Digital Archives | Page 2 of 33 | Bristol Creative Industries

Creating a digital design portfolio can be a tricky proposition: digital design is an umbrella that covers such a wide range of skills. Whether you’re a UX, UI, web designer, or developer, your portfolio needs to showcase what you can do – as well as convey your creativity and the practical value you can bring to a role or project. It’s a tall order. Luckily, we’re here to give you some insider insights on how to stand out right from the get-go.

What to consider before you get started

A truly compelling portfolio will demonstrate how you think, solve problems, and bring value to an agency’s clients.

Before you begin, take some time to plan the most effective way to show your work. You need to think about what your strongest skills are and which projects best showcase them. What work you’ve done will best fit the role you are applying for? Are there some particularly successful examples that will impress a prospective employer with their impact?

Presenting your work in a digital format

If you are applying for a digital design role, your portfolio must demonstrate your digital skills. You’d be surprised how often people don’t do this! Just including a Behance or Dribbble link isn’t enough.

Rather than relying on an off-the-shelf template with little customisation, present something that reflects your personality, creativity, and attention to detail. In most cases this will mean creating a website. Platforms such as Webflow and Framer are ideal for this, allowing you full creative control but remaining accessible for designers without advanced development experience. They also don’t require much maintenance once setup, meaning you won’t end up with a never-ending to-do list.

Whichever platform you use, it’s vital to make sure you test everything thoroughly. As with a project for a client, errors such as broken links, spelling mistakes, slow loading times, or responsive layout issues ensure a negative first impression. Employers will be concerned if they’re presented with work that isn’t polished, professional, and reliable across all devices.

Be sure to show your process

One of the biggest mistakes designers make is only showing the finished product.

While the final designs are important, employers also want to understand how you arrived at that solution. Showing your process demonstrates how you think through a problem.

For example, a website project could include research, wireframes, user journeys, concepts, prototypes, as well as the final designs and product. You don’t need lengthy explanations (walls of text will detract from your work) but there should be enough context for someone reviewing your portfolio to understand the challenge, your approach, any key decisions and why you chose the solution that you did.

Commercial relevance

Any company you apply to will want to know that your designs can solve problems and contribute to their business objectives. Showing commercially relevant work helps them imagine how you would work with their own projects and clients.

If possible, show measurable outcomes for things like improved engagement, increased conversions, better user experience and improved accessibility etc. These can provide evidence that your work is effective, and even just some small details around business impact can make projects feel far more professional and credible.

Conceptual work still has value, especially when demonstrating creativity, but practical work that solves real business problems will carry more weight during the hiring process. It’s all about giving agencies and businesses more confidence in you.

Tailor your portfolio to the role

Different agencies and companies prioritise different skills, tools, and workflows, so what you present and the work you include needs to be tailored to them. Before applying, research the company and the type of clients they work with. Dive into the services they offer, their visual style, and the technologies and platforms they use. It can make you feel like a good fit from the start.

Creativity is also essential. Employers are not just looking for technical ability, they want to see originality, and the ability to approach challenges in interesting ways that push boundaries and create work with added value.

Sometimes it’s the presentation and execution of your portfolio itself that elevates you above other candidates.

Curate your work

When it comes to portfolios, quality is always more important than quantity. It is far better to have four or five strong, well-explained projects than 10+ average ones with little depth or explanation.

Every project included should feel polished, demonstrate clear thinking, show your process, support the type of work you want to do professionally and show the final outcome.

Careful curation shows confidence, professionalism and will help make sure employers see your real strengths.

Extra details that help you stand out

The strongest portfolios show more than just your headline projects. Often employers are looking for, and are impressed by, small details that demonstrate deep understanding of digital design considerations.

Consider highlighting things such as accessibility, interaction design details, design systems, components considerations, typography choices, communication skills, or SEO/AEO. It’s a great way to give you extra credibility as a well-rounded candidate capable of building successful and rewarding digital experiences.

Final thoughts

As we’ve mentioned above, you should be treating your portfolio like you would a real client project, and that includes being prepared to talk confidently about digital design and the details of each project you’ve included. Have a think about what you might typically be asked by a client and have those answers ready should you be invited to interview. It’s not just about showing your work; it’s about giving you an opportunity to talk with expertise and enthusiasm about what your digital design skills can do for them.

At Proctor + Stevenson, we help clients with every aspect of their digital design needs. If you’d like to learn more about what we do, and how we can work with you, drop us a line at [email protected].

Most sign-up drop-off in digital health is a trust problem, not a form problem. What the drop-off is telling you, and how to fix the part that loses people.

Half the people you invite never finish signing up. That is not a form problem. It is a trust problem wearing a form problem’s clothes.

A genomics scale-up I worked with invited 3,000 insured patients to take a free genetic test. 54% signed up. The other 46% turned down something that cost them nothing. The surveys were clear: patients couldn’t see who stood behind the test, where their DNA would go, or whether “free” hid a catch. A shorter form fixes none of that.

The appetite for digital health is not the issue. More than 39 million people in England have registered for the NHS App. People hand over their health data when they trust who holds it. Drop-off is what you get when that trust is missing at the moment you ask.

Find the question your flow won’t answer

Every drop-off point hides an objection the screen leaves unspoken. Name it before you redesign a thing.

Sit beside five users as they move through your sign-up. Watch where they slow, squint or reach for the back button, then ask what ran through their mind. The pattern surfaces fast. In health products it clusters around three fears: who sees my data, what will this cost me, and are these people qualified to hold my health.

Answer the objection on the screen where it bites

On the genomics product, the science was the wall. The page spoke in language built for researchers, and patients bounced off it. We rewrote it for a reader aged 35 to 70 with no training in genetics, pulled the team’s credentials forward, and let the medical staff vouch for the work. One usability-test line set the brief: “I want to know more about the doctors.” That rebuilt page went on to drive 3.2% of all sign-ups.

Getting people through the door is only half the job. In one study of a mobile health app, 22% of users were still active a week after sign-up, and 3.4% after a month. Trust earns the sign-up; usefulness keeps it.

Find the objection, answer it where people hesitate, then test the fix with five real users before you build it. Do that, and the patients who used to leave start to stay.

If one flow in your product loses people and the analytics won’t say why, that is the job a flow UX audit does in five working days. You can also read the full genomics rebuild behind these numbers.

This article was originally posted on olibatstone.com on 15 June 2026.

Oli Batstone is an independent senior product designer specialising in digital health. Over ten years he’s shipped MHRA-approved medical devices, clinician dashboards and patient experiences for teams like Genomics. More about Oli.

AI is changing search in a number of ways, from the volume of searches that end without a click-through to the way marketers measure success, the way users interact with search engines and, increasingly, the fact that they choose generative AI engines instead.

Zero-click search and the traffic gap

You may have heard the phrase ‘zero-click search’ – but what does it mean?

According to research from SparkToro and Datos, 60% of searches now end without a click. This limits our opportunity to turn visibility into clicks, and clicks into traffic. It puts those measuring all their success on traffic – one of marketing’s most popular vanity metrics – at a disadvantage.

Let me be clear: traffic isn’t a bad thing to track. It’s great to understand the breakdown of traffic from organic vs paid sources, track which pages are seeing the most visits, and use that traffic to learn more about your audience, the devices they’re using and how they’re spending their time on your site. But, as SparkToro’s Rand Fishkin puts it, ‘you cannot be measuring the success of your job based on overall traffic growth.’

Why? Because it tells you nothing new about how visibility helps build your lead list, sales pipeline, or profit margins. It gives you no indication of how well your website is actually performing.

And, with sites seeing steady YoY declines of at least 2.5% on average, marketers hanging their hats on traffic growth will only set themselves up for disappointment. That’s why we encourage clients to set SMART goals, prioritise conversion rate, and work to maximise value from every high-intent visit.

Zero-click search forces us to get smarter about content and marketing strategy.

How is generative AI changing search and search intent?

It isn’t just traffic and the way marketers are (or should be) monitoring performance that’s changing. Generative AI is also altering the way people search, with longer-tail keywords becoming increasingly favoured. The average ChatGPT prompt, for example, is 23 words (approx. 19 words longer than your typical Google search).

Because we use generative AI engines to draw conclusions, not just answer questions and provide options for research, navigational, informational, commercial and transactional searches can often be collapsed or collated into one response.

One could describe this new category as ‘resolved’ intent (I’m coining that – you heard it here first).

For example, a query like ‘what’s the best CRM for a SaaS company?’ used to trigger multiple searches and comparisons. Now, users expect a single response that explains, compares, recommends, AND helps them justify their decision – all in one. That’s resolved intent in action.

So, as we all become more comfortable with conversational prompts, AI is shifting search intent and changing the terms people use. And, sorry friends, it’s definitely going to mean fewer people needing to read more on your website. Yet another reason why you need to invest in AEO and GEO strategies (alongside SEO, of course).

Is conversion rate higher in traffic from ChatGPT results than Google searches?

Another commonly observed difference between Google search and GenAI tools is the conversion rates they yield. But don’t believe everything you read.

I’m seeing a lot of claims that ChatGPT outperforms Google search when it comes to conversion, with some sites citing a difference of around 14% based on a case study by Seer Interactive. While the case study is interesting, its results come from just one of their clients. Just one business. When we look at data from studies with larger sample sizes, it tells a different story entirely.

Want straight-talking, jargon-free advice on tackling AI-driven search? Book a chat with our strategists.

We’re not going to sell you a subscription to the latest tool or tell you to restructure your entire website. We’ll just talk through your goals, help you identify some quick wins and put a roadmap in place for the more long-term, strategic stuff.

Building your first motion design portfolio can feel pretty overwhelming: should you play it safe, be radical, or stick somewhere in the middle? And what do you even include!?

Now, there’s a school of advice that tells you to be bold, expressive, and push the creative boundaries… But that can feel unhelpful, vague and, frankly, a bit intimidating.

Luckily, we’ve put together some more down-to-earth advice from people who’ve been in your situation and on the other side of the desk making the hiring decisions.

We’ll clue you in on what will stand out to prospective employers and none of it involves setting off fireworks or hiring a dance troupe (although if that’s your thing, don’t let us stop you)!

A few questions before you get started

It might sound a bit over the top, but you need to start thinking of yourself as a bit of an entrepreneur. (I’m aware I’m sounding very tech bro here but stick with me…)

In simple terms, if you include a slick explainer video then you want your potential employer to look at it and go, “That’s what our clients need!” Because beyond being a brilliant creative, what it boils down to is employers envisioning a roster of happy clients willing to pay for lots of (your) work.

3 tips for pulling your portfolio together

A real-world-ready portfolio is simpler to curate than you might think – it’s all about breaking it down into stages.

1. Edit your showreel

Showreels are a motion designer’s best weapon: you can show off a lot of work in one go. However, that doesn’t mean you should include everything you’ve ever made. Quality always trumps quantity here so only include the best scenes from your best work but consider whether your clips are demonstrating the complete range of your skills.

A good tip to help with this is to make sure you show off your editing and sound design skills. It can’t be stressed enough how much of a difference sound design can make. And the best part? So few people do it, so it’s an easy win that’ll really give you some edge!

Include any group projects if you have them, just make sure you’re clear on what your input was. A simple way to do this would be to add some small text in the corner while you’re showing clips from the project, for example: “Project XX -Illustration and animation” or “Project XX – editing”. Not only will this help prospective employers get a quick sense of your capability but also enforces your ability to work as part of a team.

And, as I was saying before, make sure to focus the work on those sellable skills: think explainer videos, motion for branding, video editing, 3D and so on.

If you’re still struggling on where to start, go onto the websites of the companies you’re applying to and look at their services. Does your work align with them and what they’re doing?

2. Show your process

As much as I enjoy looking at finished motion graphics projects, unfortunately that’s barely 1% of a motion designer’s job. The other 99% is the process. Mood boards, sketches, storyboards, animatics, drafts etc are the job.

This is the section where the goal is to build trust with clients that you can actually do the job they’re hiring you to do. Like before, keep it concise and choose two or three projects that you can break down and explain how you got to the final outcome. Keep in mind these are also the projects they’ll most likely ask you about in your interview too.

This is also where you have the opportunity to tailor your portfolio. Do some research into the places you’re applying too, for example if it’s an agency, what services do they offer on their website? And if it’s a business, what sector do they work in? Then use this information to choose what work you show. Let’s say that creative agency focuses on branding, try to show some work that demonstrates you’ve got it covered, like logo animations, brand videos, or motion guidelines.

3. Avoid these easy-to-make mistakes

Leading with your social media.

Whether or not you were confident enough to post yourself dancing on the internet back in lockdown and have grown a decent sized audience, leading with your social media accounts might not be the best idea in your portfolio.

If whoever is looking through your work clicks through to your profiles, you will have no control on what they look at. And that undermines all the careful work you’ve put in to crafting your application.

And let’s not forget when Instagram suddenly decided to change all posts to a different ratio (I don’t think many social media managers have still fully recovered from this). What I’m saying is, it’s not worth leaving how you show you work to platforms that can change overnight.

Using AI in your portfolio.

Now I’m not saying completely avoid AI altogether; to be honest a lot of companies will be looking for how you’re utilising it in your workflows.

Unsurprisingly, the recent School of Motion’s report, ‘The Motion Design Hiring Guide’, showed AI skills to be the fastest growing skillset employers ask for. And, far more interestingly, it came with an estimated~8-18% increase in wage.

In the creative industry, we’ve been working with AI for years (well before Will Smith attempted his first mouthful of spaghetti), so if you’re using AI in your final outcomes, we will be able to notice. And that includes in any supporting text too. Again, I’m not saying don’t use these tools, just be transparent when you are – and always avoid the press-a-single-button slop.

The final cut

In short, treat your portfolio as your pitch. It’s not just a gallery of nice work; it’s proof of what you can offer. The clearer that is, the easier it is for someone to trust you and, ultimately, to hire you.

If you’d like to find out more about what we can do then take a look at our work or get in touch at [email protected].

Video is one of the most powerful communication tools. But it can be easily misunderstood and misused. All too often, organisations treat video as a single discipline. Something to add to the mix after the fact. Or just to make something because their competitors are… and they aren’t.

The result is a steady stream of content that looks polished but fails to deliver.

The reality is simpler and more demanding. Because video content is not one thing. Different styles and formats can be used for different purposes and effects. One video style may be better suited to what you’re trying to achieve than another.

It’s all just a collection of stylistic approaches and formats, each designed to do a different job, reach audiences in different contexts and perform at different stages of the decision‑making process.

In this guide, we break down the most common types of video content, explain where each works best, and provide an outline on how to produce them in a way that delivers real value.

Brand films

Brand films are narrative‑led pieces designed to articulate what an organisation stands for, rather than what it sells. The best brand videos do this by creating an emotional connection.

A crystal clear tale of mission and vision. Emotional and narrative resonance, which can inspire as well as inform. At their worst, brand videos become a forceful sales pitch, or a sequence of albeit attractive images which say very little.

The strength of a brand film lies in its ability to simplify a complex proposition into a single, memorable idea or theme.

Becasue of this, great brand videos can be evergreen and multi-purpose. They can be used across websites, pitches, socials and internal communications. Creative and cinematic ambition can also greatly enhance the message.

John Lewis is renowned for its brand films. This one in particular, which celebrates the brand’s centenary, under the strap line of ‘Then New Always’ does a magnificent job in capturing the history and heritage of this quintessentially British brand one of the most striking and dynamic ways.

Brand films demand more planning with higher and more complex production values. This, naturally, comes with a cost uplift. The long and short of it, brand films are more expensive to make.

It also demands much more clarity of thought, which can take time. Turning the complex into something simple and visual requires careful forethought and creative clarity. Otherwise, you’ll end up with a rushed narrative that may look impressive, but will end up overwhelmingly unconvincing.

Successful brand films start with clarity. One core message drives every decision, from script to soundtrack. The language, whether that’s design or spoken, should serve the overall theme and idea, not overwhelm it.

Explainers and product demos

Explainer videos exist to answer questions and explain things… the clue is in the title!

They are structured pieces designed to explain a product, service or concept in a way that reduces friction and answers questions quickly.

How you create these videos depends entirely on the question, or questions, that need to be addressed. Simple explainer videos can work well when they are presenter-led. More complex subjects, and you’ll find animation becomes a more viable format.

How to hang a door, a simple yet effective explainer video from B&Q. You couldn’t produce a video like this without having an actual person show you how to actually hang a door. That’s exactly what this video does. It’s presenter-led – in a manner of speaking – has a few visual effects and gimmicks to break up the shots, but it gets to the point in a simple manner.

Microsoft Teams, on the other hand, has more layers and levels of complexity to it. So Microsoft’s choice to animate its Teams explainer videos, like this one, makes perfect sense.

In examples such as Teams – and this can apply to any software explainer – you need to show the various interfaces, processes, and aspects of a platform in a way that hangs together in a coherent, informative way.

Their biggest strength is efficiency. A good explainer can do the work of multiple pages of copy, guiding viewers from problem to solution in a few minutes. For complex propositions, they are often essential.

The most effective explainer videos are written before visuals are considered. A clear narrative arc, focused on one problem and one solution, keeps the content tight. Visuals should support understanding rather than decorate the message.

The voice-over and scripts are also critical. Clarity and timing are everything. Language needs to be concise and to the point and it also needs to match what the viewer is seeing on screen.

Also, longer, more complex animation also comes with a cost. Great animation takes time and effort; it isn’t something that can or should be rushed.

But explainers are also easy to get wrong. They can often end up rushed and feeling aimless as a result. Scripts can become overladen with information that only adds confusion, rather than clarity. Or, when brands try to do animation fast and ‘on the cheap’ what they hope will enhance their brand actually ends up diminishing and damaging it.

Short-form social media videos

Short‑form, platform‑native video is designed for feeds rather than websites.

These shorts often serve the purpose of attention-grabbing. They can even be used as hooks themselves into bigger pieces of hero content. We see this a lot now with podcasts. An episode will be teased as a social short, ending on a cliff hanger, designed specifically to make you tune into the whole episode.

But this isn’t an exclusive approach. Shorts can be fast, episodic and highly concentrated.

These kinds of content are typically under a minute, but some are longer. Nearly always vertical in format and judged within seconds. With shorts, the hook is everything. The first three seconds are when a viewer will decide if they stay or go. They’re meant for scrolling, not searching and the appeal here is speed and potential customers’ reach.

If you want to see a brilliant example of shorts in action, look no further than the Mathematician and science writer, Hannah Fry.

Fry makes entertaining, quirky and to-the-point shorts that really drive millions of views. Whether it’s on the topic of ‘Why is Ireland so rainy?’ ‘Cooling down a hot car, with science’ or ‘Why you should be nice to AI.

She has great hooks, an engaging and passionate delivery and gets to the point of the issue quickly. Everything a great short should be.

Shorts can be a fantastic way for brands to react quickly, test ideas and stay visible without the weight of heavy production cycles. Production-wise, shorts don’t need a cast and crew. They can be made with just a phone.

Interestingly, over‑produced videos often perform worse than simpler, more direct pieces, particularly when they feel like adverts rather than contributions.

But the challenge is that attention is fragile. Social content is so oversaturated and most of it has a short shelf life, that it’s heavily influenced by algorithms in its immediacy. YouTube’s algorithm is particularly prone to this.

Strong social‑first video respects the context in which it appears. The point should arrive immediately, visuals need to work without sound and tone should align with how people already use the platform.

Customer testimonial and case studies

Testimonial and case study videos can be highly effective and persuasive formats, because they shift the voice from brand to customer. They demonstrate credibility through real experience, making them valuable tools for sales, procurement and trust‑building.

These aren’t brand awareness assets; they’re assets for conversion. These are the most likely assets to turn a potential customer into an actual one.

When done well, these videos feel authentic and grounded. They show actual outcomes and impact rather than promises and services. This allows audiences to see themselves reflected in someone else’s success, and it puts much-needed third-party validation into the mix.

The most effective testimonial videos are delivered by real people; your real customers, not hired actors. Supporting visuals are essential to avoid static interviews, and editing should prioritise honesty over perfection.

What they say should be genuine, not over-prescribed and forced. Because the risk to these kinds of videos is artificiality. Over‑scripted testimonials quickly lose credibility and not every client is comfortable on camera. There is also the practical challenge of scheduling, permissions and long‑term relevance.

Successful case study videos rely on conversation rather than explicit direction. Open questions produce more natural responses and focusing on results rather than features keeps the story compelling.

Educational and thought‑leadership video

Educational and thought‑leadership videos are designed to inform, challenge and position organisations as credible voices in their field. These aren’t explainer videos -think longer forms pod and Vodcasts.

They’re longer form and work best with niche, professional audiences who value depth over brevity. This increased length gives the ‘presenter’ the chance to really go deep on a topic of choice.

Trust is the ultimate strength here. Over time, consistent video content builds authority and loyalty, particularly in B2B environments. This kind of content also repurposes well, feeding shorter clips, articles and social content. Longer content like this should always be designed with repurposing in mind.

Execution is critical. Clear structure keeps viewers engaged and audiences should never feel talked down to.

Production-wise, you can start small and build over time. You don’t need to have a huge setup and a big showy location right away. Focus on getting the format right in the early stages, then add more visual cues as you become more confident.

But right from the get-go, sound quality is crucial. If you don’t have crisp quality audio, then people are going to turn off pretty quickly. Investing in sound and lighting often matters more than visual complexity.

Maintaining quality and consistency can also be demanding. You need confident articulate presenters, interesting and equally articulate guests who can bring something to the conversation.

This is more like your traditional chat show than anything else. If you’re bringing in guests, then give them the time and space to communicate. Let them tell their stories, sit back, listen and don’t overpower.

Events and experiential video

Event and experiential video captures moments that are, by definition, temporary.

Whether documenting a conference, activation or live experience, the purpose is to extend the life and reach of something that happens either once or intermittently.

These videos can be highly effective at conveying atmosphere, scale and energy. The latter being particularly important. But the difficulty lies in control and artistic execution.

Events are unpredictable, time‑sensitive and often under‑planned from a content perspective. Without a clear brief, footage becomes unfocused and difficult to shape in the edit. So you need to have a clear picture of what you want to achieve.

Also, the ability to capture true emotion and energy is definitely a skill that not all videographers possess. Some can document an event; they’ll capture the comings and goings and it’ll be accurate, but emotionless.

Some can truly capture the heart and soul of an event or experience. A perfect medley of movement, music and subject matter that says more in 30 seconds than a 1,000 words ever could.

A great event video starts before the doors open. Define outputs in advance, identify and prioritise key moments, but don’t ignore what’s happening before your eyes if something special, but unplanned, is unfolding, grab it.

Speed matters too. Relevance drops quickly once an event has passed. So you need to be able to turn your assets around rapidly – ideally overnight to activate the next morning.

Behind‑the‑scenes and cultural content

Behind‑the‑scenes and culture videos show the people and processes behind an organisation. They are most commonly used for employer branding, social channels and internal communications.

When done well, great BTS content can humanise brands, create transparency and require relatively low production overhead. They can be used to fuel hiring drives – painting a true, unvarnished picture of life within your organisation.

Firstly, there’s self-indulgence. Not everything that feels interesting internally is relevant externally, and inconsistent tone can undermine credibility. Then there’s the risk of artificiality. Content that is prescribed to make your organisation look different, or better, than what it is in reality.

More than anything, this is cultural content. So it must be authentic – whether that’s a day in the life video of a member of staff, welcoming a new member of the team or saying goodbye to someone moving on – it always puts people first!

Choosing the right formats

The most common mistake in video strategy is chasing formats rather than outcomes.

Different formats serve different purposes. Audience behaviour, platform context, budget and timelines all shape the decision-making process. The format is connected to all of these things, but is incidental.

The right question is not what should we make? But what are we trying to achieve?

Execution over volume

Success is rarely about producing more; it is about producing better content with clear intent, disciplined execution and respect for the audience.

For organisations willing to think strategically about format and craft, video remains one of the most effective ways to communicate with clarity and impact.

Tracking and effectiveness

Tracking and analysing the performance of your video marketing efforts is crucial for understanding effectiveness and optimising strategies. This is yet another area where a trusted production partner can bring value to your organisation. If you opt to partner with a full-service production agency, they can do more than just make videos.

Final thoughts

Video is not a single tool, but a collection of formats, each designed to do a specific job.

Brand films, animated explainers, shorts, reels, testimonials, vodcasts and other long-form content. They all serve different purposes, speak to different audiences and perform in very different ways.

Choosing the right format and executing it well is what separates content for the sake of content from actually creating something impactful and meaningful. Done thoughtfully, a video is one of the most powerful ways to communicate ideas, build trust and create lasting impact.

The most effective video strategies are built intent-first, rather than output-first.

This distinction matters because when organisations are clear about what they are trying to achieve, decisions around style, scale and production become far simpler. Then your content strategy becomes something that’s driven by value and insight rather than impulse.

Creative technology studio names industry veteran Scott Ewings as Chief Strategy Officer and promotes James Hobbs to Chief Technology Officer.

Aer Studios has announced two significant additions to its leadership team in a significant move that signals the studio’s ambition to become the defining name in mission-led creative technology. Scott Ewings joins as Chief Strategy Officer, bringing nearly three decades of digital agency leadership to the role, while James Hobbs steps up from within the business to become Chief Technology Officer.

Together, the appointments represent a clear statement of intent from Aer Studios as it moves into an ambitious new phase of growth – one focused on deepening its strategic offer, expanding its presence in London and the South East, and driving creative technology for purpose-led clients.

Ewings, whose career spans leadership roles at some of the UK’s most respected digital agencies, including Fjord (now Accenture Song), Ustwo, Potato (now AKQA Leap), Bernadette (part of VCCP), and Manifesto (part of TPXImpact), brings over 30 years of experience driving growth, shaping strategy and building digital products and services for brands and organisations that include Google, Barclays, BBC, O2, Canon and Cadbury.

Reporting directly to CEO Tom Harber, Ewings will act as the studio’s dedicated London ambassador – establishing a visible South East presence and delivering strategic value to both prospective and existing clients. He will also play a key role in Aer Studios’ events programme, taking on speaking, facilitation and thought leadership responsibilities that extend the studio’s reach and reputation across the sector. He has consistently led agencies through pivotal periods of growth and his track record of building high-performance studios and winning complex, high-value mandates for mission-driven organisations makes him a natural fit for a studio that exists to use creative technology to accelerate positive impact and catalyse change for missions that matter.

“Scott’s appointment feels like a moment for us”, says Harber. “He brings a rare combination of strategic gravitas, genuine passion for purpose-driven work, and deep relationships across the industry. He is exactly the kind of leader who can help us navigate the next step of our journey and we couldn’t be more delighted to have him on board.”

Ewings added: “Aer Studios is doing something genuinely distinctive. The work is serious, the client missions matter, the ambition is real and the team has built something worth shouting about. I’m here to help them do exactly that – to get the right conversations happening with the right people, and to make sure the industry knows what Aer is capable of.”

James Hobbs’ promotion to CTO is a recognition of the considerable impact he has made since joining Aer Studios two years ago, coming from previous roles leading digital technology teams at Dyson and Great State. Under his technical leadership, the studio has delivered a series of ground-breaking projects, including Pocket Talks – a world-first proof of concept enabling immersive keynote experiences on mobile, developed in collaboration with a volumetric video company – alongside an augmented reality experience for BBC Children in Need.

A vocal advocate for digital sustainability, Hobbs sits on the Umbraco Sustainability Committee and is a sought-after speaker and podcast contributor on the responsible use of emerging technology. Last year, he spearheaded the widely discussed talk series ‘Is ChatGPT killing the penguins? And other AI considerations’, which urged pragmatic, ethical engagement with artificial intelligence. His commitment to the next generation of technologists has seen him engage directly with schools and colleges; in 2025, he addressed 500 pupils at the CyberFirst Christmas lecture.

Tom Harber said: “James has been instrumental in shaping how we work and what we’re capable of as a studio. His promotion to CTO reflects not only the quality of what he delivers for our clients, but his influence on the wider technology community. This comes at a pivotal period of change for the industry where strong technology leadership has arguably never been so important”

Hobbs commented: “I joined Aer Studios because of our mission and our incredible roster of purpose-driven clients. I feel very fortunate to have such a talented technology team and proud of what we’ve achieved together so far. The technology landscape has never moved as quickly as it is right now, and I’m excited to continue to exploit that to help our clients push the boundaries further and to achieve their missions through creative technology.”

AI-driven search has arrived and it’s already shaping how content is surfaced in results. If you’ve been on Google lately or used a generative AI (GenAI) tool like ChatGPT or Claude, you’ll have seen the new reality facing marketing teams.

A recent Forrester report found that 95% of B2B buyers are planning to use generative AI in at least one area of future purchasing.

With impressions rising, click-throughs falling and traditional rankings no longer telling the whole story, it’s easy to feel like you’re being left behind.

Getting up to speed matters. But can you approach AEO and GEO without rewriting everything you know about SEO? The short answer is yes, and our experts are here to help you break it down.

What is AEO?

Answer Engine Optimisation (AEO) means structuring content in a way that makes it easy for search engines to extract, summarise and cite in AI-generated search results (Google’s AI mode and AI overview predominantly). Users receive more direct answers to their questions, and having your brand or content referenced will do wonders for visibility and awareness.

It’s not just about being top in the recommended ‘blue links’ in search engine results pages (SERPs) anymore. It’s also important to get your content cited in AI overviews, referenced by generative AI engines – we’ll come to that shortly – or used as a direct answer to someone’s search query (jackpot!).

One of the nuances to be aware of when writing for AEO vs traditional SEO is the emphasis on short, summarising answers that AI can parse or crawl easily. Here’s an example of a direct question and answer that should do well in AI search:

“AEO vs GEO – what’s the difference?”

What is GEO and how is it different?

If SEO is about ranking in search results generally, and AEO is about AI content extraction in search engines specifically, GEO is about getting your content included in the wider gamut of GenAI tools. So how does that work? By considering how large language models (LLMs) interpret authority, structure and clarity, and using that to increase the likelihood of your brand being mentioned.

Does traditional SEO even count anymore?

The three core principles of SEO absolutely still stand: technical performance, authority and content relevance are still hugely valuable. The issue is with how this information is now presented: rather than leading with organic listings, AI overviews now summarise the results. This means that, for many users, answers are provided without the need to click through to your website. It’s prompting behaviour change that demands a more nuanced approach.

What does that change look like on paper? You might see a bump in organic impressions and a corresponding dive in click-through rates. It can also be harder to get to the bottom of which keywords prompted an LLM to return your site in a search.

The BIG debate: is AEO just good SEO?

Any LinkedIn user is more than likely aware of this hot-button topic and in essence what it boils down to is this question: is AEO just a supercharged SEO strategy OR is it a whole new discipline?

The truest answer: it’s a bit of both. It’s important to have an AEO strategy and to invest in making your content as AI-friendly as possible. But the best way to do that will be no surprise to those with a good understanding of SEO and Google’s EEAT principles for creating helpful, reliable, people-first content.

At Proctor + Stevenson, we’re similarly pragmatic about our approach, and would suggest that you probably don’t need to invest in expensive tools and subscriptions to get started with AEO.

You can build a strong foundation for your content with excellent technical SEO, clear EEAT signalling, thoughtful content strategy plus a bit of clever positioning. We also recommend maximising UX and conversion opportunities so visitors to your site translate into sales, leads and enquiries. There’s a chance traffic that comes from AI overview is more likely to convert, as top results are often a more accurate match for the user’s search intent.

Brands that invest in AEO and best-practice content SEO are seeing the biggest performance benefits. Here’s an example of how an integrated approach can seriously boost your search performance.

Case study: taking a client from position 23 to position 1 in just three months

Our client, TTP, wanted to rank for a high-value commercial search term in the US market. We applied our structured framework, addressing technical performance, embedding EEAT signals and improving page clarity with AI crawlers in mind.

We made sure the content was laser-focused on the query’s commercial search intent and that the content was rich, useful, and written and structured for AI visibility and, importantly, the user’s informational needs.

After three months, performance hadn’t shifted so we reviewed and realised that although the content quality was strong, the page wasn’t indexing.

What we proved is that AEO works best when it combines specific market and competitor analysis with best-practice content optimisation, layered atop strong technical foundations. Shortcuts just won’t cut it.

What about GEO? Does that require a different approach?

Because LLMs are trained on broad, aggregated internet data rather than search engine rankings, GEO requires wider visibility across diverse sources. Brands that are consistently mentioned in reviews, comparisons, and discussions are more likely to appear in model outputs. Traditional SEO signals like backlinks and domain authority still matter– but mainly because they increase a brand’s overall visibility, not because LLMs use them directly.

Again, there’s nothing fundamentally new here. It’s still just good content strategy. The difference is in the pace of impact. GEO is as lower burn driven by PR, brand reputation, and sustained authority-building over time – not quick fixes. That makes it a longer-term play. AEO, on the other hand, can deliver relatively quick wins through focused on-page optimisation. That’s why many teams – ours included – are prioritising opportunities like Google’s AI overviews first.

What’s the next step for marketing managers?

You’re not starting from scratch so take a deep breath: everything you’ve learned about SEO fundamentals (technical health, authority and strategic content) is still enormously important. All the work you’ve been doing to build your site’s authority, create valuable content, and drive traffic to key pages, is a great foundation to build on.

You just need to layer in AI search optimisation for a holistic approach and consider search intent more carefully than ever. AI is already influencing visibility, attribution (who gets the credit for answers) and competitive positioning. But if you tick off the following, you can start to increase momentum, take back control, and regain some of the lost and declining positions you may have seen over the past six to 12 months.

Get an AI-driven jump on the competition

Not quite sure where to start, or fancy some expert advice on applying a targeted yet scalable AEO/GEO approach for your sector? Drop us a line: [email protected].

The government has back tracked on its plan to allow AI companies to train their models using copyrighted works unless the rights holder opts out following strong protests from several groups and individuals in the creative industries.

In a policy update, the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) said “a broad copyright exception with opt-out is no longer the government’s preferred way forward” after many people in the creative industries expressed concern that “a broad exception would allow generative AI to learn from their works, without compensation, and in direct competition to them”.

What the government will do next on copyright and AI

In the policy update, the government said “we must take the time needed to get this right” and it will not introduce reforms to copyright law until we are confident that they will meet our objectives for the economy and UK citizens.

The government claimed there is “limited and uncertain evidence on the impact of copyright on the development and deployment of AI in the UK”, so the evidence base must continue to be built.

Reaction to government’s decision on copyright broad exemption:

As a part of my final-year dissertation module at The University of the West of England, I’m exploring the AI readiness of SMEs across the UK. Using the six-pillar framework of Strategy, Infrastructure, Data, Governance, Talent and Culture to identify the appropriate solutions for successful adoption.

If you own or work at an SME with under 250, I’d really appreciate you taking 2 minutes to share your thoughts and experiences. Feel free to share with any friends, colleagues or family.

The data gathered will be used to create an AI playbook, highlighting solutions to areas identified, enabling adoption, which I will share to everyone who participates!

Why – in the name of all that is holy – does your B2B website need more than one page?!

If, like mine, your business exists to sell a single core service – to solve one problem for your clients – then you should be able to sell it on one page.

But otherwise, boiling things down to a one‑pager should be considered an upgrade, not a compromise, and here’s why 👇

An effective salesperson will control the sequence of a conversation. They won’t start with price. They’ll start by exploring the problem, helping the prospect to understand the cost of leaving it unsolved, and then systematically ruling out some obvious alternative solutions.

A one‑page website lets you do the same thing: to guide the prospect through the stages of your argument in the correct order.

With lots of smaller pages, visitors can jump around in any order they like. They can peek at the pricing before understanding the value.

But with a one‑page site you decide what comes first, what comes next, and what someone sees before you ask them to commit.

You must remember: your website will often be viewed in one browser tab with a bunch of your competitors’ websites open in adjacent tabs.

The viewer has a job to do: close 80% of these tabs before sending off an enquiry to the one or two which remain open – and then going to do something ACTUALLY ENJOYABLE.

If your website greets them with a complicated navigation, multiple dropdowns, and ten possible routes into the content, then browsing fatigue will kick in very fast.

And if, in the nextdoor tab, your competitor is offering a clear, focused page that immediately says “This is what we do. This is why. This is for whom. Here’s how much it costs. And here’s the proof that it works.” then their decision becomes easy.

Lots of websites seem to offer multiple services just because it’s “the done thing”.

Even if you do offer five services, a normal first-time buyer is only going to buy one of them. Ask yourself: Are all those pages there because they help solve a problem for your buyer – or because they make your business look more ‘proper’?

(Do give me a shout if you’d like my thoughts on your website – I’ll send you a free Loom video with my ideas for improving it to get you more leads.)