simply a GCSE IT project. We were asked to design a website, and like most coursework, it could have been completed, submitted, and forgotten.

But something in me wanted it to be more than just a project for the course. I did not just want to tick a box. I wanted to build something real.

So I created a logo. I built a website. I gave it a name.
At first, it was called JD Design. When I went to buy the domain name, it had already been taken. So I reversed it and purchased DesignJD.co.uk instead. That small decision marked the beginning of something far bigger than I could have imagined.

Looking back, I can see the hand of God even in that simple moment. What felt like a minor inconvenience became the name that has carried the business for twenty years. That was the IT course completed, and we moved on…

While still at school and in sixth form, small paid projects began to appear. I designed a CD cover for my headmaster’s son’s carol service, which definitely places the era. I created wedding stationery for a teacher. I also helped friends who were launching small ventures with catalogues, business cards and branding. One of these is still trading today as PinkSheep, specialising in sustainable merchandise!

I was also helping in my local church, designing graphics and resources. One of those projects was a map. The director of a local charity, whom I knew, saw it and asked if I could create something similar to show parking locations for their minibus charity.
That organisation was Merton Community Transport, and twenty years later, we are still working together.

At the time, it was a cool job to help a friend. In hindsight, it was the beginning of something that would define the direction of the company.

Proverbs in the Bible says that a man’s heart deviseth his way, but the Lord directeth his steps. I can see now that even in those early projects and simple leaflets, God was directing the path toward a business long before I recognised it as a specialism.

There is a shift that happens when someone pays you who does not already know you.

One of my first clients outside of friends and family was a Toastmaster who needed two websites, one for his personal services and one for the association he belonged to. That project felt significant. It was the moment when Design JD moved from being a hobby that generated income to something that resembled a business.

I was still studying, still learning, still figuring it out. But slowly, foundations were being laid.

After sixth form, studying graphic design felt inevitable. I explored several options before settling at the London College of Communication, part of the University of the Arts London.

I completed a foundation in graphic design and then specialised in information design as part of my degree. The course was about clarity, structure and legibility. It is about helping people understand complex information.

In my final year, my dissertation focused on pedestrian wayfinding in Central London. It explored how cultural nuance within city areas could be expressed without losing clarity in navigation.
At the time, it was an academic project. In reality, it was preparation.

In my final year, we were asked to complete a live project for Finchley Memorial Hospital. That opportunity, once I graduated, led to our first real-world wayfinding commission inside a working hospital.

That moment was pivotal. What had begun as general graphic design was becoming something more focused. Wayfinding is not just signage. It is psychology, environment, behaviour, architecture and communication woven together.

Without realising it fully, the direction of the next twenty years was being shaped.

After graduating, I had a decision to make. Take a stable job or focus on the business.

Building the business felt uncertain. It required trust. It required stepping forward without guarantees.
Faith has never meant recklessness. It has meant obedience. It has meant taking steps when the full staircase is not visible. There have been seasons of quiet, seasons of doubt, seasons where work felt thin. But through each stage, there was provision.

Clients came at the right time. Opportunities opened unexpectedly. Introductions led to projects. The journey has never felt accidental.

In 2014, several years after that GCSE project, I was awarded Entrepreneur of the Year at the Sutton Business Awards. It was a great milestone.

Then in 2023, I was runner-up for Young Entrepreneur of the Year at the Kingston Borough Business Awards. That recognition felt significant in a different way. It was not just about early promise. It was about sustained impact. As well as it was the last year I qualified for the category of Young Entrepreneur!

For the early years, Design JD was just me. When we were commissioned for a large wayfinding project with the London Borough of Sutton, it became clear that the business needed to expand. Alexander became our first employee in 2015, and the studio began to grow.

Today, we are a team of multiple skillsets and experiences.

Over the years, the services expanded. Branding. Websites. Signage systems. Digital marketing. Animation and video production.

The core of the work has remained the same. Helping organisations communicate clearly. Helping places become legible. Helping people feel confident in the spaces they occupy. We love the variety of organisations we get to work with, as well as the projects they trust us with!

In 2022, we rebranded Design JD. Not just visually, but strategically. It was a season of reflection and realignment. The brand needed to reflect the maturity and direction of the business.

In January 2024, we took another bold step and separated our wayfinding specialism into its own brand, Claro Wayfinding. As Claro was conceived as a distinct entity, it was important that it was given space to grow and find its voice. Its slogan is ‘Creating Clear Journeys’.

To support that, we launched a podcast called Navigate Now. Through the Claro website, YouTube channel and LinkedIn platform, the podcast explores wayfinding, place strategy and navigation in the built environment. It has become a way of contributing more deeply to the industry and sharing knowledge beyond client projects.

Education has always remained close to my heart.

I have been involved with Young Enterprise, serving on judging panels in South London and seeing first-hand what the next generation of entrepreneurs are building. Each year, I return to my old school, Carshalton Boys Sports College, for their Directions and Destinations Day to speak about starting a business and entering the creative sector.

Those moments are great and insightful. They remind me of where this journey began. In a classroom. With a project. With an idea.

Twenty years means clients who have trusted us from the beginning. It means lessons learned through mistakes. It means seasons of growth and seasons of stretching.

It means that what began as a GCSE assignment became a business.

Design JD has never been just about design. It has been about service. It has been about clarity. It has been about using creativity as a tool to help others thrive.

When I look back, I do not just see projects and milestones. I look back with satisfaction and enjoyment at what we have as a team built and achieved!

Twenty years in … the story is still being written.