AKQA co-founder James Hilton moves to Native

James Hilton, co-founder at global design consultancy AKQA, has taken up a position at London-based consultancy Native.

Hilton co-founded design consultancy AKQA in 1995 after graduating from Southampton Solent University with an HND (higher national diploma) in graphic design.

Over the last 20 years, AKQA has created digital products for companies such as Nike, Google, Eurostar and Warner Bros. This includes Nike: Football Pro Genius, a brain training app for footballers, and Google Performing Arts, a 360-degree digital viewing experience of theatre shows.

In 2014, he left AKQA and went on to found product design company AtelierStrange.

Native is a design consultancy, which has completed such projects as a redesign for the BBC homepage, an in-car user design system for Bentley, electronics product design for Bowers & Wilkins, and a new water tap for Oxfam to use in developing countries.

Hilton will be focusing on the digital side of Native and joining a team of 135 people as co-chief creative officer. He will be working alongside founder Morten Warren and current chief creative officer Marcus Hoggarth.

Hilton says his appointment will be an “exciting opportunity” to help Native become more widely known outside of the industrial design discipline, while Warren says Hilton will bring “business acumen” to the team and a “restlessness to do better things”.

Hilton takes on the role immediately.