Stephen Lawrance
He is the designer and builder of the Exercise Tiger Trust website, and is responsible for its ongoing development, updating and presentation of historical research, including the Trust’s Roll of Honour, documentary archive and personal collections.
His career spans the development of digital communications from traditional graphic design and print through the emergence of the World Wide Web, early government online information services, web applications and RFID technology, to his present work applying those skills to historical research and digital preservation.
Exercise Tiger role
Stephen Lawrance’s work with the Exercise Tiger Trust combines historical research with digital curation and technology.
The Trust maintains an online historical resource dedicated to Exercise Tiger, including its Roll of Honour, documentary archive, personal collections, photographs and research material. The organisation’s stated purpose is to research, preserve and make accessible information about the servicemen involved in the April 1944 disaster. Exercise Tiger Trust — About Us
Stephen’s role encompasses several interconnected responsibilities.
Trustee
Stephen Lawrance is a trustee of the Exercise Tiger Trust, contributing to the organisation’s continuing development and its work to preserve the history of Exercise Tiger.
His professional background in design, technology, information management and project development provides a practical dimension to the Trust’s work, particularly in relation to its digital archive and public-facing information resources.
Researcher
Stephen contributes to the Trust’s ongoing historical research into Exercise Tiger, including research into the people, vessels, documents and circumstances surrounding the disaster.
The research involves locating, organising and cross-referencing historical information and helping to make that material accessible through the Trust’s digital archive.
The Trust’s research encompasses official records, contemporary documents, survivor accounts, photographs, personal collections and other historical sources.
Where records contain discrepancies, the Trust’s research approach is to identify and investigate those differences rather than presenting uncertain information as established fact.
Digital curator
Steve acts as a digital curator, helping to determine how historical information is organised and presented online.
Digital curation involves more than simply publishing information. Historical records need to be structured so that individual people, vessels, documents, photographs and events can be related to one another and subsequently updated when additional evidence becomes available.
His work includes the organisation and presentation of:
- Exercise Tiger casualty information;
- the Roll of Honour;
- individual biographies;
- vessel information;
- historical articles;
- official documents and reports;
- photographs;
- personal collections;
- research material;
- and information supplied by relatives and researchers.
Website designer and developer
Stephen designed and built the Exercise Tiger Trust website and continues to develop, maintain and update it.
The website provides the public interface to a substantial body of historical research. Its design therefore needs to accommodate both general visitors looking for information about Exercise Tiger and researchers seeking individual records and documentary material.
His responsibilities include:
- website architecture;
- interface and information design;
- web development;
- content publication;
- historical record presentation;
- document and image presentation;
- website maintenance;
- technical development;
- database-driven information;
- and ongoing website updates.
The result is intended to function not simply as an organisational website but as a digital historical resource and archive.
Archive and database development
Stephen is also responsible for aspects of the development and structure of the Trust’s digital archive and database-driven information resources.
This work involves organising historical data in a way that allows information to be presented consistently and connected across different parts of the website.
For example, an individual serviceman’s record may need to relate to:
- his name and service details;
- his unit;
- his vessel;
- casualty information;
- photographs;
- memorial information;
- historical documents;
- and information supplied by relatives.
The technical structure therefore supports the Trust’s research by allowing individual pieces of evidence and biographical information to be brought together within a coherent digital resource.
Digital preservation and information architecture
Stephen’s Exercise Tiger work sits at the intersection of historical research, digital preservation and information architecture.
His professional career began in graphic design and subsequently developed into web design, digital publishing, information systems and technology solutions. Those skills are now applied to the preservation and presentation of historical information.
Preserving historical information digitally
A historical archive placed online needs to remain useful as information grows.
New documents may be discovered, existing records may require correction, families may provide photographs or personal papers, and researchers may identify previously unknown information.
The Exercise Tiger website has therefore been designed as an evolving resource rather than a static publication.
Stephen’s role includes maintaining the technical framework that allows information to be added, amended and expanded while retaining its relationship to the wider historical record.
Information architecture
Information architecture is particularly important to the Exercise Tiger project because the research encompasses many different types of information.
The website needs to allow users to move between subjects such as:
- individuals;
- units;
- vessels;
- dates;
- locations;
- documents;
- photographs;
- historical events;
- and research articles.
Stephen’s experience in information design and web development informs the way this material is structured and presented.
His approach combines the principles of clear visual communication with structured information, allowing historical material to be understood by general readers while remaining useful to relatives and researchers.
Digital archive development
The Trust’s archive contains documentary material relating to Exercise Tiger, including official reports, historical documents and other research resources.
The organisation describes the website as a resource for relatives, students, enthusiasts and independent and academic researchers. Exercise Tiger Trust — About Us
Steve’s technical role is to provide an accessible digital environment through which this material can be preserved and made available.
This work draws directly on his earlier experience in:
- database and information systems;
- web applications;
- information architecture;
- digital publishing;
- graphic communication;
- and technology integration.
Professional background
Stephen Lawrance has worked professionally across graphic design, web design, publishing, technology and project management.
His career began in graphic design and print before expanding into digital media and web development.
During the 1980s and 1990s, he was responsible for the successful development of new products, promotions and incentives for a wide range of organisations.
His clients and projects included work associated with:
- Milk Marketing Board;
- Danish Bacon and Meat Council;
- Mobil Oil;
- HarperCollins;
- Pearson;
- Haymarket;
- Mirror Group;
- Associated Newspapers;
- Vauxhall;
- Volkswagen;
- Scottish Provident;
- Sport for Television;
- Prudential.
- Professional Cycling: two UK Tour de France Grand Départs, the Kellogg’s Tour of Britain, city-centre professional cycling races, the Tour of Ireland, Track Cycling World Cup Classics, and Track Cycling World Championships;
- British athletics;
- international sailing;
- golf;
- cricket;
- tennis;
- U2, Simple Minds, Big Audio Dynamite, and Nigel Kennedy;
This work provided experience in developing creative concepts for commercial, corporate, publishing, sporting and entertainment clients.
Design studio founder, partner and director
Stephen has been a design studio founder, partner and director, combining hands-on creative work with project management, client development and production.
His responsibilities have included the development and management of creative projects from initial concept through design and production.
His professional work has involved clients in both the UK and United States, as well as government, industry, publishing and sporting organisations.
Graphic design
Steve’s graphic-design experience encompasses:
- corporate identity and communications;
- promotional design;
- editorial and publishing design;
- print production;
- event design;
- information design;
- typography;
- and visual communication.
His understanding of print and production processes continues to inform his digital work, particularly where historical material needs to be reproduced, interpreted or presented online.
Web design and development
From the late 1990s onwards, Stephen’s professional work increasingly incorporated web design, website construction and technology solutions.
His work has included:
- project management;
- design for print;
- website design;
- website construction;
- web applications;
- digital publishing;
- technology solutions;
- and consultancy.
This period coincided with the rapid development of the commercial and public use of the World Wide Web.
Stephen’s experience in graphic design provided a foundation for developing websites that combined visual communication with structured information and usability.
UK government online information services
Between 1994 and 2002, Stephen was a member of a development team involved in the development of the UK government’s early online information services, including the UKOnline web information portal.
His work took place during the formative period of UK government web services, when government departments were beginning to publish information online and develop electronic services for the public.
UKOnline subsequently formed part of the development of wider UK government digital services, which later included Directgov and eventually GOV.UK.
For historical accuracy, Stephen’s experience is therefore best described as involvement in UKOnline and the development of the UK government’s early web information presence, rather than claiming that he personally built the current GOV.UK platform.
His involvement nevertheless provides significant experience of working with large-scale public information systems during the early development of government web services.
Government and industry consultancy
Government and industry consultancy
From the late 1990s onwards, Stephen also worked as a consultant to government committees and industry.
His consultancy experience has included work involving competent authorities and senior-level organisations associated with the United Nations and European Union.
Clients and organisations associated with his professional work have included:
- SITPRO (Simpler Trade Procedures Board);
- CCTA, subsequently associated with the Office of Government Commerce;
- The Border Force
- and other government and industry organisations.
His consultancy work brought together creative communication, technology, information systems and project development.
Technology solutions and RFID
Stephen has been involved in the development of early RFID solutions and technology concepts integrating physical tagging systems with digital information.
One significant project involved the conception and definition of a perishable supply-chain RFID tagging solution.
The concept combined:
- RFID tags;
- other tagging products;
- physical product identification;
- supply-chain tracking;
- and a web application.
The objective was to connect information gathered from tagged products with a web-based information system, enabling products to be tracked through a supply chain.
The concept subsequently became associated with implementation work by SAVI Technology.
Stephen’s involvement demonstrates experience in developing technology concepts that combine physical-world processes with digital information systems.
This work is also relevant to his later digital-curation work because both require information to be identified, structured, associated with other information and retrieved through a digital interface.
Educational publishing
Stephen has been involved in the development and implementation of online and printed educational publishing resources for:
- Great War Literature Publishinga>, UK;
- Imprint GWL Publishinga>;
- and Sixfinger LLC, USA.
This work combined editorial content with graphic design, print production and digital presentation.
The experience provides a direct connection between his professional publishing background and his later work presenting historical material through the Exercise Tiger Trust website.
Professional skills and technical experience
Stephen’s professional skill set combines creative, technical and project-management experience.
Ideas and innovation: Developing concepts for new products, communications, information systems and technology applications, from initial idea through to definition and implementation.
Creative project management: Managing and developing creative projects, coordinating design, production, technology and client requirements.
Graphic and information design: Extensive knowledge of graphic communication, typography, print production and information presentation.
Web design and development: Designing, constructing, developing and maintaining websites and web-based information systems.
Digital publishing: Development and implementation of online and printed educational and publishing resources. Example: Sheldrake Press
Information systems: Experience in structuring information and developing systems that connect data, users and digital interfaces.
RFID and tagging technology: Experience in early RFID solutions and the conception of RFID-enabled supply-chain systems incorporating web applications.
Computing platforms: Extensive practical experience across Apple, PC and Linux environments.
Design and web applications: Experience with a broad range of design applications, web-development tools, languages and technologies.
Print production: Extensive knowledge of print, production and design processes from initial concept through to finished output.
Professional experience and Exercise Tiger
Stephen’s career provides a combination of skills that are directly applicable to the Exercise Tiger Trust.
The early work required the organisation and communication of commercial information.
His government web work required the presentation of complex information to a large public audience, while the technology work involved connecting physical objects and identification systems with digital information.
Publishing required the development of structured educational content for print and online audiences.
Stephen’s involvement with the Exercise Tiger work applies these same principles to historical information. The result is a digital resource in which historical research, documentary evidence, individual records and visual material can be organised and presented within a searchable and continually developing website.
Continuing work with the Exercise Tiger Trust
Stephen continues to contribute to the Exercise Tiger Trust as a trustee, researcher and digital curator, while maintaining responsibility for the design, development and updating of its website and digital archive.
His work combines:
Historical research: investigating and organising information concerning Exercise Tiger.
Curation: selecting, structuring and presenting historical material.
Digital preservation: maintaining an online record that can develop as new evidence becomes available.
Information architecture: connecting people, vessels, documents, photographs and historical events.
Web development: building and maintaining the technical systems through which the research is accessed.
Graphic design: ensuring that complex information remains clear and accessible.
The combination of these disciplines forms the basis of Stephen Lawrance’s contribution to the Exercise Tiger Trust and its continuing objective of preserving the history and individual identities of those involved in Exercise Tiger.