Contour Creative Studio

Brand Strategist and Designer

Memorisely

Teacher

MPL Home

Senior Designer

Avisual

Freelance Graphic Designer

Kellmatt Ltd

Graphic Designer

I lead a design studio that is bursting with bright ideas — we are a small team of designers, developers and creative thinkers, supremely motivated to simplify and connect.

We collaborate with passionate founders to create transparent and measurable brand blueprints to provide clarity and confidence to take their next leap. 

I am an ardent advocate for honest branding strategies that don't just ask for trust but reveal the genuine character of a company.

Most of the brands I work with are driven by a profound desire to contribute positively to the world.

I promote strategies that cultivate genuine connections and build loyal communities.

Outside of 'professional colouring in' I am an adrenaline junkie, enjoying mountain biking, motorbikes, and pursuing every opportunity to enjoy the sea.

If you only take inspiration from the same places as everyone else, you’ll find yourself thinking like them too. 

So I’m off to Wales again.

I’m heading back to support the awesome team of volunteers at The DO Lectures.

To sit around campfires and make new friends.

To listen to stories from incredible people.

To challenge existing ideas.

To fight over who gets to drive the Land Rover across the farm.

You always come away with fresh perspectives. New ideas and new friends.

And exhaustion.

It’s the best.

I'm currently driving West in a car with Kevin Pickard, (planning out our next project).

I’ve dropped some of my favourite talks from previous Do’s below:

Mickey Smith: https://lnkd.in/e422NatS
Alex Lloyd Jenkins: https://lnkd.in/eUrMxqYK
Gavin Strange: https://lnkd.in/eTvv4gU5
Mr Bingo: https://lnkd.in/etuuUCJb
Lou Featherstone: https://lnkd.in/eaZBa2et

#happytuesday

Adam Jennings

Brand Strategist and Designer 🖍️ Making brands doing good, look good.

It always takes me a little while to post about The DO Lectures each year.

It takes time to process (catch up on sleep).

And each year I come back different.

I'm still working out what that looks like this year.

But I know it's all coming together. This second half of this year is going to be special. I've never been so aligned with the progress I'm bringing to my projects (I've got some special projects lined up that make me SO excited).

The Do Lectures are special. It brings free-thinkers, challengers, optimists and game-changers together on a farm in Wales.

The farm is a magical place (this isn't hyperbole).

The space unlocks ideas that feel scary.

Connecting the dots on ideas that seemed impossible.

Making you realise it is possible.

And it does all this whilst surrounding you with people who can help, both practically and as cheerleaders - trust me, you need both.

When I first went in 2017, I came home and quit my job.

Now I volunteer to support these insane experiences for others too.

All of the talks from their amazing speakers are shared online for free each year: https://lnkd.in/ea4ChA5K

And it's nothing without the people that I get to share time on the farm with.

To all the friends, old and new: Thank you all for one incredible week.

#happytuesday

I promise I’m not making a point of just posting about Strava this week.

He says before posting about their design choices, again.

When I played around with the design update earlier this week, I couldn’t help but notice how disconnected the footer navigation design is in the Strava iOS app.

Before I go any further, I’m not in the design team at Strava, so I don’t know the motivation behind their choices and decisions, so this is an external observation only.

I felt that they were missing an opportunity to do things a little better by aligning the design to their brand.

So I’m suggesting a fix:

⃗🏠 A new Home icon, that matches the weight of the other icons, and is updated to incorporate the triangle found in their brand avatar. Making the icons feel unique and aligned with the rest of the brand.

⃗📍 Simplify the map to match the rest of the icons.

⃗🍊 Remove the blue background for active states, using the brand colour within each icon instead.

⃗🔴 The notification icon can drop inline, rather than unbalancing the icon in the top right.

⃗🏃‍♂️ Using three dots for Groups compliments the brand avatar (I know this means losing the slanted design choices).

😀 And remove the final icon to show our profile picture - I’ve never identified myself as a clipboard.

🔎 I've also explored some background transparency for continuation (although I'm still in two minds about this).

I’ve made a quick prototype of the update to show the different active states in play. 

You can check it out here: https://lnkd.in/exqicPDw

I mostly love the Strava app. I simply think they’re missing an opportunity to make the footer feel intentional and aligned with their brand.

It’s a common mistake. And easily fixed.

I just got carried away when I was playing around.

#happythursday

Knowing how to build a brand that resonates is more important than ever.

New brands look like they've fallen off a Pinterest board and sound like ChatGPT.

Great branding is one of the best competitive advantages. Full stop.

I was lucky enough to spend some time chatting with Julija (JJ) Jegorova and Mauro Battellini from Black Unicorn PR on the latest episode of The Runway, discussing brand foundations and how to start up and stand out in 2024.

We jump into what branding really is

Why your logo is not your brand

And the first thing founders should focus on when they're thinking about their brand strategy.

It was a really fun conversation and full of ideas and insights to give a little brand direction if you're considering launching or building brand equity.

I'll be sharing some video clips from the episode over the coming days too.

When you've had a listen, let me know if anything resonated or helped you move forward.

#happywednesday

Heyoooo! New pod episode alert! 🎙️

This week on The Runway, we’re chatting with Adam Jennings, founder of design agency Contour Creative Studio, and the branding genius behind Black Unicorn PR's look! 🌟

Adam's work is so good, our logo has been "borrowed" by multiple companies - and yes, by "borrowed" we mean stolen. Whether you're building your brand from scratch, considering a refresh, or just need some branding clarity, this episode is a must-listen.

Tune in to gain expert insights and elevate your branding game: https://spoti.fi/4cUqPPh

Open article: Adam Jennings, Founder of Made By Contour: Branding For Startups and New Companies (S01E04) by spoti.fi

Adam Jennings, Founder of Made By Contour: Branding For Startups and New Companies (S01E04)

Building strategy-driven brands for Designers, Architects and Photographers | Helping you attract the work you want

Your brand needs less:

- Fonts
- Industry jargon
- Colours
- Uncertainty

And more:

- Consistent use of fonts
- Understandable copy
- Recognizable colour palette
- Clarity and purpose

Less is more when it comes to branding.

Comment ‘👍👍👍’ if you agree


#branddesign #brandstrategy #personalbranding #brandingtips #creativecareer

I promise I’m not making a point of just posting about Strava this week.

He says before posting about Strava's design choices again.

When I played around with the design update earlier this week, I couldn’t help but notice how disconnected the footer navigation design is in the Strava iOS app.

Before I go any further, I’m not in the design team at Strava, so I don’t know the motivation behind their choices and decisions, so this is an external observation only.

I felt that they were missing an opportunity to do things a little better by aligning the design to their brand.

So I’m suggesting a fix.

⃗🏠 A new Home icon, that matches the weight of the other icons, and updated to incorportate the triangle found in their brand avatar. Making the icons feel unique and aligned with the rest of the brand.
⃗📍 Simplify the map to match the rest of the icons.
⃗🍊 Remove the blue background for active states, using the brand colour within each icon instead.
⃗🔴 The notification icon can drop inline, rather than unbalancing the icon in the top right.
⃗🏃‍♂️ Using three dots for Groups complimes the brand avatar (I know this means losing the slanted desin choices).
😀 And remove the final icon to show our profile picture - I’ve never identified myself as a clipboard.
🔎 I've also explored some background transparency for continuation (although I'm still in two minds about this).

I’ve made a quick prototype of the update to show the different active states in play. 

You can check it out here: https://lnkd.in/exqicPDw

I mostly love the Strava app. I simply think they’re missing an opportunity to make the footer feel intentional and aligned with their brand.

It’s a common mistake. And easily fixed.

I just got carried away when I was playing around.

#happythursday

Brand Strategist and Designer 🖍️ Building high-impact brand systems to elevate brands inspired by adventure.

👇 Shoutout for Mid-weight Graphic Designers:

✎ Making start-ups famous with digital brand design

* 🏹  HUNTING* for a mid-weight graphic designer with brand and web UI/UX experience. Ideally showing some tidy and interesting work across a range of print and digital deliverables for 3-4 solid projects. This is a contract, not a full time position.

If this is you, or you know of someone, drop me a DM!

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Adam Jennings's Best Posts (last 30 days)