This week we get a thorough insight into the world of brand strategy, with our guest James Groves. Originally trained in graphic design, James has now earned over 15 years experience in the industry. In that time he’s worked both in-house and independently, in roles that have ranged from creative and art director to marketing manager and strategy consultant. He now runs his own brand strategy company, Alt, which works with clients like Paypal, font specialists Monotype and co-working space Uncommon.

We hear the journey that took James from studying graphic design at the University of Lincoln, to identifying an interest in strategy.
...
This episode of Creative Lives was brought to you by Lecture in Progress. It was presented by Indi Davies and the editor was Ivor Manly.

Lecture in Progress is made possible with the support of a number of brand partners – they include ustwo, Google, Sky Creative Agency, G.F Smith and The Paul Smith Foundation.

Creative Lives: James Groves, brand strategist

An educational resource to inspire and inform the next generation of creatives and help them make better career decisions. Creative Lives is a podcast series profiling interesting creative careers – from how they identified an interest in the industry, to landing their first job.

Arts

Literature

Performing Arts

Design

Food

Fashion & Beauty

Visual Arts

On this week’s podcast we sit down with Dem Gerolemou, a visual designer at Google Health. It was after graduating from Winchester School of Art’s graphic design course, that Dem came across his true passion – product design. He soon found himself working in healthcare at ustwo, as part of the team at AI company, DeepMind. 

Now based at Google’s offices in Kings Cross, we meet with Dem to talk about the highs and lows of working in health, the importance of embracing uncertainty and using design to solve real-world problems.

Creative Lives: Google Health's Dem Geromelou on embracing uncertainty and seizing every opportunity

This week on the podcast we chat to Tarik Fontenelle, a researcher, anthropologist and co-founder of strategic insight agency, ON.ROAD. Based in London, Tarik and his team investigate the thoughts, passions and trends driving young people – anywhere from Bow to Bolivia – helping brands create advertising campaigns and products that really resonate with them. In this episode, Tarik tells us more about how his research for Nike laid the foundations for the Nothing Beats a Londoner campaign, the people skills needed to be an anthropologist and he how he knew research was his dream job while still in his teens.

Creative Lives: Researcher Tarik Fontenelle on travelling the world to investigate youth subcultures

This week on the podcast we catch up with Olivia Ahmad, a curator at the House of Illustration and the editor of Varoom magazine. Since joining in 2014, Olivia has developed more than 50 exhibitions at the London gallery, celebrating illustration greats like screen-printing nun Sister Corita Kent and unearthing lesser-known narratives as in the current exhibition dedicated to Polish illustrator George Him. 

In this week’s episode she tells us about tracking down illustrators that have slipped through the cracks of time or have never exhibited before, the need for diversity in museums and galleries and gives us some tips on the dreaded networking.

Creative Lives: Illustration curator Olivia Ahmad on networking, people skills and detective work

On the podcast this week, we catch up with Teemu Suviala about some of the innovative work he’s doing as the director of brand design at Facebook’s AR/VR team. Whether that’s face filters, AR glasses or new virtual reality platforms. Listen in to hear Teemu talk about how agility and collaboration are essential skills for graduate creatives, explain the multidisciplinary mindset needed to work in VR and describe exactly what brand design in these spaces involves.

Creative Lives: Facebook's Teemu Suviala on VR, AR and having a multidisciplinary mindset

This week on the podcast we meet Jody Quon, the photography director of New York Magazine and the brains behind some of the publication's most ambitious shoots and covers.

A firm believer in the power of photography, Jody role’s involves a great deal of creativity, lateral thinking and meticulous organisation. She tells us more about her journey from fashion to editorial, the importance of work ethic and precision, and gives us tips on how to catch her eye on Instagram.

Creative Lives: James Groves, brand strategist

Download our free app to listen on your phone