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30 September 2020

Interview with a designer - Joe Bembridge

Joe worked in-house in Norway for four months before finishing his degree at Sheffield Hallam University. Two days later he landed a job here at Brandon to become our first full-time designer.

What made you want to be a designer?

As a kid I was obsessed with drawing. I’m guessing that I never grew up.

Where do you get your inspiration from?

Pretty much anywhere, but small independent shops like farm shops are great for inspiration. They’re full of small and emerging brands that show great creative ideas and executions. 

What piece of work at Brandon are you most proud of and why?

Webbox Naturals. This is one of my favourite projects that I’ve worked on at Brandon.

Like a lot of pet brands, the previous design was merging into residual pet food codes and was losing stand out. That meant we had the freedom to really push this brand, and create some really unique and iconic assets. I can’t wait to see this one pop on the shelves. 

What category would you love to work on that you have yet to do?

Environmental branding. I’d love to design something that doesn’t just fill your hand, but an entire room.

Just for fun questions

Guilty: Bovril (love a mug of Bovril)

Fave movie: Step Brothers

Fave brand in the world: BrewDog

I’m the second person to use this as an example. For me, what makes them so great is the fact that they’re constantly on the ball and ahead of the fight for relevance. All the time they come out with countless great campaigns that have an impact. The ‘street dog campaign’ was a great idea where they partnered with Ricky Gervais’ rehoming dog charity, wrapping the cans with dogs that people could adopt.

You can take 3 things (not people) with you to a desert island what would they be:

  1. Archie - my mad Cocker Spaniel
  2. Beer
  3. PJs