About me

I turn complexity into clear, useful experiences that work for users, stakeholders and the teams responsible for delivering them.

With approximately thirty-five years in the design sector, my experience spans graphic design, illustration, motion, web design, UX, visual systems and project delivery. I have worked with organisations including BT, American Golf and EMR, creating work across brand, digital products, internal systems, communications and operational processes.

The common thread is simplification. Complex requirements, multiple stakeholder perspectives and unfamiliar processes are shaped into experiences that are easier to understand and use. Good design should reduce unnecessary effort, allowing people to focus on what they need to achieve rather than on how the system works.

At EMR, this approach included simplifying an inventory and reusables process through a drag-and-drop interface, developing the OPPRA visual ecosystem across fourteen related identities, translating operational spreadsheets into metro-map-style diagrams, and designing the Stowatch fire detection app. The OPPRA work also resulted in a practical design-system "cookbook" that helped developers apply the visual language consistently and efficiently.

Curiosity is an important part of the process. New tools and approaches are explored when they can improve the outcome, from Figma and Affinity to AI-assisted prototyping and QGIS mapping. The objective is not novelty for its own sake, but finding a more effective way to make an idea clear, testable and useful.

Collaboration is informed by careful listening, considered responses and an understanding of how design decisions affect users, stakeholders and delivery teams. Experience in counselling education has strengthened the ability to facilitate conversations, understand different perspectives and support constructive change.

Meaningful, purposeful work matters. The strongest contribution comes when design is connected to a genuine organisational or social purpose and when the final experience is useful to the people who rely on it.

Meaningful work is an important part of professional motivation. Seniority or salary alone is not necessarily the deciding factor; greater value lies in seeing how design skills can contribute to an organisation's wider aims. Where an employer's mission reflects shared values, that mission can become part of the contribution rather than simply a feature of the organisation's branding.

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Nathan's Interactions

New things are happening!

Nathan Kilburn has commented on Kevin Myers' project "Sabretooth"

Nathan Kilburn has commented on Kevin Myers' project "The Thing"

Nathan Kilburn has commented on Kevin Myers' project "The Main Man and Dawg"

Nathan Kilburn has commented on Kevin Myers' project "Tigarid"

Nathan Kilburn has commented on Kevin Myers' project "The Further Adventures of Penelope Pea"

Nathan Kilburn has commented on Kevin Myers' project "Hellboy"

Nathan Kilburn has commented on Sergi Pros Granes' project "Starters-Finishers"

Nathan Kilburn has commented on Ilya Siomin's project "Identity and packaging for skincare products"

Nathan Kilburn has commented on Tom Hutchings' project "Mr Mac Art Identity & Logo"

Nathan Kilburn has commented on Tom Hutchings' project "Building Futures"

Nathan Kilburn has commented on Tom Hutchings' project "Hinterland Magazine"

Nathan Kilburn has commented on Tom Hutchings' project "Dark Souls™ The Board Game"

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