Network Rail. Shining a light on the railway’s Hidden Heroes
Role: Art Director.
Hidden Heroes was created to celebrate the people who keep the railways running – the often unseen teams who work through the night, in all weathers, to keep passengers safe and the network moving. The campaign aimed to capture their dedication with the scale and drama it deserves, reframing everyday maintenance as acts of quiet heroism.
Four incredible Rail colleagues were carefully selected to shine a spotlight on. The kind of people who care about the same things rail passengers care about, meet Jamie, Manny, Anita and Uzma.
I helped shape the creative tone of the campaign, developing a visual and emotional language that felt cinematic but authentic. I designed the campaign’s badge and name graphics, storyboarded the films and worked closely with the production team to align the tone and visual style.
To meet extremely tight time-frames, the Creative Director and I worked in tandem — splitting locations and schedules to cover both the stills and film shoots simultaneously. I worked closely with Network Rail’s internal film team and our photographer in the pre and post-production stages, and I art directed the photo shoots across multiple locations, including one filmed at Liverpool Street station in the middle of the night.
The films told the stories of real Network Rail staff through a cinematic lens – short, documentary-style pieces that celebrated the people behind the uniform. Each story was designed to feel intimate yet heroic, revealing the dedication, pride and humanity that keeps the railway running. Working from the storyboards I developed, the shoots captured small, authentic moments of connection – a nod, a glance, a quiet act of care – framed within the scale and drama of the railway environment. The result was a series of emotive, visually striking films that made ordinary work feel extraordinary.
The campaign was launched at a public event at London Waterloo Station, I developed the visual concept and layout for the stand, working with an external events company to create an experience that felt bold, immersive and human.
Alongside the campaign films and large-scale portraits, the event featured live portrait sittings with artists and finalists from Sky’s Portrait Artist of the Year, who painted two of our Hidden Heroes in real time. The installation also included two pre-drawn canvases that invited the public to pick up brushes and add their own creative touches. The combination of art, storytelling and audience participation gave the event warmth and immediacy — a genuine celebration of the people who keep the network moving.
This was a fast-moving, high-pressure project that demanded flexibility and collaboration. Despite the constraints, the result felt powerful and human, a campaign that gave visibility and pride to the people whose work often goes unseen.