We speak to Ruth Brooker, Design Director at big fish, to discover more about their design philosophy, their award-winning works, and future projects.

Can you tell us a bit about big fish and yourself?

Hi, I’m Ruth, a Design Director at big fish. I joined as a fresh-faced junior 17 years ago when fax machines were still a thing and Instagram and Pinterest were not on our radar. I’m dyslexic paired with ADD, which makes me, me. My brain short wires, gets muddled, then distracted, which creates ideas. And I also can’t sit still for long, which means I have to work fast before I get distracted. I see this all as a positive!

We have a great team of 14 excellent humans, who dabble in design, copywriting, illustration, strategy and eating a lot of snacks. Oh, and a few dogs. As soppy as it is, it's this incredibly lovely team that has kept me there for so long.

How did you get involved in design?

I was always interested in art and drawing as a kid, but I knew I wasn’t going to make any money painting pictures of my dog all day. So, I tinkered in graphic design at the foundation and fell in love with the combination of being creative and having a problem to solve. Three years at Bath Spa University and an interview with Perry (our founder) later…here we are!

What is big fish’s area of expertise?

We are a 28-year-old brand, design, and marketing consultancy that specializes in helping businesses start, transform and grow as forces for good. We're best known for our entrepreneurial approach and even occasionally share risk by becoming shareholders in our clients.

Ivy’s Reserve, 2022 Pentawards Platinum Winner, Food

Congrats on winning the Food Platinum award in the 2022 competition! What is it like winning a Pentaward?

I was actually on maternity leave when we won. Snuggled on the sofa with a newborn baby, refreshing social channels every three seconds. When the exciting news went live, the designer in me wanted to jump up and down screaming and cracking open the bubbles. But the Mum in me didn’t dare move an inch and wake the baby. So I messaged the team and we celebrated silently with some cheese emojis for a bit!
I couldn’t be prouder of the team and this excellent wedge of cheese (it is delicious, you should try it).

Tell us about your winning pack - where did the idea come from?

The Clothier family, who own Wyke Farms, asked us to develop a specialty brand of premium cheddar to complement the range. Ivy was the family matriarch, whose uncompromising standards set such a high bar for the family and all of the team’s endeavours at Wyke. She used to save this cheese for Sunday best. And, now I save it for best (it doesn’t go in the kid's lunch boxes that’s for sure).

Ivy’s Reserve, 2022 Pentawards Platinum Winner, Food

The design nods to old trade labels and branding, which I have always adored. It puts the face of Ivy front and centre on the pack and at the heart of the premium range. I hope she would approve! The other wonderful thing about the Clothier family is they give back so much. I love all they do on the farm to make sure they tread lightly.

And what part of the project did you enjoy the most?

I loved presenting the design to the client. The Clothier family is such a pleasure to work with. It's true what they say, great clients make great work.
This was one of those rare projects (I know this doesn’t happen very often) when you sketch out an idea on a post-it note and it just works. The final design looks like that original post-it. I love a simple idea that can come across with a little scribble.

Picnic

Do you have any exciting projects coming up that you can share with us?

We always have lots of exciting projects on the go and in the pipeline. We're in the process of creating a range of 2,000 products for Picnic all of which are individually designed for the home rather than the supermarket shelf. This is one of the most ambitious and complex projects we've ever undertaken. We are also in the process of radically reforming the nappy category with a transformational re-brand of Bambino Mio and helping them remove two billion nappies from landfill every year. Watch this space!

Picnic

How do you manage to stay creative and find inspiration?

I keep my eyes open. I love looking at the past as I'm a bit of a hoarder of ephemera. But I also love seeing things hot off the press and how the new generations change the direction things are heading.
I find it fascinating to see the world through my boy's eyes. The naivety of children teaches you to keep things grounded and question the norm.

To you, what is the power of design?

Our goal as a business is to help make the right choice the easy choice for investors, innovators, policymakers, and, ultimately, consumers. We use design to achieve that through clear and compelling communication, transformation, and education and to inspire people to think differently and change.

We believe that design is fundamental to success, at every level in business as well as life. Whether that's the way a product or service is designed, supply chains are set up, a company's operations are configured, etc. That's why, as a B Corp, we're committed to harnessing the power of design to displace bad things with good things (or worse things in some cases). Design is how we make a difference.

Howdah

What would you say to your younger designer self, or to students wanting to get into the industry?

Enjoy it.

Care less about what people think.

Care about what you think.

Go with your gut.

Look after the future.

Oh, and for packaging, always make a mock-up and take it in-store.

Find out more about big fish here or follow the on LinkedIn.