Jonathan Coull

Jonathan (or JC to his friends) is the creative mind behind Kosli’s brand vision, with 20 years of creative experience in from his education in Aberdeen to publishing, digital media, agency and now SaaS.

What drew you to Kosli?
First and foremost I’m a storyteller, and my design story started with graphic communication in school and college. The concept that you can tell a story visually to the viewer and provoke emotions, responses and decisions is fascinating. To communicate to the world this exciting new space of DevOps Change Collaboration and the journey of Kosli is incredibly exciting. Who could say no!

How did you go from the publishing sector to designing for technology?
I was extremely lucky in my career to have started during its peak, and I was exposed to all the new types of media and technology as they emerged. As an example when I started, photos were in film, but now all that friction has been removed. In the digital age the power is in your hands from the click of the camera to publication via app or website.

The sector struggled to cope with this rapid change, digital transformation was tied up in bureaucracy and red tape, and teams constrained to old tools and practices that limited creativity. So the time came to leave publishing. I charted a new adventure with Bruce in 2016 and founded Phable.io - a creative agency that specialises in telling technology focused organizations stories. FYI It is still going strong after 5+ years! 💪

What’s being a Creative Director really like?
I’m so lucky. I love my job, actually I’ve enjoyed every job I’ve had, but this is exciting on another level and scale to anything I’ve done before. It’s epic. There is so much to say about this new space and new ideas. It’s like being a scientist and watching the big bang when everything forms but getting to shape that universe and how it’s observed. There’s a great book called Play Bigger that really shifted my ways of thinking about shaping a company’s brand. I’d recommended it to any new designer. Also startup life is very exciting and a great opportunity to learn from new people.

What do you do when you’re not busy cooking up brands?
Spending time with my family is where the majority of my spare time goes, as well as my DIY attempts at home renovation. I’m also a self confessed nerd so if there’s any time left I like to keep up with all the goings on in that space - be that TV, Film or Gaming. It’s fun sharing that side with the kids too and also getting the sketch books out.