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Published: 7 May 2018

David Henderson Design

DHD offers a full suite of marketing and media services such as graphic design, web design, web development, motion graphics and 3D visuals.

Building connections

The importance of building connections to DHD’s development has always been at the forefront of David’s mind. Having a naturally sociable disposition and proactive approach, DHD has effectively built networks globally over the last ten years.  DHD is now rooted in markets locally in Northern Ireland, but also has a client base globally such as in the United States and New Zealand.

Inspiring the next generation

David studied Interactive Multimedia Design at Ulster University. Lecturers were also working in the multimedia industry and strongly developed business skills as part of the course. David explains:  “They kindly included a lot about business and the challenges of being a freelancer within the curriculum. That part excited me as much as the skill-set in design and development. It was a big part of what inspired me to eventually run my own business”.

David also contributes to motivating, up-skilling and inspiring the next generation of creative media professionals in a variety of ways. He has delivered training courses to second level students through a local youth club and has been a mentor as part of the Uprise Festival. This aspect of DHD has also brought David across the Atlantic to Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

 
 

From Kilkeel to Massachusetts

In 2016, through a creative momentum project David received support to attend the Web Summit in Lisbon. It was here he connected with Laurie Stach, founder of LaunchX, a student start-up programme at MIT. Over a casual cup of coffee a new relationship began that led David to collaborate with Launch X to deliver a business branding workshop. He explains: “I went out representing DHD and provided a…practical, interactive workshop on…how to tell your story through branding”. The branding course David developed is also a resource that can be adapted to suit students at different stages of their education, from second to third level. David has been invited to speak at other events, conferences and to students at various levels of their education.

One thing leads to another

David’s relationship with the LaunchX team doesn’t end there.  Before LaunchX met DHD they were called MIT Launch. David worked with the programme to re-brand, also to coincide with expansion of the programme. “They approached us to re-brand them as LaunchX because they were taking on other universities. So we did a website, animation, graphic design” David explains.

 
 

 Development and change

Since its emergence in 2008, DHD has grown steadily, but in a balanced, sustainable way. David explains: “One opportunity leads to another…I have always tried to grow organically”. One adaptation since foundation is moving to work on delivering different types of projects over longer periods. Close relationships are built with clients and the diverse range of services offered by DHD can be drawn on.  According to David: “We started offering different ways of working together so like coming in almost like a consultant partner…we would say, let’s look at your brand strategy, your social media strategy…collectively…we have got the different skill sets in-house”.

Check out one of DHD’s projects created with Tubular below. A simple sales pipeline software, built for teams, DHD worked with the Tubular team in London to provide the illustration and animation that showcases the software’s ease of use and key advantages of the system.

For further examples of DHD’s work see: https://www.wearedhd.com/work/

 
 

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