Following a continued period of growth for the agency’s Manchester-based team, Amaze One – part of the St Ives Group – has announced the appointment of Mark Laycock to the role of Art Director.
Mark joins the Manchester office’s team from creative agency Spoken-Image, where he honed his craft in a series of design-based roles, overseeing projects for a number of iconic clients including; Historic Royal Palaces, Kellogg’s, The National Trust, Royal Botanic Gardens, Peel Holdings, Westminster Abbey and the Department of Health.
Previous clients have included major retail brands and he’s worked across a broad range of sectors from arts and entertainment, heritage and charity to architecture and land/property development.
This appointment comes following a period of continued development and growth in Manchester’s creative sector. Always a hive of creative talent, Manchester has seen continuous investment with the rise of Media City, First Street and the proposed development of the former Granada Studios site. This hints towards a changing attitude to digital and technologic credentials of the north – which is increasingly seeing businesses move from London to a new ‘powerhouse’ of creativity.
Janet Snedden, Deputy MD at Amaze One commented: “As Manchester, and indeed the north as a whole, increasingly become immersed in today’s digital and creative economy, it was important to our continued development and growth to expand our design team at a strategic level. Mark’s knowledge of the local market and experience within the industry are a huge asset to our creative team and will be key in developing the office’s creative offering even further. We very much look forward to working with him and seeing the fresh thinking he brings to the team.”
Mark Laycock, Art Director at Amaze One added: “Having enjoyed working with some great clients over the past 15 years, the opportunity to work with Amaze One and their forward thinking approach to data-fed design was the perfect next step for me.
This growing concept is something I see as a huge step change for the future of communications. It’s a great opportunity to work within an agency with such a unique approach – working alongside the digital expertise of Amaze and the technical knowledge at Occam.”
