Iris Parrish-Sims
Creative Director
Creator, Designer, Storyteller.
A creative task that makes me think is what I love.
New pathways, new skills, new outcomes - the more I can explore the better.
Portfolio
Click to take a look at my recent projects...
Click on the buttons to discover more about specific mediums
Juno
A 360° creative campaign addressing social issues through punk subculture.Juno is a fictional punk musician I created and directed, brought to life by a performer I cast for the project.The campaign used punk as a vehicle to tackle real social issues, grounded in critical theory: Audre Lorde's frameworks for dismantling oppressive structures, Laura Mulvey's disruption of the male gaze, and Dick Hebdige's writing on the commodification of subculture. These weren't just references — they directly shaped every visual and creative decision. During the music video, for example, I only shot upward toward Juno, never from above, deliberately positioning her as the figure of power rather than the object of a gaze.The project was developed at London College of Communication, UAL, and spanned a genuinely wide range of outputs: screen printing, relief printing, risograph printing, collaging, graphic design, CD burning, badge making, interviewing, article writing, directing and producing a location video shoot, video editing, and building a custom website from scratch.To view all the campaign assets I produced, visit the custom-built website:
About
Hello...
What is my practice about?
My practice is rooted in visual design and cultural research, with a strong focus on curating imagery and aesthetics into cohesive visual narratives. I build decks and visual worlds shaped by contemporary references, social context and emerging creative language; and bring these stories to life through video, motion and live formats.
I’m interested in how carefully curated images, rhythm and atmosphere can transform information into experience.What skill set is it based in?
My practice is primarily grounded in digital image curation and contemporary visual production. I work with new and evolving image-making and visual research resources to source, shape and construct strong aesthetic systems across both still and moving image.While I’ve moved away from traditional techniques such as painting, sketching and ceramics, I maintain a broad, cross-media understanding of visual practice. I work fluently across stills, video and live visual formats, with experience spanning digital photography, video and film, experimental image manipulation, set and visual world building, and publishing.Alongside this, my background in mixed media and production processes - including collage, relief printing, ceramics, film and digital photography, set design and publishing - continues to inform how I approach composition, texture and visual storytelling in digital spaces.My skillset is rooted in digital workflows and tools, with a strong focus on building decks, visual narratives and aesthetic direction through Adobe Creative Cloud and Blender, and translating these into motion and screen-based outcomes.What am I up to right now?
Currently I am working as part of Black Skull Creative's team in Shoreditch.BSC InstagramBased in North London.
She/Her
Contact
Please contact me directly via:[email protected]
Moving Image
Final Major Project 2025
Design for Art Direction, UAL.A re-imagining of Amyl and the Sniffers track 'Freaks to the Front', inspired by London's punk scene.
(Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to this music. All credit goes to Amyl and the Sniffers. This video is purely for creative/educational and non-commercial purposes.)Music - 'Freaks to the Front' Amyl and the Sniffers
Director/Editor/Producer - Iris Parrish-Sims
Talent - Luciana Allende
Camera Operator - Nico Castillo
As. Cam Operator- Lucy MarshallWith thanks to Luciana Allende, Nico Castillo, Lucy Marshall and Amyl and the Sniffers.
Comfort to you (2024)
Created in the 14th floor stairwell of London College of Communication's tower block. I asked how my friends felt in the space where I personally found comfort. This gave me considerable insight into how people perceive comfort, and therefore brought up the question of what could be universally considered comfortable.
Found Footage Piece (2023)
Created using free-access found-footage from online as part of a degree project. The chosen aesthetic aim was to create unease and to make visual links to primal fear.
As per the brief, all of the footage is from pre-2000.
Azira (2022)
An independent short film I co- created with a friend. The main plot is based on a girl (Azira)'s perspective on trust and how changes due to an action taken at a party. Within this production I took on the role of co-director, creative director, visual/audio editor, set designer, location manager and camera operator.
Filmed on iPhone.
This is my reimagined version (2021) of AURORA's Murder Song (Alternative version) music video. After watching AURORA's Nothing is Eternal documentary, I was inspired to see what I could create and delivered all aspects of the production (bar choreography).
Filmed on iPhone.
Graphic Design and Visual Media
Collage
October 2024
The following designs were handmade using images from my collection of vintage National Geographic Magazines.
June 2024
Inspired by the sea, this is a poem I wrote and hand collaged into a mini-zine as part of my UTOPIA publication.
Graphic Design & Publications
February 2024
UTOPIA PublicationThis publication was created as part of a university brief, which tasked us with designing a publication inspired by an academic text of our choice. I selected the introduction of "An Introduction to It All: Cruising Utopia, The Here and There of Queer Futurity" by José Esteban Muñoz, a seminal work on queer culture and speculative futures. The brief required us to feature a segment from the text, which serves as the central content of the publication.My design draws inspiration from a winter trip to Portugal, where I was captivated by the local culture's deep connection to the sea and the calming blue tones of the landscape. Queerness, to me, embodies fluidity, which is why I chose to incorporate water as a central motif throughout the publication.
As part of the project, I printed and handbound the publication into a physical book—a skill I have continued to develop and incorporate into more recent projects.All photography, illustrations, and graphic design were created by me.
September 2024
Comfort Menu
(in response to Speculative Everything by Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby).In this project, I collaborated with ten course mates to create a zine publication, with each of us designing an individual spread based on our chosen academic text. I contributed by utilizing a combination of collage techniques and digital design software, such as Adobe InDesign and Photoshop, to craft my spread. I incorporated scanned textures and layered imagery to create a visually dynamic composition, while also focusing on typography and layout to ensure the content was clear and engaging. This experience allowed me to refine my skills in both traditional and digital design processes, while collaborating closely with others to achieve a cohesive final publication.
Decks
August 2025
BRIT AWARDS 2026 Tyler the Creator (Speculative)
May 2025
Zayn Malik 'Stardust' Music Video (Speculative)
May 2025
Zayn Malik 'Fuschia Sea' Music Video Deck (Speculative)
One Sheets
March 2025
Juno
One sheet mock-up design for Juno, the fictional punk musician from my Final Major Project.
March 2025
Absnt Mind - Red Design
One sheet designed for the up-and-coming band Absnt Mind. The original document has working links (this is a JPEG of the original).
March 2025
Absnt Mind - Thrifty/White Design
One sheet designed for the up-and-coming band Absnt Mind. The original document has working links (this is a JPEG of the original).
Spatial & Set Design
April 2024
A Space to Thrive: Seven Sisters Underground Station Rejuvenation
Digital Collage
My project, "A Space to Thrive," reimagines Seven Sisters Underground Station as a vibrant community hub. I want to transform this dark, cramped space into a welcoming place with a coffee shop, a bookshop, and a community area. The design prioritises sustainability with features like a living moss wall and green roof to improve air quality and support biodiversity. By blending government, private, and community funding, my goal is to create a space that benefits both locals and the environment.
Check out the full proposal here.Also check out my 3D Designs for the project - created using Minecraft!
continued...
A Space to Thrive: Seven Sisters Underground Station Rejuvenation
To create a more interactive visualization, I built my design for the Seven Sisters Underground Station regeneration in Minecraft. While I’m not formally trained in architectural software, I chose Minecraft for its accessibility and ability to bring my vision to life in a creative and approachable way. This platform, popular with a younger audience, allowed me to showcase the project on a public server, featuring bike racks, a bookshop, and an underground platform. While the server isn’t currently public, with funding, a permanent browser could make it accessible. I also recorded a video walkthrough to help visualize the plans, with screenshots included.This is part of the 'Space to Thrive' project.
Spatial Design
Arpeggio Set Design (Short Film, 2024)
Snooze Set Design (Short Film, 2023).
Other Mediums
Three - Dimensional Design
May 2024
Evergreen Tree Project
I created this project during the Yr2 UAL degree conceptual focus brief on the given theme of 'Comfort'. The goal was to design something that brings or draws links to comfort, whether personal or global.
This lead me to focus on sensory comfort, more specifically audio sensory comfort, which developed the Evergreen Tree project.
These artificial trees can absorb sound, and help bring comfort to the local people of London by providing a place of peace in the noisy city.
To make the renders, I collaborated with Product Design student Alex Wilcox who helped finalise the images.
Ceramics
May 2022
Glaze-scratched ceramic vessels, inspired by the theme of 'Protest'.For my Art and Design A-Level I investigated the theme of protest after the huge Black Lives Matters protests that took place in 2020/21.
Their core values struck with my beliefs, and triggered my focus on this topic.
Each of the scratch portraits are sketched from photographs from these demonstrations, carved into the glaze by hand before firing.
Each vessel is between 30cm - 70cm in height.
My final assets include:
A postcard which would be available for people to take, found like leaflets next to the trees. This also includes a mock-up of a handwritten letter (I love having more personal, traditional media elements in my work).
Three mock ups of the trees made in Blender and Solidworks.
An example layout of the app that would be available to the public, which acts as a map and locator for the individual's nearest tree (made in Figma).
December 2024
This is my wrapping paper design which was awarded 1st place in the 2024 UAL Wrapping Paper competition, and was created using a mixed process of Relief Lino Printing, and Lithographic Printing.Created fully by hand, I carved the A3 design on Lino before printing onto paper, which allowed me to capture the print-texture that can be seen in the final design. I then scanned and digitised the print into a digital file, which allowed me to format it so that I could print it using the Heidelberg Lithographic Printer.250 copies were made, of which I was able to keep 30 and the rest have been sent to the HODs (Heads of Departments) around UAL.
June 2024
Lino print bandanas for Arpeggio (UAL student film, 2024), created for the queer protest scene within the film. Over 25 bandanas were handprinted by me for the extras in the scene.
Still Image
All photography is my own, displayed and taken with the subject's permission.
All photos shot in live locations primarily using my Samsung AF Zoom 1050 on 35mm film or my Nikon D90.
To use images, please ask permission.
April 2023
Shoot for Tildy Sucks // CSM Fashion, for their 'Muse' Project.
Photographed as their alter ego Teddy Wilde.
(Digital)
Arpeggio Set Design, Short Film 2024
My role here focused on researching and designing the set for each scene, and curating spaces that matched the tone of the characters and emotions found within it.
The plot follows a turbulent queer love story between two characters, where one struggles to accept their sexuality due to the negative pressure they face from the people around them, whilst the other embraces it wholeheartedly. The film focuses heavily on musical symbolism with its title referencing the soundtrack that runs throughout.
I considered all of this in my work, and created two main contrasts for each character's spaces - welcoming and passionate for Sara's bedroom, cold and overwhelming for Julie's.
I also created slogans and phrases for the protest scene, and hand painted these onto cardboard signs.
Snooze Set design, short film 2023
This film focused on the monotony of a character's life, and after finding himself stuck in a repetitive loop he tries to break out, but this creates strange twists on these daily routines.
To mirror these themes, I designed the character's room to be very plain, drawing inspiration from Tracey Emin's 1998 artwork My Bed by using everyday detritus and clutter to dress the space. I also scouted the locations for this shoot, which allowed me to consider the original space further.
The film is set to release later this year.