We work with groups from all academic disciplines - science, the social sciences and humanities. What unites them is their shared goal to tackle some of our biggest challenges - using research and innovation.

Human-Centred

At the heart of everything we do are people — their stories, their needs, their insights. Our human-centred approach ensures research isn’t just about people — it’s driven by them, shaped with them, and created for them.

    • Co-design principles: We involve the people we’re trying to reach in planning and creating our content.

    • Lived Experience: We include the voices of people with lived experience wherever possible.

    • Human-in-the-loop: We embrace technology but always keep a human at the heart of the process.

Evidence-Based

At Orinoco we’re absolute sticklers for evidence.

We devour data. We savour stats. We prize proof!

Ultimately, we believe that the solutions we design for our clients should be every bit as rooted in evidence as the research we’re tasked with sharing.

    • Latest research: We keep up-to-date with the latest evidence about what works best in research comms.

    • Participate: We collaborate with researchers and involve ourselves in studies to test new methods and tools.

    • Share: We actively share what we learn with the wider community at events, and via our newsletter, podcast, webinars and social media.

Clearly-Communicated

Clear communication isn’t just what we do for others — it’s baked into everything we do.

By being open, honest, and clear from the start of a project, we set shared expectations, avoid surprises, and create a smoother, more collaborative process all the way through.

    • Clear language: When we write and talk we keep things simple. Clarity beats cleverness every time.

    • No Surprises: We always keep our clients in the loop to make sure everyone is aligned through the process.

    • Collaborative: We build feedback into every stage, so ideas evolve collaboratively.

How we started…

“In 2016 I had spent over a decade making documentaries for television broadcasters, such as the BBC, Discovery Channel and National Geographic. Orinoco was born out of a realisation that the academics and researchers whose knowledge and expertise we were using to tell our stories had their own need for creative communications support: to increase the reach and impact of their work.

Since then Orinoco has grown into a fully fledged digital communications and content creation agency with a single mission at our core: to combine storytelling and strategy to give research the reach it deserves.”

  • Peter Barker, Director of Orinoco Communications

OUR TEAM

PETER BARKER

Founder/Director

Peter started Orinoco Communications in 2016 after a decade spent making TV documentaries. Since then he has immersed himself fully in the world of research communications and now oversees Orinoco’s projects, helping clients with strategy and creative content to share their research with the world. After a three year stint in Austin, Texas, Peter is now back in the UK, where he lives on the east coast of Kent with his partner and two children.

bianca winter.jpg

BIANCA WINTER

Client Relations & Project Manager

For the past four years Bianca has led on operations at Orinoco - ensuring all our projects run smoothly and our clients are happy. She has always chosen to work for mission-driven organisations and her decision to join Orinoco Communications was no different. When Bianca is not helping to produce impactful content for Orinoco’s clients she loves spending time in Spain, practicing her conjugations while enjoying the odd glass of sherry!

ADAM PROCTOR

Creative Director & Senior Motion Designer

Adam has over twenty years of experience animating, directing, shooting and editing factual content.

Between 2015 and 2018 he led the multimedia unit at BBC.com where he was responsible for developing, commissioning and producing content for BBC World News and BBC News channels as well as the BBC.com feature websites. Focussing on producing mobile-first, human stories, their content was watched and shared by millions of people around the world.

Now, from his home in Dunfermline, Scotland, Adam oversees Orinoco’s creative output.