Hi!
Welcome, I’m Robyn, A Design Director, Art Director, and Creative living in Sydney with my partner and our two young boys, Archie & Arlo.
I’d always loved to draw, but my creative journey really began in a tiny surf town high school in NZ, where I fell in love with graphic design, tech drawing, painting, and illustration. That passion led me to a Bachelor of Graphic Design with a Visual Communication major. After moving across the ditch to be closer to my father in Sydney, I jumped at the chance to work at my first digital ad agency. I will never forget the energy and creativity of my first big agency experiences at Y&R, Leo Burnett, and M&C Saatchi, where I transitioned from design into art direction, animation & illustration on telco accounts Telstra and Optus - back when Flash was still a thing, it was such a time.
After a few good years, I felt the urge for an overseas adventure, and set my sights on Paris, France. I discovered a whole new world of beauty, craft, rich history, and oh mon dieu so much class. As the first Kiwi with an Australian accent some had met, I somehow convinced Euro agency BETC Euro RSCG to take a chance on me - briefing me first in English, and then in French (insert French accent).
Nearly five years later, a weekend trip to London turned into an unexpected leap when I was offered a role at renowned independent experiential agency Imagination London. Leading a small team on the Global & Shell Teams there, I worked with some absolute legends across markets in Europe and the South Pacific, heading up huge projects such as future festivals, eco marathons, and world conferences, while creating all the design and social collateral that came with it. Running on little sleep and high adrenaline, we created some boundless, & unbelievable experiences.
After two thrilling years of high-vis and airports, the next adventure was calling me, this time in the US, where I was lucky enough to land a gig as ACD at Spinifex Group LA.
Working with incredible people on global brands Honda, Acura, IBM, Lexus, and Elton John taught me so very much. Collaborating with their sister agency, George P. Johnson, we created several extraordinary experiences at major events like CES and the International Auto Show, where I was tasked with ideation, leading a team of creatives to present weekly with clients, and to design, develop, animate and build many individual experiences from the very start to the very finish. This included installation, tech calibration, and maintenance.
In 2018, and after more than 8 years away, I returned to my beloved Sydney to freelance with agencies Imagination, Spinifex, CHE Proximity, ARQ, Start Beyond. There, I worked on groundbreaking 4D Virtual Reality experiences, revamping Branding, Visual Communications, and Websites. The next opportunity came when I was asked to join full-time at Grumpy Sailor, where our pitch wins were the likes of the FIFA Women’s World Cup, and community spaces, Yirannma Place, etc where we collaborated with environmental designers and ad agencies like M&C Saatchi Sport and E2 to bring these projects to life.
Since then, we’ve completed our little family of two young boys, and I’ve thought long and hard about what really lights me up/what I love to do. Design, Branding, Art Direction, and working with nice humans is basically it. Simple! Most recently I’ve been doing just that, getting my hands dirty, sometimes in Canva, using AI, with the legends of female-led agency Jane Doe, amongst others.
Thanks for taking the time to read, and feel free to reach out on the contact page.
