creative business coach

In a truly collaborative studio, all opinions are treated equally and with respect. Problem is, that relies on everyone sharing their opinion and that doesn’t always happen.

Step away from the computer If there is one thing  we've learnt from hosting two years of 'designerly' breakfasts in downtown Melbourne, Australia; it's the value of simply stepping away from your computer to share / talk / eat with other creatives.  As one breakfaster wrote in an email this week: for me, the breakfasts [...]

What I learnt about mental health This week we hosted an UNseminar in Melbourne. The topic was mental health in the design industry. As they say in the classics, there was a lot of love in the room – as well as some awesome speakers and great insights. Our ‘UNseminar’ MO is two guest speakers [...]

How to share your super power Everyone (including us) bangs on about life-long learning and the need to continually upskill but it’s hard to know what you need to know. I can honestly say we have the answer, it’s a tried and tested method to assess what you know and what you don’t. It’s analogue, [...]

The facts about sprints There is a lot of time invested devising methods to work smarter, more efficiently and more effectively. Some see the answer in design sprints – methodology aimed at getting more work out of the building, faster. Do they work? Busy-ness looks effective. It looks like you are getting stuff done. When you [...]

Mental health and three stages of learning Mental health and the three stages of learning are interwoven. As we move from being a fresh graduate beaming with confident incompetence to a seasoned designer feeling competent confidence, our mental health waxes and wanes. Years ago we attended How Magazine's Mind Your Own Business design management seminar [...]

Studio culture and job descriptions Much of my work in the Chairman program is with businesses who want to change. I work with forward-thinking studio owners who recognise they can’t keep doing the same thing for the next 10 years. The plans for this change are generally well thought through; they have a positioning to [...]

Why policies and procedures save money. It’s a common misconception that policies and procedures are only necessary when a studio reaches ‘maturity’, be that in structure or in longevity. That’s not true. Well written policies and procedures save money. They are the backbone of a truly sustainable design firm because they allow everyone to work [...]

Monthly meetings where designers talk business. Get up. Get out of your studio and talk business with others. Analyse things that are broken. Explore solutions. Talk to other designers. Collaborate. Share. We’ve run a breakfast session for designers for the past two years. A session where problems are tabled and solved, all over toast and [...]

The truth about being a design studio manager Managing creatives is not for the faint hearted – Greg and I certainly learnt that the hard way during three decades of owning an Australian design studio. Managing a studio needs a specific, part creative, part business skill-set that is certainly not taught at unis. Many might [...]