Blurr Bureau on cultivating transparency and bringing a balance of “head and heart” to every project

Located in the creative hotspots of New York and Melbourne, Blurr Bureau is a brand design and venture studio dedicated to working with ambitious creators, founders and leaders. Harnessing founder Jessica Dimcevski’s 15+ years of experience and unwavering curiosity, Blurr creates authentic and impactful brands through empathy, intuition, and by tapping into their collective strength in strategy, research, and design. After a quick gander at their body of work, we were interested to peel back the layers a bit. What is it about their process and dynamic as a team that sets them apart? And what hurdles have they overcome to get here? We chat with Dimcevski alongside Creative Director Caitlin Kennedy Bradley who give us a glimpse into their global perspective, their priorities as a collective, and their vision for the future of Blurr.

I wanted to create a workplace where people can be themselves inside and outside of work.

PT Hi Jessica and Caitlin! How has the new year been treating you?

JD 2024 is the Year of the Dragon in the Chinese zodiac – my favourite (coming from a dragon) so it’s been full of momentum, possibilities, and high energy. We’ve kicked off the year with some really exciting new branding projects with some innovative client partners, including a hospitality group, a non-alcoholic wine brand, and a cutting-edge skin cancer treatment provider.

Bureau-wise, the collective continues to grow – we’re currently hiring a senior designer for our Melbourne studio, and we’ve assembled a new team of talent in New York. Personally, I’m currently planning my own wedding, so it’s safe to say there is no slowing down for me this year.

CB The energy is real. For me, this year is all about reconnecting – with passions, people, hobbies, and goals that we all seem to sacrifice with the pace of life. Joining the Blurr team is absolutely a part of that. I’m getting back to the work that I truly love and it feels SO GOOD!

PT Jessica, for those who are not familiar with Blurr Bureau, could you tell us a bit about the studio and what led you to founding it?

JD So many reasons. But in a nutshell, I wanted to create a workplace where people can be themselves inside and outside of work. Blurr Bureau was born with the vision of challenging the conventional agency model. I wanted to build a creative model that nurtures innovation, with a structure that allows creatives to shine by removing layers of hierarchy, and instead provides more transparency and accountability on both the client and agency end. I believe this fosters an environment of being able to stay connected to culture, and create more meaningful brands that leave a positive impact on the world.

PT Take us through the process of setting up your New York team. Why did you expand to the Northern Hemisphere? Also, is anything going to change about the way the studio works, with this new and bigger team?

CB Jess and I actually worked together in New York early on in our career – we were both designers at Redscout in New York in 2017 – and we held it down aside some of the most brilliant strategists I’ve ever worked with. This foundation of collaboration has made our bi-continental setup pretty seamless! We essentially work on a 24-hour clock, which means we can be extremely efficient and nimble when we need to be. With this setup, there’s really no limit to what we can do! The biggest change will be bigger projects and higher stakes – and that’s exactly what we’re looking for.

JD Yes, Caitlin and I go way back to my early days of living and working in New York. It was an expansive time in my personal and professional life –moving from Melbourne to this huge city, full of characters and culture, it opened my eyes to a whole new creative world. What stood out to me was the confidence people have in New York. They know themselves and aren’t afraid to express it.

When I started considering how to expand Blurr into a new market, New York was just the obvious choice given what I wanted to create. I’m lucky to have such an extensive network in the city, including Caitlin with her brilliance and talent; taking her on as our US Creative Director was a no-brainer for me. Blurr had already been successfully working with a few clients in the northern hemisphere and the opportunity to work with global clients is always something that has excited me. We’re looking forward to working with more US brands in 2024!

The best part about the work we do is getting people re-inspired.

PT What kind of projects and people are you most drawn to?

CB It’s tempting to limit yourself to a niche, or an industry, or a type of product, but the first thing I look at is the starting line. How far are you from where you want to be? I call this the ambition delta, and the greater the delta, the greater my excitement! This can mean you have a product but not a brand, you have a brand in need of a refresh, or you have a brand that feels stuck or limited. For me, the best part about the work we do is getting people re-inspired; drawing a clear path from their current brand to their ambition.

JD Similar to Caitlin, I love projects that are challenging, breaking industry norms or leading innovation. I approach all projects with the brain of a Creative Director, Strategist and Founder, so I can be practical with solutions, and also know when to push the creative boundaries. At the end of the day, I’m still a graphic designer at heart, so projects which allow for both digital and physical applications are always fun for me.

My fiancé works in the hospitality industry, so I also enjoy branding projects for hospitality venues. You get to see the brand come to life in a physical space with wayfinding and menus, in addition to the interiors; a curation of hung art and venue styling with objects and artists that align with the brand story. Refining every step of the customer experience with all the sensors in mind, and ceasing all opportunities for storytelling along the way.

PT What would you say is the one thing about Blurr Bureau that really sets it apart as a design studio?

CB One thing that sets us apart is the bureau model itself. We’ve all worked together in the past, or are connected by one degree of separation. Jess has created a gravitational pull that has brought some of my favourite people back into my orbit, as well as introduced a few new favourites in my life! Because of this, we have an unmatched level of trust and collaboration.

PT As a global bureau, how does your international presence and perspective influence your approach to branding projects?

JD Being global significantly shapes our approach to branding projects – Blurr's strength lies in our extensive talent community, a dynamic pool of over 70 creatives across the globe. The amalgamation of diverse backgrounds, work experience, and specializations within our community enhances the depth and breadth of what we can offer our clients. Branding has become its own universe, you see so many job ads listing over 20 specialist skills that a senior designer must have – whilst there are definitely those creative enigmas in the industry, we prefer to collaborate with specialized creatives as it pushes the work further.

Being a global bureau also brings a distinct advantage in terms of time zones. With Australia consistently working a day ahead (yes, we’re in the future), we utilize this for projects demanding faster turnarounds. This allows us to maintain almost continuous workflow, ensuring agility and responsiveness to meet our clients’ needs.

PT What are some unique challenges and opportunities you’ve encountered in working with clients from different countries and cultures?

JD Time zones that work for everyone. However, that’s pretty easy to overcome now that we are a more global team. A unique challenge is just everyone trying to interpret all the Australian slang that slips out occasionally, but that usually ends with a laugh. But seriously, the beauty of having a global network is when we need to tap into a local culture, we can find locals to partner with. We recently partnered with a creative studio in Portland for a local venue concept which was fun!

Different industries have different local legal limitations, for example, pharma and alcohol. We always ensure we have an expert on the project, someone who has experience in the industry, or is familiar with local laws and culture. This always adds to the value of a project, and helps better support the client. I wouldn’t say I view anything as particularly challenging – more an opportunity to expand our knowledge as a team and get the right people on the project.

PT How do you ensure that your team maintains a collaborative approach in order to deliver successful projects?

JD Communication is key! The way we collaborate is something that is ever-evolving – operationally we have brought on an incredible new Managing Director Lisa Ramsay, who is working on introducing new systems to continue to improve our communication and best business practices as a global team into 2024.

I’m a Figma advocate, we use it to work and communicate internally as a global team when it comes to creative. We also use Figma to collaborate with our clients, to present work and receive feedback. It’s a one-stop shop! We prioritize daily design check-ins with project teams, our account managers are all incredibly proactive and keep us in line. Most of the time, you see a brand as a polished finished project that is delivered to the world in all its beautiful glory, what people don’t see is the village of people it took to produce it and the million Figma tabs with different trains of thought and exploration that lead to it. So beyond communication and collaboration, I believe it’s important to acknowledge everyone’s contribution to projects, not just the creative output.

PT You’ve recently worked on two founder-launched projects, with Flings and The Department of Bed Intentions. In these two cases, were there any instances where you pushed the client to take risks or steered the brand to newer spaces?

JD Both the founders of Flings and Bed Intentions are incredibly ambitious, and we were lucky that they trusted us to help them push their brands forward. Our project with Flings took over two years. We went through everything with them from market research, to naming, tone of voice, packaging and their entire website. We were constantly pushing for them to make everything more ownable to the brand story, for example, transforming their flavours to centre around heat (as a toaster product): Hot Chocolate and Sticky Cinnamon instead of just chocolate and cinnamon.

Bed Intentions started out with a completely different name before it was handed to us, and as a singular product idea (lubricant only). After collaborating with the founder, we were able to blur the lines between categories and create a brand world first of its kind, a sex and sleep brand, allowing for future innovation in the product line.

A successful brand identity is like a funhouse mirror.

PT When working to launch a new brand in close collaboration with its founder, how do you measure the success of an identity or brand system you’ve delivered?

CB Founders have a vision, we make it visual. A successful brand identity is like a funhouse mirror; it should reflect the founder’s vision back to them, but also warp and distort it to reveal exciting new versions of itself.

One of the most inspiring founders I’ve worked with is Christina Tosi. When developing the brand identity for Milk Bar, her ambition, motivation, and personality were key pillars for every design decision. We focused the system on honoring the DIY spirit of her founding story, but refined components to scale with her ambitions for the business. This allowed for a seamless translation from the core hospitality business to e-commerce, to a nationwide CPG launch in Target and Whole Foods.

Great brand design solves for the current brand needs, but also unlocks new potential that makes innovation and scale feel effortless.

JD Our clients are all incredibly ambitious and driven – a lot of the time in the case of founder brands, it’s a personal passion that they have turned into a business idea, so it is a big responsibility on our end to help craft someone’s dream into a reality. Most of our clients are from referrals, so I see that as a measure of success.

We view our clients as creative collaborators, and our most important measure of success is their satisfaction with the entire process and the opportunities our brand system creates for them. Whether that’s a seamless UX which results in sales that exceed expectations (we saw Flings had $70k+ sales in the first month of launching), or the opportunity to go into a major retailer because of a standout brand and packaging solution.

Our aim is not only to build financially successful brands but also to ensure our clients have a positive experience, feeling secure to explore boundaries and take calculated risks. We also gauge success by the usability of the delivered brand system for its intended audience, recognizing that many new brands start with small in-house teams or just themselves. We prioritize providing assets with clear application rules but that can also flex and evolve over time (gone are strict style guides that are set in stone), making them not only functional but also enjoyable to use.

PT What are some of the goals on Blurr Bureau’s horizon?

JD Continuing to attract people/brands who aren’t afraid to take calculated creative risks. And growing our US team and client base. America is one of the most competitive brand landscapes in the world, and therefore the brand challenges and ambitions of founders and marketing teams creates a perfect playground, where the people we work with are willing to take bigger risks, as they know it’s often needed in a noisy industry to stand out. This is super exciting to me.

CB Yes to calculated creative risks! When we look at trends in brand design over the past 15 years, it’s clear that we’re entering a shift in brand and business. The 2010s were defined by ‘disruptors’ – brands who transformed traditional industries and commodities by introducing D2C models and end-to-end experiences centring design and lifestyle. Now that the playbook is written, and infinite brands have entered the chat – so what’s next? As a studio, I’m excited to work with ambitious founders to identify the right risks, and create the next generation of era-defining brands.

Blurr Bureau