Biographies
Alex Maclean
Founding Director
As Founding Director, Alex engages with all of Airside’s clients on a strategic level with special responsibility for moving image projects. He is an award-winning animation director but maintains a creative interest over all aspects of a project, from brief meeting and scripting, to design and final production.
After earning an MA in Architecture and Interior Design, Alex became a research fellow at the Royal College of Art. He co-founded a pioneering charity promoting online democracy and created websites for feature films, before co-founding Airside with Nat Hunter and Fred Deakin in 1998.
Alex’s design lectures have taken him to conferences and universities in South Africa, Asia and Europe. A Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts, Alex has also sat on the judging panels of prestigious international competitions including the D&AD and Design Week Awards.
Alex is an accomplished illustrator and when not drawing for Airside’s clients, he posts his observational sketches to his Twitter.
Caroline Matthews
Managing Director
As Managing Director, Caroline oversees all aspects of the Airside business, from finances to HR. She is also responsible for all client liaison, strategic development, financial management and rollout of projects, and uses her extensive experience in account handling to ensure an Airside client is a happy client.
A graduate from Kingston University, Caroline has worked in advertising for over 15 years, doing everything from brand strategy, internal communications, corporate identity, and implementing through-the-line global advertising campaigns.
Caroline’s CV includes stints at Ogilvy, CHI and most recently, The Bank, before she joined Airside in 2009. Her branding work for a wide range of clients has given her a thorough understanding of a variety of industries and service areas, from banking to beer.
She loves owls and collects fridge magnets from around the world.
Colm Larkin
Copywriter
Colm is Airside’s man o’ words. Whether he’s scripting branding and information films, developing content for websites, writing Airside promotional material, or blogging at Airside Play, Colm likes to tell a good story. He enjoys explaining complex ideas, unraveling mysterious business jargon, and indulging in the occasional creative metaphor.
A Communications Studies graduate from Dublin City University, Colm spent many years in music journalism, before winding up at Airside in an admin role. He was soon writing Airside newsletters and press releases, before moving onto client work.
Now based in sunny/foggy San Francisco, Colm continues to write for Airside, though also works as a freelancer for clients in the U.S. and Europe. His online portfolio highlights the best of his Airside and other work.
Colm never lost his love for music, and currently writes live previews for a San Francisco events magazine, along with random musical musings for his blog.
Fred Deakin
Founding Director
As Founding Director, Fred takes a long-view of all of Airside’s creative work to ensure the consistent high quality of the studio’s output. But he also takes a hands-on role, particularly when his other career as a music maker crosses paths with Airside.
Music and design have gone hand-in-hand for Fred since his days of organizing club nights in Edinburgh, whilst completing an MA in English Literature. As well as DJing, Fred created flyers and visuals for the events and the style he developed would become a signature feature of Airside’s early work. After moving to London to study and then teach Communication Design at Central Saint Martins, Fred co-founded Airside with Alex Maclean and Nat Hunter in 1998.
Fred formed electronic music duo Lemon Jelly with Nick Franglen and the group went on to sell over half a million records worldwide and receive Mercury and Brit nominations. The group also became feted in the design world for its Airside-created record packaging, music videos, and live visuals.
With Lemon Jelly on hiatus, Fred resumed his DJ career and released a mix album The Triptych, which The Guardian called "the best mix album ever", and won Fred a European Design Awards for his packaging design. In 2010, Fred formed Flashman with The Beta Band’s Robin Jones, and Fred has directed two Airside-produced music videos for tracks from the group’s debut album, To the Victor – the Spoils – released on his Impotent Fury label.
George Thomson
Studio Manager
As Studio Manager, George wears many different hats in order to ensure the smooth running of Airside studio. As well as organizing the studio, its equipment, art materials, and vast selection of teas, George looks after Airside’s people and helps manage our network of freelancers. Plus, if you phone us, it’ll probably be George who answers your call.
Given his background as an event manager, nightclub promoter, musician, DJ, record shop founder, record label head honcho, singer, composer, music producer and artiste, George is used to wearing many hats. So it wasn’t too much of a stretch for him, when he joined Airside in 2010.
George’s multi-talents have also proved useful for Airside’s clients. He has composed and produced music for a number of animations, while his dulcet tones have voiced Airside videos and podcasts. His musical alter-ego George Demure performed at 2010’s Airside Outside night, and if that’s not enough hats for you, George also edited the event’s highlights video.
George does not wear actual hats.
Henki Leung
Creative Director (Airside Nippon)
In September 2010, Airside’s senior designer, illustrator, and animation director Henki packed his Wacom tablet and left for Tokyo where he now brings us great honour as Creative Director of Airside Nippon. As well as establishing new contacts and relationships, Henki is the creative lead on our ever-increasing Japan-based projects.
Henki studied Design and Typography at the University of Plymouth, before joining Airside in 2000. In 2005 he was featured in a Creative Review magazine’s annual showcase of young design talent, Creative Futures. He has sat on the judging panel of D&AD’s Student Awards and taken part in its New Blood portfolio surgeries.
Henki is currently well chuffed that Stanley the rabbit – a character he created for Japanese television channel NTV – has become a merchandising sensation and been turned into stuffed toys, key rings, mobile phone content, and even a mascot for an obscure brand of coffee.
Currently eating his way through the finest and most bizarre foods Tokyo has to offer, you can follow Henki’s culinary and design adventures on his photo blog.
Jamie Wieck
Designer, Illustrator, Director
Jamie is Airside’s design factotum. He’ll venture into any discipline and work with any medium to solve our client’s problems. But whether it’s illustration, typography, print, or video, Jamie tackles every brief with strong lateral thinking and considered theoretical process. Jamie’s work includes the logo for Greenpeace’s Airplot, which was a winner at the 2010 HOW Logo Design Awards.
Jamie graduated from Saint Martins School of Art and Design, before joining Airside in 2006. A true student of design, Jamie loves lecturing on the creative process and has been invited to speak at events and universities across the UK, including the Design Museum, the Typographic Circle, and the University of the Arts.
Forever the armchair physicist, one of his finest talks deconstructed the science and information graphics of the Pioneer 10 Plaque, which you can read about at Jamie’s website. His continuing interest in design theory saw him organise Airside/Outside, a night of debate and discussion featuring renowned architects, philosophers, and designers from the UK’s creative industry.
Despite all these achievements, Jamie’s proudest moment remains being profiled in the Italian version of glossy women’s monthly magazine, Glamour.
Nat Hunter
Founding Director
As Founding Director, Nat works with Airside’s clients as a creative strategist, guiding projects all the way from initial research through creative development and final presentation, to ensure a cohesive and successful result. She loves projects that create surprising interfaces between audience and brand, and specialises in digital media.
Nat studied Psychology, including Human Computer Interface Psychology, at Edinburgh University, before completing an MA in Interactive Multimedia at the Royal College of Art. She designed interfaces for films and installation artists, before co-founding Airside with Alex Maclean and Fred Deakin in 1998.
Nat’s has lectured in design around the world, has served on the fellowship panel at innovations organisation NESTA, and has sat on the judging panels of prestigious international competitions including the D&AD and Design Week Awards.
Nat is the co-founder of Three Trees Don’t Make A Forest — a not-for-profit enterprise set up to help the design industry conceive and produce more sustainable creative work.
Shelly Hyner
Accounts
Shelly is Airside’s money-minder, maintaining the company’s accounts and bookkeeping functions. She works closely with Airside’s directors and operations team, and assists the production staff with project budgets. She also manages the retail-related finances of Airside Play.
Shelly has no formal accountancy or bookkeeping qualifications but does have 28 years (the average age of the younger members of the Airside team) of hands-on experience working for a range of industries including accountancy, engineering, events management, TV production, as well as a floristry.
Since joining Airside in April 2010, Shelly feels the creative juices within have been unleashed and looks forward to creating something for Airside Play. Watch this space.
Besides being a mother to two teenagers, Shelly loves pilates and yoga, walking, and making cupcakes for friends and family – like the ones she baked for the launch of Airside Play.
Sibylle Preuss
Senior Producer
Quite simply, Airside’s senior producer Sibylle gets things done. No challenge is too big and no deadline is too tight for Sibylle’s super-German efficiency and she ensures our clients have a smooth ride during the production period. She enjoys the variety of projects that comes through the door, and loves working with the Airside creative team and our extended family of talented freelancers.
Sibylle’s passion for production has sustained her through many years in the creative industry. She gained experience at various London agencies, first in marketing and business development, then production management, before joining Airside in 2005.
Sibylle completed the Advertising Producers Association (APA) Masterclass for Commercials Production, passing with distinction. She enjoys the challenge of producing both animated and live action films.
In her spare time Sibylle loves going to immersive theatre performances such as Punchdrunk, cycling, skiing, art, and taking pictures. Watch out for her dirty laugh.