Martin Lambie-Nairn

Martin Lambie-Nairn started his career in the world of television in the 1960s when he joined the BBC as a “temporary holiday relief assistant graphic artist”.

Martin Lambie-Nairn's history is laced with rich experience. He started his career in the world of television in the 1960s when he joined the BBC as a “temporary holiday relief assistant graphic artist”. Subsequently he went on to work as a graphic designer in three other television companies in the UK – Rediffusion TV, ITN and London Weekend TV.

After leaving LWT and setting up his own company in the mid-1970s, he went on to pioneer new graphic presentation techniques in current affairs broadcasting for the current affairs programme Weekend World.

With the advent of computer animation in the 1980s he produced the revolutionary computer-animated identity for Channel 4, which was to have a profound impact on both television graphic design and advertising. During this period he also conceived the original idea for the satirical TV series Spitting Image, which ran for 11 years.

For the next decade he worked as a director of computer-animated commercials. These productions including the first ever 30-second computer-generated TV commercial in the UK, for Smarties. Also in the 1990s he went on to define the craft of branding for television, creating identities for Channel 4, Carlton and Central TV.

His business then expanded, producing identities for broadcasters in more than 15 counties, earning him a Queens Award for Export.

In the late 1990s he returned to the BBC as a consultant creative director, a position he was to hold for the next 12 years, during which time he tackled the total re-branding of the BBC, its TV channels and radio networks.

Over the past few years his company has developed into one of the world’s leading branding consultancies, working for broadcasters and non-broadcasters.

Martin is currently chairman and executive creative director of Lambie-Nairn and works daily on projects as a designer and consultant. His philosophy of making complicated things simple, remains a core part of the business as does balancing commercial imperatives with creativity.