So, who exactly is Darren Sarson?
Let me explain
About me
AI-Forward Founding Designer.
Seed to Series A. Design Leader.
Thinker & Talker.
Currently working with early-stage startups, helping founders go from concept to product.
That’s where I tend to work best. The early stages, when there’s no team yet, no process, and the founders are making consequential decisions at pace. I’ve been the person in the room when the MVP gets defined. I’ve shaped requirements, run customer research, and taken the output directly into dev briefings. The whiteboard sessions, the hard conversations about scope, the moments when someone needs to say “we’re solving the wrong problem” — that’s the work I’m drawn to, and where I add the most value.
I’m a founding designer and design leader. I work across brand, UX, product design, and design systems. I’ve built teams from scratch and been the only designer in the room. Both require a different gear. I know what each demands.
My workflow is AI-forward. I use Claude, Cursor, Lovable, and Claude Code daily. Not to cut corners but to move faster, think more clearly, and spend more time on the decisions that actually matter.
Before the startups, I spent years delivering in larger organisations: John Lewis Financial Services, Mettle, Vitality, Canada Life. Compliance-heavy, politically complex, high-scrutiny environments. I know how to read a room and adapt to how a business thinks. That range means I don’t need a long runway wherever I land.
If you’re building something and need a designer who can lead, build, and ship, let’s talk.
More about meWhat Stays after I leave
Projects end. The rest doesn’t. The ways of working stick. The designers I’ve coached keep going. I’m still in touch with people from engagements I finished years ago, still mentoring where it helps, still part of the conversation.
When I commit to a cause, I commit for as long as I’m useful. Usually longer.
Who I've worked for
Past & Present Clients.
From global names like Barclaycard, NatWest: Mettle, and Legal & General, to pre-seed start-ups in aviation and probate spanning multiple continents.
Different scales. Same commitment to doing things properly.
My ethos
What I Stand For.
I've seen what happens when design gets treated as decoration. When leaders stop doing the work and lose sight of what's real. When teams get built around org charts instead of problems. That's what I push against.
I build lasting relationships through straight talking and genuine partnership, personal and honest in everything I do. My thinking stays childlike: curious, playful, unguarded. Because that's where outstanding ideas begin. I give thoughts room to breathe, then shape them with intention into solutions that endure.
My work
Case Studies.
A selection of recent projects I've delivered, either hands-on as a designer or leading the team behind them.
What I do
Services.
Every engagement looks different. Here’s how I typically work.
Doing.
I do the work, not just lead it. At the early stage, that’s what’s needed. Someone who can define the problem, design the solution, and brief the team, all in the same week.
Building.
Helping founders establish a design function that can grow with the product. Not just what to build now, but how to build the capability to keep building.
Mentoring.
I invest in the people around me — particularly early-career designers and first-time design leads. The goal is that they carry the work forward without me.
Let's talk
Let's Create something together.
If any of this sounds like what you need, or even something I haven't covered, get in touch.