Arts
For many listeners, Simon may not need much introduction. He’s a bit of a legend within professional creative circles, in part because he co-founded Deepend, one of the first true digital design studios in London, back in the mid 90s. He went on to start and run Poke, another well-known agency, spent several years at legendary advertising studio Mother, and his clients have included Coca-Cola, Vevo, Airbnb, Verizon, and Intel, where he was vice president of their media arm. Simon is also one of the small team of partners who worked with Group of Humans founder Rob Noble to plan out the group's details, so we talk a little about what makes GoH unique among design networks. Mostly, though, the episode is a series of stories and lessons from a long, extraordinary creative career. We discuss the early days of digital design in the UK, the benefits of having an industrial design background when doing digital work, the unique working culture of Silicon Valley, and what it's like to manage a project team when everyone working with you is a principal.