Skilld Design

— Cape Town, ZA

01 Neil de la Harpe · Independent graphic designer · Cape Town

Design thatmakes it tothe shelf.

Brand, packaging, product information and ecommerce, designed as connected parts of the same problem — by one senior designer who stays on the work from the first sketch to production.

View selected work WhatsApp Neil
  • Strategy
  • Design
  • Production
  • Implementation
Titanium Coffee packaging system, shown as an authored 3D visualisation
Tifosi Sports ecommerce product page
GripSeal proprietary 500ml container, shown as an authored 3D visualisation

Packaging · Interface · Product

02 Selected work

Five full cases · Fifteen selected projects

Explore all selected work
03 From physical to digital

A decision has to survive the next format.

A pack, its artwork, the product data behind it and the interface a customer finally buys through are the same decision in four formats. Neil carries the rule across all of them.

Explore a project
  1. GripSeal Classic packaging range, shown as an authored 3D visualisation

    01

    Packaging

    On shelf

  2. GripSeal Brick Sealer final approved flat label artwork

    02

    Artwork

    In production

  3. Tifosi Sports structured Shopify product data and metafields

    03

    Data

    Structured

  4. Tifosi Sports ecommerce product page

    04

    Interface

    In use

One mind, from the first sketch to the last line of code.

  • Brands
  • Products
  • Packaging
  • Interfaces
04 The practice

A broader kind of practice.

Skilld Design is Neil de la Harpe's registered company. Neil leads the work directly from understanding the problem through the agreed production or implementation scope, bringing in specialist collaborators where a project genuinely requires them.

The breadth matters because connected problems rarely respect service categories. A range that has to hold together on a shelf, in a catalogue and on a product page is one problem, not four briefs.

More about the practice

25

Years in design

Independent
Roughly 20 years
Selected projects
15 commissions

Cape Town
South Africa

33.9249° S
18.4241° E

05 Capabilities

A broader set of tools. Connected by one way of thinking.

  1. Brand identity and visual systems
  2. Packaging design and architecture
  3. Product and information design
  4. Ecommerce and website design
  5. 3D visualisation
  6. Icon systems and technical communication
  7. Digital products and interfaces
  8. AI-assisted workflows and automation

One discipline.
Many outcomes.

See what Neil takes on
06 Client proof

Relationships measured in years, not projects

  • “Neil consistently brings fresh ideas and a clear understanding of what truly works. His design work always stands out.”

    Nick Zografos Tifosi Sports

    Nine-year relationship

  • “He brought a clear understanding of our business and translated it into a cohesive, professional brand identity across all touchpoints.”

    Brigette Reynolds GripSeal

    Commission ongoing since 2018

  • “He is adaptable in developing his skill set to accommodate my requirements… and adapts seamlessly to different brand styles and project requirements.”

    Jo Coburn AVID Design Collective

    Across several businesses

07 Approach and let's talk

From understanding
to implementation.

  1. 01 Understand The business, the range and the real constraint.
  2. 02 Explore Directions tested against how the work has to be used.
  3. 03 Design The decision made, not a set of options handed over.
  4. 04 Refine Production, data and edge cases resolved.
  5. 05 Implement Artwork, build or handover that can actually be used.

Start with what needs to work differently.

Describe the change, what is getting in the way and what a useful result would need to do. You do not need a polished brief.

Start a conversation

For agencies
and in-house teams

A defined packaging, production, catalogue or ecommerce workstream can have a named senior owner.

See the team route AI systems evidence