Peter Allinson, Head of Design and Brand
The Head of Design & Brand and a multi-disciplined designer. Peter specialises in the areas of design, branding & creative direction, with a diverse portfolio of brand identities, motion graphics, print design, outdoor advertising and creative campaigns.
Peter began his career at the BBC as a designer; before moving into the world of branding and design agencies, where he worked his way up to lead designer. He soon becomes Head of Design at a creative agency in the heart of Soho, creating TV commercials and leading brand campaigns for clients across the world.
Today Peter is Head of Design and Brand at UKTV and BBC Studios, helping to build in-house creative teams that continue to produce award-winning work for their portfolio of brands.
Peter has a particular interest in building and inspiring teams to create rewarding brand experiences. Finding new and exciting ways to strengthen brands with ideas that challenge the status quo. Essentially, work that gets noticed and makes an impact. Clients include BBC, BT, Channel 4, Diageo, Disney, HSBC, Red Bull, Rolls-Royce, Sony Playstation, Universal Music, UKTV and Warner Bros.
At home, Peter is a husband and a father to two boys. Spending most of his spare time in the fields of Surrey with their two black Labradors. He is also a Chairman at his local Rugby club and Heaacd Coh of the minis, spending his Sunday mornings coaching children, come rain or shine.
What do you like about your current role?
I am head of Design and Brand at UKTV Creative, working across their entire portfolio of brands. We are also part of BBC Studios, opening up even more creative opportunities across the BBC network.
UKTV Creative is a multi-award-winning in-house advertising, branding and design agency at UKTV. We are responsible for creating all the on and off-air branding and advertising campaigns for our portfolio of channel brands, including Dave, W, Gold, Alibi, Yesterday, Eden and Drama. As well as our on-demand streaming service, UKTV Play Working in the fast-paced entertainment world, we are a diverse and multi-disciplined team who bring passion and energy to every project.
I have a dedicated design team that works across everything from visual identities to motion design, print to outdoor, social media to live events… and everything in between.
What are your favourite books?
There are a handful of books that have really inspired me recently: The first one is ‘Creativity, Inc by Ed Catcall. It is a great read about how to build creative teams and get the most out of them. It is full of innovation and wisdom and is required reading for any manager or creative leader.
Next up is ‘No Rule, Rules’, which is an insight into the culture of reinvention and reveals the secret sauce that has made Netflix so successful over the years. It’s an honest account of their company culture and how they try to do things differently. It’s great for anyone who creates, leads or strives to innovate.
Finally, ‘Emotion by Design’ is a great read containing creative leadership lessons from life at Nike. It’s an honest and inspiring account of a man at the forefront of creativity, as well as an insight into some of the most iconic marketing campaigns ever made. I also always keep ‘Michael Johnson: Branding’ and ‘Wally Ollins: Brand handbook’ close to hand.
Who do you most admire and why?
I admire many people from different disciplines and backgrounds for many different reasons.
These include giants such as Jony Ive, Edwin Catmull and Greg Hoffman. However, the most influential people thought my career had been the likes of Martin Lambie-Nairn (Branding Creative Director and Designer), Saul Bass (Graphic designer and filmmaker) and Kyle Cooper (American designer known for movie title sequences).
During my University days, I had an unhealthy obsession with the work of Saul Bass and Kyle Cooper which gave me a real passion for logo design and the art of opening title sequences for film and TV.
I also had a real interest in TV channel branding and was lucky enough to cut my teeth with former creative directors and alumni of Martin Lambie-Nairn for the first 5 years of my career.
I also admire Jacinda Ardern’s leadership style with a focus on empathy. The New Zealand PM says, “Too much focus on power and strength means leaders can lose sight of the need for kindness.” Empathy and kindness are leadership qualities that are usually under-appreciated and often overlooked, but some of the most important attributes of a modern leader.
What is the best advice you have ever received?
The best advice I have ever been given recently was during an executive leadership course at the Royal College of Art, where we discussed key leadership principles of Creativity, Clarity and Empathy.
Creativity: in the ways we experience the world and create better work.
Clarity: in the ways we communicate and gain better understanding.
Empathy: in the ways we treat others and always listen.
Three very simple values to lead your team and live your life by. The creative industry needs more leaders that put people first, strategy second. Leaders who believe that diversity enriches organisations and that impact is not just about money.
My biggest personal learning was something incredibly simple - to listen more - and to help understand the meaning behind what people say.
What motivates or inspires you?
My greatest passion is all areas of design that involve creative thinking and innovation, with a particular interest around branding, marketing campaigns and motion design.
I’m passionate about all areas of design that strengthen brands & produce engaging content that will make others sit up and take notice.
Brands such as Apple, Nike and Channel 4 constantly motivate and inspire me. However a number of very good creative agencies, such as Uncommon, SuperUnion and Wolff Olins also keep me on my toes and motivate me to work harder, and work smarter.
However, exceptional creative work can only be achieved with strong leadership; so I also have a passion for building teams to create inspiring & creative cultures of high performing individuals. I aim to create work that inspires others and encourages my team to do their best work and feel proud to come to work every day.
What would you like to highlight and share with our audience?
A lot of people tend to define professional success or achievement purely by awards or accolades - a behaviour that I am also guilty of at times. However, what I am slowly beginning to realise is that the greatest achievement you can have is to be proud of the work you are doing; and to be able to look back with a sense of joy and appreciation of what you have achieved.
Pride is powerful tool to keep you motivated and to help inspire others. It also allows you to enjoy the work that you are doing, rather than loathe it. I believe that as creative thinkers and doers, a positive attitude only leads to better things. If you approach a project with an agenda or a negative attitude, you are either destined to fail, or produce work that isn’t particularly inspiring.
Finally... the key to greater creativity is to not take your work (or life for that matter) too seriously. The sheer naivety, curiosity and recklessness we used to have as children is often lost as we grow up and gain more responsibilities. We are lucky enough to be in an industry in which having fun and trying new ideas should be encouraged. So don’t lose that childlike enthusiasm where creativity has no bounds. Lose some of your inhibitions and start creating work you can be proud of.