From Intern to Director: Introducing our new DD

Over the last year we’ve grown our design team in size and expertise. Now we need someone to help lead them. And who better than our newest Design Director, and Robot Food veteran, Chris?

Chris first got in touch in 2014 in search of an internship. Hoping to get his foot in the door, he sent us a book he’d made; ‘Why Bother?’ – a collection of satirical charcoal sketches that poked fun at the design industry. These, along with a playful business card, immediately caught our Founder Simon’s attention and he got straight on the phone. Impressed when he asked how many agencies Chris had sent the book to and he replied "Just you because I want to work at Robot Food.”

From there came a month’s placement and we got a taste of what he could do.

Granted, his design skills did need some finessing, but it was clear Chris had a creative mind and the enthusiasm to go far. So not long after, he joined us full time as a junior, cutting his teeth on his first commercial project – illustrations and copy for Cadbury’s Mini Rolls. Since then he’s been climbing the ranks, cooking up some incredible creative for global clients including Carlsberg Group and Arla as a senior.

Starting in his new role as Design Director he’ll be using his eight years of experience with us to mentor and offer support to all our designers. He joins Steph to lead our design function and make sure every project always has the Robot Food seal of approval.

Chatting about his promotion Chris says:

“I’m super excited to step up to Design Director. My whole career has been shaped by Robot Food and over the years I’ve seen the business grow and evolve, learning plenty along the way.

When I was a junior designer I had loads of help and guidance from our Creative Director Martin and other designers past and present. Now I’m looking forward to passing my baton of knowledge onto the new generation of juniors.”

After taking a chance on him all those years ago, both Martin and Simon agree that their gamble has well and truly paid off.

“Chris is a far cry from the shy student we first met”, says Martin. “His creativity, work ethic, and bizarre sense of humour embodies everything we’re about so it’s been amazing to watch him go from strength to strength. That’s the magic of Robot Food, we hire people who have the right attitude and then spend time nurturing their talent.”

“Ultimately we hired Chris because we liked hanging out with him”, adds Simon. “And eight years later we still like hanging out with him. He’s become a massive part of the DNA of our brand and our output.”