It’s the savvy people behind Savvy Graphics that make us smarter than the average. Our team of award winning professionals have many years experience in a variety of areas. These skills enable us to offer our clients an extensive range of services.

Jane Leonard

Director. Senior Designer.

For more than 20 years, Jane has worked in the advertising and graphic design industries in the UK and Australia for an eclectic mix of ad agencies and direct clients. From the rural arena to food; from entertainment to finance; from IT to the construction industry and government departments. Mixing it with some big name brands on the way, Jane is about as savvy as they get.

Jane and partner Vernon established Savvy Graphics (formerly The Art Studio) in 1989 from humble beginnings as an agency freelancer and creative suit respectively. Today, along with a team of highly skilled professionals, Jane manages a broad variety of projects from initial design concept through to print management.

Vernon Leonard

Director. Suit. Apostrophe man.

Vernon’s career started in London before he moved out to Sydney in the late 70’s. With core experience in television, advertising, marketing research and sales promotions his experience is wide ranging within the industry. Having rebranded himself a couple of times, Vernon understands the significance of solid brand identity. He is a partner at Savvy Graphics and is an essential asset of the business.

Ade Casey

Copywriter. Visualiser.

While she loves words, Ade believes a picture can still be worth the proverbial thousand – hence her passion for creating visual solutions with appropriate copy to deliver compelling communications. Ade has worked with Jane for many years after an extensive background in big agencies such as DDB, McCann Erickson and Leo Burnett, where she won several awards.

See Ade’s work featured on the advertising page of our portfolio.

Robin Coles

Senior Designer. Brilliant Illustrator.

Rob also has considerable experience working with multi-national agencies. Robin combines illustration skills with her design skills and consequently creates beautiful, unique designs.

Using character reference, Robin creates an exceptional likeness in her portrait illustrations. She created the gorgeous Lane Cove River Tourist Park illustrations featured in our portfolio and is an invaluable team member.

Richard Luxton

Image retoucher. Colour genius.

Richard began his career when retouching meant coloured paint and a good old-fashioned paintbrush. Today Richard has 30 years under his belt in a part of the industry that demands skills borne of experience. He is a Photoshop wiz who looks after colour correction, image manipulation and retouching. A number of Richard’s retouching works are featured in our portfolio pages.

Bec Christensen

Copywriter. Extraordinary Mother.

Bec originally comes from an accounting background (BComm, CPA), which sets her apart from other writers when it comes to banking, and finance documents, annual reports or legal and corporate items. Bec also writes copy for websites with consideration towards SEO (Search Engine Optimisation). She is the mother of 3 beautiful babies and a new member of Savvy Graphics.

John Coles

Art Director. Professional Fly Fisherman.

John has enjoyed a distinguished career as an Art Director with a stream of multinational ad. agencies. Originally from London and with endless campaigns in his wake, John has worked on accounts such as Telecom, Shell, Toyota, Volvo, Cadburys and Nestle. He has collected prestigious advertising awards from New York, London, Singapore and Australia.

John now spends half his time as freelance Art Director and half his time teaching and guiding fly fishers, taking them to some wild, pristine locations. When he’s at home, we call on John for advertising concepts. He is particularly familiar with the travel, leisure and entertainment industries. John can also teach you to cast a fly.

Mike Hayes

Art Director. Writer. TVC Director.

Mike has been around the traps for years. He conceptualises, writes and directs our 30 & 60 second TVCs. Mike can even draw! Among his many awards is a Silver Lion nomination at Cannes for a Nestle/Lifesavers commercial.

Tim Street

Editor. Producer.

Tim has won a cupboard full of awards too but for editing and postproduction for clients such as KFC & McDonalds. He also has a couple of feature films to his credit. Starting out at the BBC in the UK, Tim is considered one of Sydney’s top film editors.

Tim and Mike are the creators of the ‘e-stamp’ featured on our home page.

Stefan Sojka

Web developer and web designer extraordinaire.

Stefan has been active in the digital media space for over 12 years, both personally as an enthusiast and professionally as a writer, producer and strategist. Together with Stefan, and a team of technical specialists, covering all aspects of digital media, Internet marketing and Search Engine Optimization, we produce gorgeous, cost effective website solutions that generate real business for our clients.

Stefan is a regular columnist for NETT magazine, Australia’s most popular magazine for small businesses looking to utilize the Internet. He previously wrote for internet.au magazine and the Australian Net Directory. Stefan is a regular presenter at business forums, such as Home Based Business Week and Small Business September, imparting his insights on how best to harness the power of networks and technology to market and grow a business.

Bernard Gould

Print Manager.

Bernard has worked in the printing industry and alongside Savvy Graphics for over 20 years. He represents a number of printing businesses. No matter what your specifications - die cutting, laminating, mock-ups, special finishes, anything - Bernard knows the most appropriate and economical source.

Each project dictates which printer we choose. As often as possible, we reinforce our green credentials, preferring vegetable based inks on FSC (forested trees) stocks and carbon neutral printers. Bernard knows where to find them – at the right price.

David Smyth

Photographer. Irishman … no joke.

David has worked as a photographer in Ireland, the UK, and Australia. From fashion and beauty to corporate and retail, he’s done the lot. David’s cosmetics shots for Yves Saint Laurent have featured in Vogue and Good Weekend magazines. Whatever the subject or concept; high tech products for 3M, workplace safety for Workcover, retail design space, or CEO’s for the financial press, David can make any situation into a winning shot. Did I mention kids and animals? Lots of patience and people skills certainly help with the more unpredictable subjects.