Conjure Spotlight: John

This month we’ve put the spotlight on John — the team member who joined our team this year as Design Director.

What is your name and role at Conjure?

John, I’m the Design Director at Conjure. I look after the design team every day and help give clients creative and strategic advice on the products that we are building to improve how we deliver creative work as an agency. I’m also involved in a lot of the constant delivery around our design work.

Where are you from and how long have you been at Conjure?

Essex once upon a time, I’m an Essex boy [laughs]. I grew up in London and I was in Australia for a few years. I came back to London ahead of working on the Olympics and joined Conjure earlier this year, so I have been here a bit now. Conjure is quite a different agency from where I worked before, the HMI work here and 3D stuff is an exciting gig.

Before Conjure, what was the most unusual job you’ve ever had?

The most unusual job… Ah, I did an internship when I was 16 or 17 at school. I worked in the Met Office for a month, it was the biggest weather forecasting place. At that time it was going through a digital transformation… an interesting challenge [laughs]. You know, we were young and quite naive and thought we could change the world, but it was changed one cup of tea at a time!

But the bit I really remember that was quite exciting was that in the ‘old days’, well I think they have moved now, but in the old days the Met Office in Bracknell had this massive room, full of secret satellite stuff. There may have been a couple of times when we snuck in, and it was so full of focus, looking at the screens, so that was pretty interesting.

The internship was actually a pretty random job but it was the first time that I got interested in engineering tech and design since there was a bunch of creating ideas.

(Your early inspiration for design?)

Maybe [laughs].

What tools do you use on a day to day basis?

We do a heap of sketching and illustrations so use a bunch of different tools, then there’s Figma, which is a great tool. Overflow is great. Then we’re using InVision for prototyping. But actually I really like to do stuff off-screen. We have got some whiteboards now in the office, and the difference is night and day! This gets folks active, up away from the screen, to be open and to talk through thinking. It’s funny, the more mature you get in digital design, the more paper or post-it notes you use [laugh].

What advice would you give someone new joining Conjure?

It’s a pretty social place here so make sure you get stuck into the social side [laugh].

Get yourself a good pair of headphones, ideally noise-cancelling ones [laugh]! Because I think it can get a little bit buzzy sometimes, particularly when you’re in creative mode and sometimes you just need headspace.

Another thing I’m stoked about is our “no idea is a bad idea” style. I think great creative teams carve out space and time to explore and create without fear, the ‘converge-diverge’ cycle.

“Beg forgiveness over seeking permission” I’m a big believer in that.

What’s the most interesting project you’ve worked on at Conjure so far?

Oh, there’s a bunch… they’re all interesting and they’re all exciting in different ways. But I’d say the Grundfos one gets me going. It’s just interesting work and it’s also exciting that we were able to play in that space and push those kind of frontiers. There’s a lot of potential for us to grow in the industrial design space.

I love their core business and they are cool folks with great ideas and ambitions, they know what they want, and the work we’re doing is unique. We get to join them in Denmark, which I love, so that’s sweet too!

If your life was a movie, what songs would be on the soundtrack?

Something very dramatic [laughs].

If you have to live in a different city, what would it be?

Ah, that’s a tough one, I’ve lived in a few different ones… Stockholm. I really want to give it a crack in Scandinavia, I would love to spend more time in Stockholm. In the winter it’s cold of course, but in the summer it’s nice and it’s like all-day sunlight. I think the vibe in Scandinavia is awesome, I vibe with Scandi folks and the all daylight or dark is dreamy. It’s like living on the edge of space.

Also as much time in Asia as poss — I was in Shanghai and Hong Kong for a bit.

South America, just for the creative.

What’s your favourite ice-cream flavour?

This is a Rupert question I can see where it comes from. My favourite flavours are Argentinian Dulce de Leche and mint… but not together!

What is the best piece of advice you’ve received?

Ah, that’s a tricky one…well, I think it’s probably clichéd AF, but something that sticks is “not to take too much advice.” The path to greatness is messy and chaotic and actually the great stuff, you know the creative that truly connects people and brands comes out of those moments. Discovery is great when it’s a kind of visceral immersive way because trying to just get all the advice and then making compromises will dilute the core way you think leading to something that just isn’t effective. Design by committee is pure evil.

I would never say never take advice, because I’ve also had some good advice from time to time, but I do think find your sweet spot, run with what you think is right, and push it to the max, authentic matters.