Team
Stephen Taylor
Creative Director
Graduating from Kingston University in 1990, Stephen has been immersed in the design industry ever since, founding Heat Design in 1999, where he serves as director and creative lead.
Stephen's career began at AREA, a small, multi-award-winning design studio with an enviable client list including Depeche Mode, ABC, OMD, and John Galliano. "It was the dream start, really, working on your favorite bands’ record covers and fashion design print pieces. Then on top of that, you work with amazing photographers such as Anton Corbijn and Trevor Key."
He next joined Williams & Phoa, working with clients like Phaidon, Warburgs, European Bank, and Siemens, culminating in a D&AD Silver Award win and the coveted Yellow Pencil. Stephen then joined Torch Design as senior designer, winning the Consort Royal Graphic Design & Print Award. In 1996, he joined Smith & Milton, working on branding projects for Asprey, PPP Healthcare, NatWest, and John Dickinson.
In 1999, Stephen co-founded Heat Design with Tiago Figueiredo, who was working at the globally respected design agency Pentagram at the time. Tiago relocated to Brazil in 2002, leaving Stephen to continue running Heat. During this period, he began a fruitful collaboration with Sean Rafter, working together on numerous successful projects. Firmly believing that design can solve any problem, Stephen's real skill lies in listening and interpreting clients' communication needs intelligently before applying relevant creativity. He is passionate about integrating design with content, ensuring the two elements work in complete harmony.
In his current capacity at Heat Design, Stephen drives the company's creative vision, ensuring each project embodies the perfect blend of design excellence and strategic insight.
Design Awards
Silver – D&AD Pencil
Gold – Consort Royal Graphic Design & Print Award
Catalogues & Manuals
Bronze – Consort Royal Graphic Design & Print Award
Sean Rafter
Commercial Director
After transitioning from a professional sporting career, Sean embarked on his entrepreneurial journey in 1990, marking the genesis of his extensive business career. It was during this period that he first crossed paths with Stephen Taylor, a fateful encounter that would lay the groundwork for their enduring business collaboration.
Their partnership evolved through several successful ventures, ultimately leading to Sean's pivotal role at Heat Design. Drawing from his experience in both professional sports and business, Sean brings a distinctive blend of strategic insight and business development prowess to Heat's commercial strategy.
As a conceptual thinker and serial entrepreneur, Sean approaches business with a creative mindset, continuously seeking innovative solutions and novel approaches to challenges. This ethos underscores his strong emphasis on design excellence with the belief that success stems from the combination of strategic foresight, creative problem-solving, and an unwavering commitment to execution.
In his current capacity at Heat Design, Sean drives the company's expansion in line with its goals and aspirations.
Dorien Brouwers
Art Director
Dorien holds a first-class BA Hons degree in Graphic Design from the University of Lincoln. Originally hailing from the Netherlands, she has worked at Heat Design for 19 years and currently manages the studio’s day-to-day projects.
Dorien began her career at Studio Fernando Gutiérrez in London, working with clients such as Tate Modern, Prado Museum, Fundación Goya en Aragón, Losada Vinos de Finca, LABoral Centro de Arte y Creación Industrial, Nicholas Hare Architects, and Turner Press.
In addition to her graphic design skills, Dorien is a talented artist, picture book author, and illustrator known for her distinctive style, which is rich in texture and detail, primarily using watercolour, pen, and ink.
In 2018, Salariya Publishing released her debut children's book, "The Remarkable Pigeon." Her subsequent work, "Wild Beings and Sail," published by Little, Brown Young Readers in 2022, was shortlisted for the Bologna Illustrator Exhibition and received the 2022 World Illustration Award. Her most recent book, "Life," was published by Penguin Random House.
She has also made appearances on The AOI World Illustration Awards Winner Announcement, Books of Wonder Author panels in July and April 2022, Wild Beings LBYR Preview, The SCOOP Podcast, Book Chat with the Illustrator LBYR video conversation, and BBC Radio (Suffolk) Interview.
Book Awards
Shortlist – Communication Arts, Illustration Competition 2024
Winner DI Cross Category Award – AOI World Illustration Awards 2022
Shortlist Children’s Publishing – AOI World Illustration Awards 2022
Bronze (Best direct mail campaign) – The Drum Roses Awards
Shortlist – Bologna Children’s Book Fair 55th illustrator’s exhibition
Gold – Moonbeam Children’s Book Awards
Finalist – 12th edition of KeyColours Competition (Clavis Publishing)
David Pike
Strategy Lead
Initially obtaining a First in architecture, David moved into the design and communications field after gaining an MBA at London Business School. He’s since worked in corporate communications for over 36 years.
David is responsible for developing brand positioning and architecture (no longer in the physical sense) and the overall direction of a project.
David met Stephen Taylor in 1996, when he was a partner at Merchant, the design arm of the financial PR firm, Brunswick. He joined Heat in 2002, bringing a wealth of strategic experience and insight to the team.
David has taken on substantial projects, often at Board level, in the corporate and financial arena. His career includes work across Majedie Asset Management and EnergyQuote JHA; annual reports for United Biscuits and the BBC; defence literature for Blue Circle and the London Stock Exchange; and brand identities for Ascot, Glaxo Wellcome, the Department of Employment and Sibneft (Russia’s second largest oil company).
David is also the founding director of Brochet, a company creating innovative templates for Microsoft Word and PowerPoint. Simplifying the complex, Brochet makes it easy for users to create consistent, accurate and professionally branded documents. We’ve partnered with Brochet on numerous projects – the solutions they implement are so user-friendly, they can be rolled out across an organisation with minimal training.
Samantha Fry
Account Manager
Our first encounter with Sam dates back to 2001 when she was an account director at Merchant, part of Brunswick. Among all the account handlers there, Sam stood out for her reliability and expertise. For a young design business like ours, she was the ultimate 'safe pair of hands,' providing expert support in the most complex of project situations.
Nothing seems to phase her; she's calm at all times and always in great humor. A pleasure to work with, and definitely somebody to trust.
When Sam left Merchant and finished her time 'being mum,' we were eager to bring her on board full-time at Heat. During her tenure, we grew faster and more efficiently. Many of our significant projects coincided with her arrival. Sam’s ability to put clients at ease gave them confidence in our ability to deliver projects on time and on budget.
Sam now works for Heat on a project-by-project basis, providing her expertise when the client or budget requires it. When she’s not assisting Heat, she supports her husband Doug with his highly successful photography/film business.
Doug Fry
Film/Photography
Doug gets a special mention in our line-up – we’ve entrusted him with numerous photographic briefs over the years. When we need reliability, along with beautiful shots, he still remains our go-to guy.
With Doug’s London-based company, Piranha Photography, we’re guaranteed excellent images and footage. Doug is adept working within any company – be it a boutique agency or a corporate giant – throughout the UK, or across Europe.
Piranha have been commissioned for a variety of projects, from business portraits, corporate head shots, annual reports, press shoots and events – their latest and greatest Leica cameras and lenses have allowed discreet ‘no flash’ coverage of events to an incredibly high standard. In the current climate, they’re also ideal for operating at a respectable distance.
Piranha's modern studio, fitted with the latest tech, maximises the image quality. Photographs are available to view online, with high-resolution downloads as required, directly after a shoot.