
Boutique creative agency based at the Custard Factory, Birmingham.
Specialists in branding and design for all industries.
Three senior heads, working as one.
Our approach.
Human first. Plain speaking.
Senior people on every job.
Strategy, creative, and client care in one tight unit.
Built for complex sectors and safety-critical detail.
Client care is a deliverable.
Discover → Define → Design → Deliver.
Meet the Team.
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Emma Woolley
Senior Art Director
Emma has 20+ years in the commercial creative world. She leads art direction and visualisation and sets the look and feel across brand, campaign, film/photography, motion, 3D, and digital. She blends studio craft with production discipline to take ideas from first sketch to final asset. She brings UI/UX from information architecture and wireframes to Figma prototypes, so design and product stay aligned.
Her background spans Fine Art Painting, Graphic Design, and Illustration, and she is an award-winning artist. That artistic depth gives her commercial work clarity, emotion, and precision. Sectors include construction, engineering, automotive, and cultural, often with complex or safety-critical detail.
What she brings
3D visualisation and motion that explain complex ideas fast.
UI/UX from information architecture to working prototypes.
An artist’s eye with production discipline.
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Damian Howell
Managing & Creative Director
With 30+ years in advertising, Damian leads discovery and strategy — quickly getting under the skin of a business and turning complexity into clarity. A classic adman, he builds strong campaign platforms, sharp headlines and clean copy, underpinned by deep craft in brand systems and rollout, from brochures to sales tools.
He has worked across sectors from construction and engineering to automotive and the wider built environment, guiding start-ups and global brands alike. Damian keeps strategy anchored to core challenges, ensuring brands deliver the right message, to the right people, in the right place. Brave in ideation, he gives clients the confidence to back standout creative that drives real response. Above all, he helps businesses see their challenges differently — and more creatively.
What he brings
Discovery workshops and positioning that align senior teams.
Campaign strategy, headline craft, and message frameworks.
Brand systems and rollouts that hold up in the real world.
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Andy Lovell
Senior Account Manager
Andy has 10+ years in client leadership and delivery. He is the steady point of contact who turns complex asks into clear plans and keeps projects moving. He runs scopes, budgets, and schedules, aligns stakeholders, and manages suppliers. He shapes briefs and messaging with the team and protects quality from kick-off to handover.
Strategy-aware in meetings, he asks the right questions and unblocks issues early. When speed matters he can step in for small artwork amends and spec handoffs. Sectors include construction, engineering, automotive, and manufacturing, often with multiple teams and tight timings.
What he brings
Single point of contact with proactive comms and clear next steps.
Planning, scopes, budgets, schedules, risk/change control; supplier coordination.
Brief writing, messaging, and creative QA; spec handoff for dev and print.
Keeps multi-project pipelines on track and unblocks issues early.
Why teams choose YST?
Senior people on every job.
20+ years working together on complex brands.
Strategy, creative, and client care in one tight unit.
Experience with local and global brands.
An excellent market understanding with insight that informs every stage.
One team, fully aware of every project and every stage
Sectors we know
Construction
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Cultural and community
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Automotive
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Engineering
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Manufacturing
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Built environment
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Construction • Cultural and community • Automotive • Engineering • Manufacturing • Built environment •
Tell us what you’re building.
We’ll shape the right path and get things moving.