I am the Creative Director and Co-founder of Glasfurd & Walker Design. We’re a full service design studio that works in Food, Beverage, Hospitality, Fashion & Beauty. We work on building, maintaining and developing brands (and therefore on all the touchpoint needed to do that - online, offline, print, signage, social etc).
In broad terms - We apply creative thinking and understanding of design to develop thought-provoking solutions to address business communication needs. We work hard to build partnerships with our clients to understand their businesses, what they want to achieve and what they want to be known for. And then work to communicate that through design.
During the course of every project we always aim to spend time meticulously crafting the detail and nuance while keeping an eye on the bigger picture to deliver a brand that is interesting and relevant.
I love the book ‘How to Think Like a Great Graphic Designer’ by Debbie Millman. Great interviews and insights into how some of the best work. Debbie Millman’s Design Matters podcast is also great.
When looking at portfolios I can’t understate the importance of the designer’s personal brand and portfolio design (website). This is usually one of the only projects where there wasn’t a creative director, a team or a client giving input so you can really get a sense of someone’s personal style, taste and design skills by that.
Vancouver has changed a lot since we moved here (from Sydney). It’s a young emerging design scene. Being a small and emerging scene allows for opportunity that bigger design cities don’t have. There’s a chance to do things for the first time here, there’s a hunger for the city to be better and world class and it makes it an exciting place to be.
1. Listen & Collaborate. Really listen to clients, get to the bottom of what they want and why they want it.
2. Your gut instinct is usually right and should be listened to.
3. Enjoy the process (not just the outcome).
4. Empathy and intuition go a long way.
5. Be focused. Do good work for good people and let outside noise distract you.
Controlled growth with more fun and experimentation.