OnDesign

In this episode it was our privilege to meet Stuart Wood of Heatherwick Studio. Taking a lead on some of the studio’s most well known projects, Stuart talks us through his work on the London Routemaster bus, the British Pavilion and the new Google office in Kings Cross.

This time we’re joined by a truly inspiring design leader, Vicky Bullen, CEO of Coley Porter Bell. We talked about the role of neuroscience within design, the importance of diversity to the creative industries, and the qualities that make great design leaders.

In this episode it was our pleasure to chat with Jonathan Ford, Founding Creative Partner and CEO of Pearlfisher. Pearlfisher’s innovative perspective on the role of challengers and icons has helped them navigate brand challengers for the likes of Cadbury, Green & Blacks and Jamie Oliver. Now celebrating their 25th year, we talked to Jonathan about the work he's most proud of, the role of Pearlfisher's integrated futures team, and what climbing Mount Kilimanjaro taught him about designers' responsibilities to the planet.

In our eleventh episode, we had the pleasure of speaking to Dave Brown, who was a formative part of The Brand Union. Last year he left to set up Brown & Co – a new kind of agency, bringing together international talent through a virtual agency model. We spoke about the benefits and challenges of that model, Dave's ambitions for the agency, and his experiences launching his own brand, ¡Cho!

For our tenth episode, we’re delighted to welcome, Dan Germain, Head of Brand at innocent drinks. Somewhat of a cult figure in the worlds of design and marketing, Dan’s been with innocent since the very beginning, building the brand into the international success it is today. We talked about the benefits of innocent’s in-house creative team, and the challenges of Dan’s role as the company ventures into new markets.

After a brief hiatus, OnDesign returns. We have lots of exciting guests lined up for our second season – including Dan Germain, Head of Brand at innocent. In this episode we speak to the venerable John Mathers. There are very few people with more design industry experience than John. He’s previously held the role of CEO at Brand Union and the Design Council, and most recently launched British Design Fund.

In this episode we’re joined by food futurologist Dr Morgaine Gaye. In her role, Morgaine helps some of the world’s biggest brands navigate cultural, social and political trends to predict the future of food. We spoke to Morgaine about her process, the impact of Brexit on breakfast, and gained a glimpse into what the future of categories like beer might look like.

This time we’re delighted to be joined by Tom Blomfield, founder and CEO of challenger bank Monzo. Tom’s ambition is to reimagine financial services for the 21st century by ‘building the best current account on the planet’. With 250,000 customers and growing, Tom talks about the vision driving the team forwards, the importance of transparency, and the unique role Monzo users play in building the bank of tomorrow.

In our sixth episode, we change things up by speaking to two guests – Steve Osborne and David Pike of design agency OsbornePike. Describing themselves as a big agency in a small package, Steve talks about two brands that have influenced him – Innocent and BrewDog – as well as his advocacy for the ideas in Byron Sharp’s book ‘How Brands Grow’. We’re later joined by David, and talk about how they came to set up the agency, and what makes for a successful creative pitch.

In this episode we speak to graphic designer Matt Rudd. UK listeners will be familiar with Matt's work on the ITV brand identity and Channel 4 idents. We talk to Matt about the collaborations that inspire his creative process, the role art plays in his work, and an exciting new VR project for the BBC. For our international listeners, you can see the work Matt talks about here: http://ruddstudio.com/showreel/

Our fourth episode is with fashion designer Leandra O’Sullivan who’s worked with Karen Millen, Warehouse and ASOS. She now heads up the design team at Debenhams. We talk about how she understands her shopper, how trends become tees and the pressures fast fashion has put on the industry.

Our third episode is with the fantastic Mark Taylor – an independent brand counsel who's moved between the world's of advertising and branding in his career. We talked with Mark about the relaunch of GWR, as well as his work branding a community distillery on the Isle of Harris.

In the second episode of OnDesign, we talk to the brilliant Jonny Westcar, Managing Director of StormBrands and formerly The Brand Union. Reflecting on his extensive client and agency side experience, Jonny identifies the skills that designers need in the 21st century, as well as a describing a sprint-based approach that's making StormBrands' creative process more agile.

In conversation with Stuart Chapman, each episode invites an industry visionary to reflect on their craft and predict what the future holds. In the first episode we hear from Jon Morley – a brand leader who's worked on some of the world's biggest brands – from Grey Goose to Axe, Orange to Carrefour. Jon talks about researching haircare in the favelas of Brazil, to the challenges of steering major global brands.

The Big Picture's OnDesign podcast is coming soon. Each episode of OnDesign invites an industry figure to talk about their craft. Subscribe now.