Strategic creative director
and high-growth venture specialist
Deeper than aesthetics.
More than an idea.
Scalable performance.
I’m experienced in turning single products into global brands, crafting their stories, the communities they support, and fostering a culture of innovation in growing teams.
Purpose driven to create enduring value, and to be a force for positive change in the world, at the scale of global business.
‘The proof is in the pudding’ so after 10 years working with high-growth start-ups in venture capital, making the complex simple, and a 400km walk across northern Spain, formed a team to create a specialist design-led business for later stage start-ups.
A successful capital raise and a $6m valuation later, I’m on the road again. Looking to work with growth minded people for next stage.
Steven ARNOLD, 2023
36x
Hardware Tech
12x
Property Tech
10x
Healthcare Tech
Collaboration, ideation, execution and amplification.
Fully tested brand performance playbook.
Selected works
Areas of expertise
Product to brand strategy
I develop brand and design strategies that link business objectives and existing products to customer experiences.
Engineered for growth stage ventures seeking market development. Start-ups looking to build brand from a single product to a community, as efficiently as possible.
Brand Identity
Designed to look and feel like a perfect match, with key performance characteristics built in.
Knowing today’s consumers have more choice than ever, and can trust less of what they see — make it easier for them to choose you. Fit in and stand out.
Investor Decks
Deliver your business opportunity with a strong and simple narrative that’s ‘easy to retell 3 hours later’. I plan, write and design compelling investor decks, pitch decks and corporate presentations.
Assisted in over $100 million capital raises in the past 5 years.
Strategy
Linking business objectives, new and existing products — to customer experiences.
Immersion & research
Naming
Values, purpose, proposition & personality
Start-up ventures
Work alongside founders and investors of pre-series A companies to access capital and build great products into global brands.
Investor Decks
Investor narrative
Opportunity mapping
Competition analysis
Playbooks
Identity
Defining the vision and delivering the experience. Unites business and people.
Logo and visual identity
Verbal identity and tone of voice
Design systems and guidelines
Art Direction
Community
Creating the places and spaces for employees and customers to stand side by side. ‘You’ll like us because you’re like us’.
Interior design direction
Retail experiences
Digital CX
Awards
Consistency
“Steven is great at preparing and empowering a business to scale, raising capital and reaching new markets —something that is supremely difficult.”
— Gary Blom
Venture Financier and CEO, National Property Group
“Steven was integral in helping us design a new consumer brand which has quickly gained strong traction with our customers.”
— Paul Zagami
Commercial Development Manager, Transport NSW
“We thought we were getting a rebrand, but what we implimented was a fresh vision of our entire business - from the way we think, to the way we operate, to the ambition we now carry.”
— Paul Jackson
Founder, Danes Specialty Coffee
“…the insight and versatility of the work was inspired. While always delivering to the overall brand strategy.”
— Tareanna Dunn
Brand Director, STIHL