Alex Melville
Creative Director & Head of Design
I lead in-house creative teams that make brands distinctive and commercially effective, at scale. At giffgaff, I built a seven-person internal creative studio, transformed workflows that have led to 26x faster production time, and orchastrated the rollout of a unified marketing and product design system.
Currently leading design at giffgaff. Previously AKQA, Droga5, Wieden+Kennedy, Neverland and Bright Spark.
Always open to conversations for Creative Director and Head of Design roles in London.
Great design doesn’t come from a single aesthetic—it comes from adaptable, empowered teams. I lead with bold curiosity, building environments where creatives are equipped to take risks, apply new technology, and produce work that's both culturally sharp and commercially effective.
What I’ve done
Breaking the mould
How building visual distinction drove giffgaff’s highest System1 memorability score.
Data-led design
How data-driven visual optimisation unlocked giffgaff’s highest-performing Black Friday.
Coming soon
Creativity x AI
How an AI-driven studio workflow expanded giffgaff’s creative capability.
Coming soon
As a design and creative director, I know exactly when to prompt, when to pick up the pencil, and how to mentor a team to master both.
How I work
Leadership & strategy
Design leadership
Creative operations
Creative change management
Commercial strategy
Creative execution
Creative & art direction
Design systems
Brand-to-product orchestration
Brand performance design
Technical & innovation
Generative AI workflows
Motion design
Interface & experience
3D & AR environments
“Alex always surprised me by finding a solution to any design challenge in record time. I was always impressed by his broad technical skills, a keen design eye, and his incredible speed without ever compromising on quality.”
Where I’ve been
Giffgaff
Head of Design
Design Lead
2024—Present
Freelance
2016—2024
AKQA—Digital Creative Director
AMV BBDO—Art Director
Bright Spark—Creative Director
Publicis—Art Director
Droga5—Art Director
Grey—Senior Designer
Leagas Delaney—Digital Creative Director
Neverland—Art Director
Poke—Digital Creative Director
Posible—Senior Designer
Wieden+Kennedy—Senior Designer
Wolff Olins—Art Director
999 Design
Senior Designer
2015—2016
NKD
Creative Lead
Middleweight Creative
Junior Creative
2010—2015
Let’s build something extraordinary.
I’m currently open to Creative Director and Head of Design roles. Whether building an in-house team from the ground up or scaling one that already exists I’d love to hear from you. Equally, I’m happy to hear from agencies with ambitious requirements.