Dylan Griffith: Scale and Reach …

Dylan Griffith’s presentation actually took the form of an interview conducted by Adrian Shaughnessy, who tried to get an understanding of how and why Dylan got to where he is today both as Creative consultant for the MTV World Design Studio in Milan and also co-owner of a branding company called Smorgasbord.

Dylan Griffith and Adrian Shaughnessy, Photo: Gerhard Kassner

Dylan’s journey went something like this: he trained as a typographer at Reading, he then attempted to become a drummer, he went travelling with two friends and they documented their journey which on his return got him commissioned by S4C as a director, he then lived in Melbourne for a few years and worked in a studio, he returned to Wales and was doing promo design for the BBC and then landed the job of being Creative Director of the rebrand of S4C, and the rest as they say is history.

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He talked about the pressure of being a Creative Director which Adrian likened to be on the pitch as a player but also the referee. At the end of the day even though he is not designing it is his neck on the line, he mentions the fact that there are lots of studios out there but not many good ones and people don’t always deliver what you’re expecting. To tackle this he feels duty-bound to get MTV’s needs across to the creatives he works with to make the process as easy as possible.

A pearl of wisdom to be gained from Andrew’s experiences is that small chains work. In his instrumental roles as Creative Director of both the S4C and MTV rebrand, he worked with only one other person from the company and the creative. He believes working directly with the decision makers is the best way to work and inspires the creatives they work with also.

Dylan Griffith

Dylan Griffith

Dylan is a designer and creative director who divides his time between Amsterdam, London and Cardiff. He is currently a creative consultant to the MTV World Design Studio based in Milan – a multidisciplinary studio that exclusively provides creative direction for the MTV brands within Viacom International Media Networks ­– brands and identities that are consumed by an audience of 578 million households worldwide. Dylan spearheaded the corporation’s first international rebrand that launched in 2009 and recently refreshed the Channel’s whole look and feel in July 2011. When not aiming to please mass youth audiences with motion design Dylan consults for Smörgåsbord, a studio he co-owns that offers ‘Branding, Strategy and Art Direction – a selection of good things’. Here he engages with smaller brands that are often only beginning their journey. Whilst drawn by the contrasts in scale, reach and person-ability between ‘big & small’ he applies the same rigorous thought process – never compromising on the purity of an idea or its execution. Future studio projects involve an architectural and civic slant that will lead to city and country branding. Prior to working with the MTV brand Dylan was the Creative Director of S4C where he rebranded the channel in 2007 and before that he was a Promo Director at the BBC.

To finish he showed us a cleverly thought out animation of 10 brands they have developed at Smorgasbord. For him this is his release and his opportunity to put his design skills to fruition and rightly so.

Text: Lynsey Power, Graphic BirdWatching