Designs to be a major player

Designworks Sydney has picked up two top people - creative director, Derek Samuel, and brand strategist Cat Burgess. This is a next step towards their goal to become Australia's leading agency focused on design thinking.

Samuel comes from an international career of over 20 years based in New York and London, developing solutions for high profile brands such as Liberty of London, Aveda, Harrods Nestle, Gillette, Diageo and Brown Forman. Most recently, Samuel was art director of the Melbourne Magazine, during which time it won an Australian Magazine of the Year award.

Burgess was formerly strategy director at Frost* having been with the studio for over 10 years. She has led major rebrands for the Sydney Opera House, Broken Hill and the State Library of NSW and her broad experience covers clients such as Qantas, Sydney Airport, Frasers Property, Macquarie Group and Four Seasons Hotels.

The pair strengthen Designworks' capabilities in strategic branding and engagement and add expertise in beauty, fashion, F&B, luxury, property, cultural and destination branding.

Designworks chief executive officer, Sven Baker, says the new recruits form part of a larger plan to build the Designworks Group into a major player throughout the Australasian region. Designworks now has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Auckland and Wellington and is eyeing opportunities in Asia, and is part of the STW Group.

“Design thinking is becoming critically important in leading businesses in the face of a radically shifting consumer landscape. Not only do we help brands to position and identify them, we go far beyond into helping businesses to transform and become more accessible and appealing to their customers,” Baker said of the acquisition.