BIO
After graduating with BA Hons in Museum & Exhibition Design in 2003, I followed the yellow brick road down to London, where I landed a job as junior designer for the Tussauds Studios, which shortly became acquired by the Merlin Entertainments Group.
I spent a total of 8 years working for Merlin, learning the ropes of themed entertainment. Progressing through the ranks from junior to lead creative, where I had the pleasure of designing a series of multi-million pound investments for Merlin’s Resort Theme Park division including The Smiler & CBeebies Land at Alton Towers Resort, The Swarm & SAW The Ride at Thorpe Park, and Raptor at Gardaland.
After leaving Merlin for pastures new in 2013, I worked for the Freeman Group as a themed attractions creative lead, before being invited to work on the initial concept phase for the new London Paramount Resort.
For the last 8 years I’ve operated as a freelance creative director & designer, working for a variety of global theme park operators, industry specialists, brand agencies and design groups. My projects span from local farm parks and independent operators in the UK, through to large scale giga-projects in Asia and the Arabian Peninsula.
My inspiration and zest comes from travelling the world – between 2018 and 2021, I worked as a digital nomad, broadening my life experiences and quenching my thirst for adventure. Living the best of both worlds - I travelled around our magnificent planet, experiencing it’s many cultures, colours, and wonder, whilst continuing my design career.
Since the covid pandemic, I have been based between the UK and Madrid, Spain, which I now call home. Now, nearly 20 years into my career, I look forward to creating more exciting and memorable experiences. Contact me, and let’s start a fire!
TESTIMONIALS
Don’t just take my word for it. Here’s what some of my colleagues and clients said:
“I’ve worked with Ben for several years. He is an experienced themepark and attraction senior level designer with lots of creative flare. He’s passionate about design innovation and creating new exciting product but also understands operational and budgetary challenges. He’s able to manage designers, and liaise strongly with planners, architects, contractors etc. to ensure quality. Easy to work with and lovely attention to the little details that make a customer experience world class. I highly recommend him.”
“Ben Dowson is the kind of creative force you want on your team. He understands your mission and goals, his skills are wide reaching, adaptable and versatile and he gets shit done.”
“In the project I worked on with Ben [London Paramount Resort] thirty creative people from very different backgrounds and with different skills came together for a very intense, wildy inventive four months. Being essentially a start-up, every day came at us full speed and with curve balls. It’s the sort of environment where the best people are easy to spot. Ben stood out a mile. He can lead creatives, ideate, discuss, revise, visualise, hone, reflect and present. And he does it all with genuine enjoyment and pride. ”
“Ben has a true enthusiasm for ensuring visitors walk away from his designs with a broad smile on their face. He has always displayed great dedication, a razor sharp mind for problem solving and a clear unfussy manner when directing or briefing a project. I hope to work with him again soon.
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