HALO MEDIA - OUR PEOPLE
Hi, we're Halo.
Our work is corporate. We're not.
Our studios are full of noise, laughter, friendship and food.
This culture is important to us and we love it.
Our team work from our UK and South African offices.
We’re not just a creative agency, we’re business designers.
136 years - that's how long we've been in the design business! That's a lot of experience for a team of eight (we'll save you the math, each member has an average of 17 years' experience). We're very intentional about creating a compassionate and caring work culture – with our team and our clients. If you choose Halo, you'll choose a group of skilled people who are values-based. We choose value in how we behave, the value we bring to our clients, and how we select the companies we work with.
CREATIVE DIRECTOR | OWNER Hayes Cunningham
With more than 25 years in the brand and advertising world, Hayes is passionate about brand strategy and unpacking the "why" behind a company and how that plays out in the marketplace.
A perfectionist by nature, his strengths are understanding the psychology behind branding and the art of visual storytelling.
Hayes is known for his quiet honesty and unique approach to solving problems with a calm perspective.
QUICK FACTS
- Location:
UK office - Special skill:
Brand Strategy and Video Production - Can be bribed with:
Pizza - TV shows:
James Bond movies - Can't get enough of:
Fishing & guitar
Learn more about Hayes, and how a childhood in a war-torn area defined how he thinks with brands.
BRAND DIRECTOR | OWNER Louise Cunningham
Louise is really into operational brand cohesion – i.e. getting it all to work together just right.
Her 25 years of international experience in the graphic design and marketing industry have exposed her to learning from some of the top global businesses and bringing that knowledge to her clients.
She’s a seasoned traveller and brings her love of adventure to pushing boundaries in marketing strategy and creative R&D.
QUICK FACTS
- Location:
UK Office - Special skill:
PowerPoint presentation design - Can be bribed with:
Anything chocolate - TV shows:
Bad reality TV (not stooping as low as the Kardashians though!) - Can't get enough of:
Hiking with her dogs
Get to know Louise better, along how her love of travel pushes her to be adventurous with brands.
CREATIVE MANAGER | DESIGN LEAD Deshnee Subrayen
Deshnee is a bit of a speed freak. Not on the road, but just watch her on a Mac! A solid all-rounder, she’s calm under pressure and has a wide range of technical experience in visual communication, UX and web design. She is a long-term member of Halo and leads the team in the Durban office.
Despite her love of all things pink and sparkly, she excels in her specialist experience in high-level financial and mining brand design – none of which are sparkly.
QUICK FACTS
- Location:
South African Office - Speciality:
Brochure & Annual Report design - Can be bribed with:
Pasta - TV shows:
Suits - Can't get enough of:
Anything pink!
Discover more about Deshnee, including her belief in brand consistency.
Senior Designer | Researcher Dominique Balie
Dominique brings an international flavour to Halo Media with a (somewhat compulsive) obsession with Italy and global design ideas!
A strong ‘business’ designer, she has research and data interpretation skills to ensure the design effectively meets its target.
Dominique’s thoughtfulness means she brings detail into strategic implementation plans and thinks around corners for our clients.
QUICK FACTS
- Location:
South African Office - Special skill:
Research-based creativity - Can be bribed with:
Buffalo mozzarella - TV shows:
Documentaries - Can't get enough of:
Non-fiction books
Discover how Dominique marries a love of knowledge with design.
FINANCE | ACCOUNTS Gill Crawshaw
Gill is like a charming sniper! Her keen financial mind helps us to streamline not only Halo Media but also helps our clients' businesses be more profitable.
She is not only a qualified AGA(SA) Accountant, but she’s also an Archer (yes really!) so she actually does reach targets!
Gill differs from every accountant we've ever met – she brings enthusiasm, creativity and dynamic thinking energy to Halo.
QUICK FACTS
- Location:
South African Office - Special skill:
Seeing financial patterns - Can be bribed with:
Greek food - TV shows:
Lie to Me - Can't get enough of:
Her parrot, Kevin, and good music
Find out more about Gill mixes her financial acumen with business strategy.
KEY ACCOUNTS | CONTENT & PROOFING Shivani Poovalingam
Shivani’s been in the advertising game since 2011. She enjoys conceptualising hard-hitting campaigns and keeping our clients happy.
Shivani is our resident grammar police and hyphen ninja. Incorrect hyphen usage won’t get past her and she even has a real paperback dictionary.
With keen attention to detail and a can-do attitude, she's so dedicated that she has to be told to go home at the end of the day!
QUICK FACTS
- Location:
South African Office - Special skill:
Proofreading. Shivz can spot a double space from across the room - Can be bribed with:
Cupcakes - TV shows:
Modern Family, Stranger Things - Can't get enough of:
Cats
Learn more about how Shivani's competitive nature boosts her professionally.
ACCOUNT MANAGER | CONTENT WRITER Anele Gumbi
Anele is an Account Manager who is passionate about words and their impact on brands. She has experience in creating content with a background in Commerce, Social Media Marketing, and Sales.
Anele is passionate about holistic self-care and creating videos about the subject!
QUICK FACTS
- Location:
South African Office - Special skill:
Corporate storytelling - Can be bribed with:
Cheesecake - TV shows:
New Girl - Can't get enough of:
Romcoms with happy endings!
Learn more about Anele and how she's a storyteller at heart.
GRAPHIC DESIGNER | MULTI-MEDIA Tannah Renou
Tannah is a multi-disciplinary graphic designer. She writes, illustrates, animates, web designs, video edits and is a social media whizz!
Tannah's ability to output creatively across multiple channels means she can not only conceptualise an idea, but roll-out the entire project too!
QUICK FACTS
- Location:
South African Office - Special skill:
Research-based ideation - Can be bribed with:
A yummy desert - TV shows:
The Office - Can't get enough of:
European novels and a good sunset!
CHIEF BARKETING OFFICERS The Pups
The pups weren’t originally official team members, but through their insistence are now recognised as part of Team Halo (perseverance pays off!).
They work as a tight team, both as office security and comic relief, but have been known to sleep on the job. They may attend Zoom meetings, uninvited.
QUICK FACTS
- Location:
UK Office - Special skill:
Pawject Management - Can be bribed with:
Colleagues' lunches - TV shows:
Marley & Me - Can't get enough of:
Butt sniffing
Top brands trust us
We've had the pleasure of working with brands that we have brand crushes on.
We pride ourselves on our trustworthiness and reliability.
Working with leading brands has meant we've stepped out of our comfort zone to work with giants.
We've learned a lot working with them, and it's this cumulative experience that has given us, we believe, superpowers!