Barclays — Case Study

Creating online designs that Barclays could bank on

As the English cricket team beat Australia in 'The Ashes' in the summer of 2005, I was busy working for digital agency Dare, on Great Titchfield Street. I worked across various accounts (Sony Ericsson, Lynx & Wannado) for them but the main focus of the endeavour was for Barclays bank.

This project was essentially a 'complete online presence overhaul' (which involved the most serious web standards I'd yet encountered) to deliver an appropriate public-facing, front-end — whilst they simultaneously upgraded their back-end. There was plenty of UX and UI meetings, reviewing website and email layouts in (somewhat pedantic) detail and yet overall a very satisfying project to work on.

Also required, was a series of animations to be produced for use online and instore across all of their nationwide locations. These animations promoted their varied services (mortgages, saving accounts etc) as well as their new sponsorship of the English Premier League and associated deals with Sky TV.

Please note: When I edit these showreel examples I obviously highlight my own art direction, animation and motion design contributions but that certainly doesn't mean that I am entirely responsible for every visual shown. I have been fortunate to collaborate with many exceptionally talented colleagues — those that I can recall at the time of writing are listed below:

Adaptive Lozenges — Barclays

While working at digital agency Dare, I designed a set of adaptive lozenges for Barclays. These flexible interface components were developed to create consistency across campaigns while adapting fluidly to different contexts and content needs. The lozenges became a distinctive design device for the brand, balancing usability with a modern, recognisable aesthetic.

Barclays - 50 Free Trades - Email

Email designs promoting their '50 Free Trades' offer for Barclays Stockbrokers.

Barclays - Website

Website for Barclays.

Barclays - Premiership - Animation

To celebrate Barclays’ sponsorship of the English Premier League, we created a dynamic animation.

Building on the minimalistic illustrative football style we had developed for the brand, the piece reinforced Barclays’ association with the excitement and prestige of top-flight football. It was used across digital platforms to showcase the sponsorship and strengthen Barclays’ visibility with fans and customers.

Barclays - Sky - Animation

We developed an animation highlighting Barclays’ partnership with Sky, designed to extend the bank’s presence within a high-profile broadcast environment.

The piece integrated Barclays’ evolving digital brand style with Sky’s media platforms, helping to strengthen recognition and align the bank with trusted mainstream coverage.

Barclays - Mortgage - Animation

At Dare, I produced this animation for Barclays designed to encourage customers to explore the bank’s mortgage facilities.

The piece combined clear messaging with engaging motion graphics, making complex financial products more approachable and memorable. It was part of Barclays’ broader push to use digital storytelling as a way to build trust and increase uptake of their services.

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