Boutique creative agency based at the Custard Factory, Birmingham.

Specialists in branding and design for all industries.
Three senior heads, working as one.

Talk to us

Our approach.

Human first. Plain speaking.

  1. Senior people on every job.

  2. Strategy, creative, and client care in one tight unit.

  3. Built for complex sectors and safety-critical detail.

  4. Client care is a deliverable.

  5. Discover → Define → Design → Deliver.

Three people sitting on pink bar stools inside a modern building with large glass windows and yellow text on the windows.

Meet the Team.

  • Person with spiked hair and glasses leaning over a table with magazines, in a modern indoor setting.

    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.

  • An overhead view of a person working at a cluttered desk with papers, magazines, a large monitor, and a green desk lamp.

    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.

  • A smiling man with dark hair and a beard looking at a laptop screen inside a building with large windows.

    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

Cultural and community

Automotive

Engineering

Manufacturing

Built environment

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.