ABOUT ME
A LIFELONG EYE FOR DESIGN,
DETAIL & FASHION
I'm Susanne Mc Donald, a digital and marketing consultant with a background rooted in design and fashion. My relationship with fashion and design started long before my career. My parents owned fashion boutiques throughout my childhood, so I grew up surrounded by clothing, beautiful objects, visual merchandising and the details that make a retail experience feel special. I was immersed in the world of fashion from an early age. That instinct for aesthetics has stayed with me.
For more than twenty years, I worked within fashion retail and buying, developing a deep understanding of product, customers, commercial decision-making and what makes a brand resonate. Buying taught me to look closely at quality, proportion, colour, texture, presentation and the small details that can completely change how something is perceived.
In 2014, following a redundancy I pivoted into digital marketing. I had been responsible for this in my retail role and knew the online digital arena was about to explode. Studying the discipline and beginning a new chapter in my career felt like a natural evolution. I was bringing the same curiosity about people, brands and visual communication into an entirely new environment.
Since then, my work has evolved across digital strategy, creative direction, content, design and brand development. Today, I work with established and growing businesses to bring greater clarity, consistency and intention to the way they present themselves.
A POINT OF VIEW
My relationship with fashion and visual culture has also extended beyond my professional work.
I began writing a fashion blog which, over time, evolved into an Instagram platform and community of almost 10,000 followers. What started as a space to share the things I loved became an ongoing exploration of fashion, design, style and the details that make something feel distinctive.
As Susanne Mc Donald Studio evolves, so will the platform, moving beyond fashion to reflect the wider world that inspires my work: interiors, design, travel, culture, photography, music and the people and places shaping contemporary taste.
A lifelong eye for fashion. A curiosity for everything else.
MY APPROACH
I'm instinctively drawn to the details. The correct typeface. A beautiful image. The way two colours sit together. The tone of a sentence. The composition of a room. The space between things.
I believe seemingly small decisions are what create the feeling of a brand. My approach sits between strategy and aesthetics. I like to understand the business first; its story, its ambitions, its audience and what makes it distinctive, before considering how that should look, sound and feel.
I'm particularly inspired by fashion, interiors, architecture, photography and visual culture. I'm drawn to things that feel thoughtful rather than overworked; understated rather than obvious; and timeless rather than dictated by whatever happens to be trending.
CONSIDERED BY DESIGN
Having spent much of my life around fashion and design, I have an instinctive appreciation for quality and detail. But my approach is also grounded in commercial thinking. I understand that a beautiful brand needs to do more than look good. It needs to communicate clearly. It needs to connect with the right people.
And ultimately, it needs to support the business behind it. That's where my experience across fashion, retail and digital comes together. I bring a commercial eye, a creative sensibility and a digital perspective to the work — helping businesses create a presence that feels both beautiful and purposeful.
LONG - TERM BY DESIGN
I prefer working through considered, ongoing partnerships rather than isolated projects. The best work takes time. It comes from understanding a business properly, establishing a clear direction and then refining the details as the business evolves.
Strategy gives it purpose.
Design gives it expression.
Consistency gives it longevity.
And that's ultimately what I want to create: work that feels considered, distinctive and entirely at home within the brand it represents.
A LITTLE MORE ABOUT ME
I'm endlessly curious about fashion, art, interiors, travel, music, food and the visual details of everyday life. I'm happiest discovering a beautiful space, browsing a gallery or market in a warm history-steeped city, finding an extraordinary piece of design or noticing something that most people might walk straight past. I think that lifelong curiosity is an important part of creative work.
There's inspiration everywhere if you pay attention.
If your business has evolved but your digital presence hasn't quite caught up, I'd love to hear where you're heading.