Interviews
Meet Danny Crossley, the latest designer to join our team.
Danny is a graphic designer from the UK. “I would describe myself as a sports and outdoors enthusiast, with my biggest passion being snowboarding. I’m a really positive person who loves to be creative and tackle new ambitions and goals.”
GW: Saying ‘welcome’ feels weird because you’ve been with Noise since the New Year, but welcome anyway! How does it feel to be part of the team?
DC: I hate speaking about myself! But it feels awesome. Everyone is so cool and nice and insanely talented. It’s so inspiring to be working with everyone and I feel like I’m gonna learn so much being here. It’s been a very busy first month, but really really good. And it’s gone so fast!
GW: It has! First of all, I’d love to hear more about how you got into design. Can you tell us a bit more about your journey from first discovering graphic design to starting here with us?
DC: The first time I realised I was interested in design was through snowboarding. I love snowboarding — it’s my biggest passion. As a kid I remember looking at snowboard graphics and loving them, even back then. My favourite thing about them has always been illustrations and the bright colours snowboard brands use. So initially I wanted to design snowboards — this was the first thing about design that excited me excitement — and this was from a super young age.
I started messing around with illustrator. I was playing around with my own little designs and I loved the idea of putting them on the base of a snowboard. At school I did fine art, but I was the worst painter ever. Seriously! So I did all my A-levels and GCSE’s in illustrator. I had an amazing teacher who encouraged the digital expression of my creativity — and from then on I knew I wanted to be a graphic designer and illustrator.
I got told about this course called Shillington by a friend, and as soon as I got started there things really came together for me. I just absolutely loved graphics, communicating ideas in a simple way, and getting people to feel something. It’s why I also love photography and videography — these are two other creative channels I use that get people to feel something.
After I graduated I started working for a graphic design agency called Buffalo 7, which is a presentation design agency. Whenever a designer says ‘presentation design’ you hear people gasping — no designer wants to design presentations! But I learnt so much being there and I actually really loved it. After a while I decided that I really wanted to travel the world — travelling is another big passion of mine — and particularly I wanted to travel so I could snowboard and surf. So I freelanced for 2–3 years while I travelled. Then I got a 3 month gig freelancing for the BBC back in the UK, which ended up rolling on for 2 years! Luckily they didn’t make me come into the office — I do not suit that environment at all!
And then I stumbled across Noise!
GW: What an amazing journey. I love the idea of you travelling the world while doing what you love for work. How was your experience being a freelancer? What did you learn?
DC: I freelanced as a graphic designer, photographer and videographer. When I was travelling I was doing stuff for lots of surf camps. It was a great way for me to pay for my stay. I remember it just being such a fun time and a great way of travelling and seeing the world. I made no money whatsoever [laughing], but I travelled the world doing what I love. So what could be better than that?
In terms of learning, I did tonnes of different design work; logo design, presentation design — all sorts. It built my mentality of, ‘if I don’t know how to do it, I’ll just learn and teach myself how”.
GW: I absolutely love that approach and attitude to learning. What part of design interests you the most?
DC: Illustrations, for sure. I find illustrations so interesting. There are so many different styles and I think how different people interpret art is so cool and so vast. Learning new illustration styles is one of my favourite thing to do.
I also love typography — the power of typography is amazing. I’ve recently got into calligraphy — I’m absolutely awful at it but I am obsessed with it and hoping one day I’ll properly learn it.
GW: How would you describe your approach to design? Is there something about your process or style that makes you uniquely, ‘you’?
DC: I don’t know! That’s a tricky one. I don’t think I have a unique approach necessarily, but I first try to figure out what the problem is, and then the solution. Once I’ve done this I move on to design, and try to dig into lots of different styles and expressions of how that solution could look.
In terms of style I also don’t think I have a style. I guess at the moment I’m still trying to figure that out. At the BCC I had to do so many different styles because I was designing the covers for the different podcasts. So I just had to learn tonnes of different design and illustration styles so that the grid looked varied. I guess what’s unique is that I can do a bunch of different styles, but maybe one day I’ll have had enough time as a designer to figure out what’s ‘me’.
GW: Where do you find your creative inspiration? Is there anything that is influencing your work a lot at the moment?
DC: I love this question. The design course I did called Shillington taught me to find inspiration not just from a website or a moodboard, but to find your inspiration from everywhere — especially your surroundings. I think this is why I love travelling so much — it’s my best way of finding creative inspiration. For example, a menu, a logo on a sign, the way different languages look. Trying to figure out why people have made design choices for certain things is endlessly inspiring. So I would have to say that travelling and seeing how other people design and communicate is my favourite way of getting inspired.
But apart from that, Behance and all that jazz is the best way for me on a day-to-day basis.
GW: What is your favourite type of brief? And if you could have one dream project or client, who would they be?
DC: Definitely anything connected to my passions — snowboarding and surfing. Any brief with a brand in that space is an absolute win. So working at Noise is absolutely epic for this! Any time I’m passionate about a project, I get obsessed with it and just want it to be great. It’s an extra bonus if the brand is doing something for a greater good, especially planet and sustainability related.
And in terms of a dream brief, it would have to be to design a snowboard. I’m yet to design one, but this is a dream!
GW: You describe yourself as “a sports and outdoors enthusiast, with my biggest passion being snowboarding”. What is it about snowboarding that you love so much?
DC: Oh my gosh, everything! Being at one with nature is just so freeing. In the park, hitting the powder — it’s another form of creative expression for me. If I learn different tricks or hits that no-one has ever done — there is no greater feeling for me. This and maybe surfing are the only sports in the world where you feel so at one with nature. For me it’s about freedom, but also feeling at home. This is how I feel when I’m snowboarding.
There have been so many times where I’m out with my brothers where we just think “this is what dreams are made of”. I absolutely love it.
GW: Obviously sports and the outdoors are areas that we, as an agency, work in a lot! Do you think that having a personal interest in sports and the outdoors gives you an ‘edge’ when designing, so to speak?
DC: I don’t know if it gives me an edge, but it becomes such an obsession because of my passion that I become really invested in these projects. If it’s outdoors, snow or surf related, I’m naturally just going to want to make it absolutely amazing.
GW: Finally, what are you most excited about now you’re part of the Noise crew?
DC: I’m excited about getting into different parts of the design process. I’ve always just been a graphic designer — like I’ve always had a really clear brief where they know what they want and I help them achieve that. But I’m really looking forward to the new dimension of figuring out what the problem is and what we think the solution is. Advising the client on these bigger issues around branding and having a solutions based approach — I’m really stoked about this.
If you are a brand or business experiencing change or growth (or if you’re just doing something pretty awesome), we would love to hear from you. We are not for everyone. And that’s a good thing.
Noise Studio is an international creative agency working at the intersection of digital and branding. We create unexpected design solutions for some of the most exciting names in sports, outdoors and sustainability.
Written by Georgia Watt, Brand Strategist & Designer at Noise
