What started your journey into the creative industry?

I feel like I knew what I wanted to do from a young age. I was always drawing, making things and in to Lego. I was obsessed with anything visual from quite an early age and would rip adverts out of newspapers that used to catch my eye. I remember looking at logos, finding them intriguing and the way they were drawn. I was into Art at school and my Dad was quite a creative character, so he used to take me to galleries. It was a natural progression, being interested in anything visual, then finding a niche at school. I can’t imagine what job I’d do if I wasn’t a designer.

 

“it’s been 20 years of small decisions and learning from mistakes. Working hard and with talented people”

 

Could you share the pivotal career moments that have led you to your current success?

I can’t think of any specific pivotal moments, I think it’s been 20 years of small decisions and learning from mistakes. Working hard and with talented people. I started at an incredible agency with healthy competition which encouraged me and helped to push me on.

 

How were you instructed to work on this particular brand?

The company’s founder, Fergus O’Sullivan came to us after he’d left his job; he’d had got to a point where he wanted to start a business that made a difference to the world. He’d identified that the growth and production of rice is detrimental to the environment and has the second highest emissions of any food after beef. These gases are produced from the traditional way of growing rice in a paddy and there is, in fact, a more sustainable way of growing rice in a field. However, because the supply chains and the setup are so well established, Farmers are reluctant to change over to this newer method. Fergus came to us with this idea for a rice brand which ended up being called “Nice Rice”; the name captured the spirit of the product in a ‘non-preachy’ way, making it accessible. The Founder wanted the brand to be disruptive, with market leaders being Tilda and Ben’s and he wanted to offer a better way of buying rice that thoughtfully supports the environment and tastes great.

 

 

What core message did you aim to communicate through this brand’s identity?

The name ‘Nice Rice’ is charming and straightforward, so we wanted to make it big and bold. However, we needed to explain what ‘Nice’ means and highlight the strong benefits for consumers. The solution was an asterisk made up of five rice grains, which we use across the brand to communicate various messaging, such as leading a sustainable revolution in rice growing and distribution, offering better-tasting rice, being better for the planet and promoting a better way of doing business by paying farmers more to grow the rice sustainably.

 

“it was purposeful that we went for a white pack… we couldn’t ‘out-colour’ the rice aisle!”

 

 

Where do you usually seek inspiration when crafting a brand’s message?

Whenever we start a project we do lots of research, try all the products and really get ourselves in to the market. A pivotal part of this particular process was going in to stores to check out competitors, to see where the gaps were and how we could fulfil the brand’s potential. The rice aisle is full of colour, so it was purposeful that we went for a white pack to cut through, as we couldn’t ‘out-colour’ the rice aisle! It was also really nice, symbolically, standing out with the monochrome as the product has a really pure story with nothing to hide.

What did you find most challenging about bringing this brand to life?

It was quite a challenging project to get to this point, even though it looks quite simple. Due to it being a complex story to tell, there were so many ways you could talk about the brand and so many ways to explain all the benefits. I can remember when Fergus came to see us, he had so much that he wanted to say and that was the benefit of the asterisk solution; that you didn’t have to tell all of the stories at the same time, they could appear at different points around the brand world, on the packaging and on the website. So I guess the challenge was, “how do we tell all these stories really concisely and simply”.

 

 

In your view, what elements make a brand’s identity stand out and stick in people’s memories?

It’s always about creating something tangible, something that people can easily understand and connect with; a product truth. One of my catchphrases is “keep it simple stupid”, somehow creating something that’s simple but surprising enough that makes it memorable.

 

How has the creative landscape changed throughout your time in the industry?

It feels like it’s got faster and faster. We’re talking about this quite a lot at the moment because of the emergence of AI. It’s so much easier to produce whatever you want than it was 25 years ago and that’s what makes creative thinking even more important than it ever was because anyone can jump on Photoshop, use AI, chat GPT, everything is immediate, and you have a wealth of tools to create things. I think everything’s got easier to produce and deadlines have got shorter but creative thinking is still as important as it ever was.

 

If you had the opportunity to rebrand any global company, which would it be and for what reason?

The Tour de France logo comes to mind. As a keen cyclist I’m a huge fan of the Tour de France. The race, the riders, the bikes, the scenery, the jerseys and the crazy history. There is so much to love about it, especially as a graphic designer but the logo despite being charming and iconic, is objectively a bad logo. No idea what I’d do and almost certainly upset every cycling fan ever, but I’d love to do it.

 

What advice would you offer to budding creatives aspiring to break into the industry?

Follow the work of the best designers and agencies, try to work with talented people and always keep your eyes and ears open. Designer and artist Antony Burrell said it best – ‘Work hard and be nice to people’.

 

In an alternate universe where you weren’t in the creative industry, what profession would you work in and why?

I think being part of the Ferrari Formula 1 team would be pretty amazing, although I’d get frustrated that the brand identity isn’t as good as it could be.

 

“As a 21 year old I thought this was a great idea … “

 

What’s the most off-the-wall idea you’ve ever had that never saw the light of day?

The very first brief I worked on when I started my career was the interior graphics for the toilets of Virgin Atlantic planes. A fun brief and Virgin Atlantic were doing some great design at the time, I couldn’t believe my luck. My solution was to cover the whole interior with clouds so it felt like you’d stepped outside of the plane. As a 21 year old I thought this was a great idea … Can’t think why it didn’t happen.

 

If you were a brand, what would your slogan be?

Keep it simple stupid

 

During a tea break, what are you dunking?

Jaffa cakes. They’re ingrained in our studio culture and there’s a constant supply, clients have even started bringing them to meetings. No dunking though!