PM—Hey Chris, how are you doing? How’s life in Sydney?

CD—Life is good. Summer feels like it might be finally here, and we are 3 days away from closing down for Christmas. No complaints.

PM—Yeah you can’t complain about that. Do you ever get mistaken for the Cinematographer Christopher Doyle?

CD—Yep, all the time. I get emails every week either asking me to read scripts, collaborate on films, or even travel to speak at film festivals. I once put a book on hold in a bookstore and gave the guy my name, and he was thrilled. He couldn’t believe he was meeting Christopher Doyle. Sadly, it turns out he wasn’t.

PM—That’s hilarious mate. I’ve been a big fan of your work for some time. How did your design studio come about?

CD—It’s quite boring really. I worked in studios of varying sizes for about 10 years before realising I wanted more control and autonomy. I wanted to steer my output. I felt quite out of place in the studio I was in. And I also had two children and was craving a more flexible schedule. That was 10 years ago and not once have I thought about going back.

PM—Describe your studio's purpose in one line.

CD—To do great work for good people. It sounds simplistic, but it covers everything important to us.

PM—I’ve seen you post some sexy sneakers on your Instagram. Do you have a cheeky obsession with footwear?

CD—Yep, I sure do. It’s come on quite late in life. Coinciding with foot pain and middle age I think. I was never a big sneaker guy growing up, but I always loved shoes. Not sure why. Shoes and jackets. They are my favourite clothing items.

PM—How many people make up your design studio? And who does what?

CD—We are currently a team of 3. It’s very much all hands on deck. I lead the team, but everyone designs, everyone writes, and everyone presents. We look for generalists over specialists, and I believe people leave the studio with broad, useful skill sets.

PM—How do you define a great studio culture?

CD—I think it’s a place where people feel safe, challenged, heard, and seen. We have always subscribed to the idea that answers can come from anyone, regardless of their experience level. It was made clear to me in my first job that anyone was allowed to solve any brief. I love that idea. It can be daunting for designers starting out but also thrilling and empowering if the environment is supportive. I also believe work is work. We are a close-knit team, but I don’t believe in the idea of work being a family. I think it’s a dangerous and blurry approach. We turn up, respect and support each other and of course, friendships get formed in the process. But it’s work. I don’t believe in living and breathing it or having it replace your personal life.

PM—Well said. I remember discovering you in 2008 when I stumbled on your clever ‘Christopher Doyle Identity Guidelines’. How did this all come about?

CD—It was pretty simple really. I was drowning in corporate guidelines at the studio I was at and had the idea to take all those rules and apply them to myself. Once the idea was there it was pretty straightforward. So much of brand is personality, language, look and feel. It was easily transferable.

PM—At the time, what was going through your mind standing there in your underpants? 😂

CD—Ha. I just wanted it to be as real and honest as possible. I hate my body but I wanted to commit. I thought it would make it funnier and more sincere. I don’t regret it.

PM—Your studio has an amazing body of work. The Spotify Campaign work also comes to mind? How the hell did you land that as a small studio?

CD—I was working with the excellent Rosie Rothery in her role as marketing manager at the Australian Chamber Orchestra. We worked together for a year and then she took a role at Spotify. About 6 months later, we did a small campaign project for her. It was such a great opportunity. We went all out on it. At the time almost all of Spotify’s design work was managed out of their head office though so we didn’t do anything else for a year or two. As their team grew locally they started doing more design work locally, and they came back to us. We took on whatever they threw at us. It was so much fun. They valued great design and writing, had an amazing team and it all just grew from there. We ended up producing almost all of Australia’s design and marketing work, as well as doing work for NZ, Asia, and Canada. After a year of Covid, I made the decision to scale the studio back, and part of that meant wrapping up our relationship with Spotify. Having Spotify as a client was incredible in so many ways. Their internal culture is amazing, they were incredibly supportive of us and we got to work on some cracking campaigns and projects.

PM—Biggest design f**k up to date?

CD—Typos all the way. In my first job, we placed a newspaper ad for a designer role and I misspelled the company email address.

PM—What’s one lesson you've learnt running your design studio?

CD—The power of saying no. To people, clients, projects, situations, and scenarios is so important. I wish I had embraced it earlier.

PM—Choose one: Crepes or meatballs?

CD—Crepes all the way.

PM—How do you find work? What have you found works for you?

CD—It’s a combination of PR, social presence, and relationship management. And referrals of course.

PM—What’s your design process when approaching a new project?

CD—It’s usually all about reading and writing. Trying to understand what the problem is and what we need to say always comes first. We rarely start with the look and feel. We need to know what we saying before we figure out how to say it. I then sketch a lot. I have always needed to draw the answer before designing anything on the Mac. I have always felt uncomfortable starting on screen.

PM—Do you take on projects that are not aligned with your purpose?

CD—No sir.

PM—Who’s your all-time favourite band? …and your go-to track right now?

CD—The band I have never fallen out of love with is Glassjaw. They are perfect to me. From the current wave of bands, it’s Turnstile. I am seeing them in Feb and can’t wait.

PM—Sweet, I don’t mind a bit of punk and hardcore.🤘🏼 What’s the best advice you’ve ever received in the industry?

CD—Design is about other people.

PM—Plug 3 of your favourite IG accounts?

CD—Seachange Posteritati Bersletters

PM—What would you tell 18-year-old Christopher Doyle if you could go back in time and start over in the design industry?

CD—Go slow. Don’t worry about how good everyone else is or how fast everything moves. Just work hard, enjoy yourself, and be generous. And stretch more.

PM—Love it, thanks for your time man. It's been so insightful catching up. Any cool projects or collaborations coming up?

CD—It’s been a pleasure. Thanks for taking the time to connect. We have a few client projects ready to launch in the new year that we are really excited about. And a studio project too. Lots of fun stuff coming up.