I got started a little late. In between painting graphics on my friends' skateboards and designing gig posters, I was convinced I had a better chance of being one of the world's greatest rock drummers than a graphic designer. A few weird and wildly unpopular bands later, I came to my senses and attended Grenadi School of Design and Award School in Melbourne.

What followed was a career built across some of New Zealand's biggest brands. Foodstuffs, Harcourts, GWA Group. I learned pretty quickly that great design isn't just about what looks good. It's about what works. Every brief is a business problem first. The design is just the solution made visible.

For the past four years I've operated as sole designer for GWA Group in New Zealand, working across brand, marketing, digital and product. That scope has changed the way I think. Less about individual executions, more about how design ladders up into a wider commercial strategy.

I'm now looking for a role where I can grow into marketing leadership, with a brand that takes both the craft and the thinking seriously.