Interview with designer Kevin Finn

Now Brisbane based, Kevin is an independent Strategic Communications Design and Branding Specialist. Irish born, Kevin graduated from the Limerick School of Art & Design with Honours.

He then moved to Dublin and found work with a communications agency working on major national financial and insurance organisations. It was at his second job that Kevin started working on clients from the entertainment industry such as U2 and Elvis Costello.

During the late 1990’s, Kevin moved from Dublin to Wellington, New Zealand, and then a year later to Sydney. Kevin spent many years as the joint Creative Director at Saatchi Design Sydney, working on major brands such as Lexus and Toyota, Westpac and Spicers Paper.

Kevin is an accomplished creative with many national and international design awards to his name. Kevin’s stand out projects in the past couple of years include the SBS rebrand, this year’s Brisbane Festival guide, DESIGNerd and Open Manifesto.

The first of these, SBS, is an interesting story. Kevin and his wife had relocated to Kununurra, a remote town in Western Australia. Most people would have said he was crazy! But it was from Kevin’s experience and location in a remote part of Australia, that made him more appealing to the SBS team when planning a rebrand for the world’s most multicultural broadcaster.

The Director of Marketing at SBS, Jacquie Riddell, described Kevin…

“His design sense is very strong, he’s very creative and his technical skills highly developed. But more significantly, he has a highly developed strategic view which is rare in designers and which contributed so much to the success of our project.”

Amongst his busy creative practice, Kevin is the founder, editor and designer of Open Manifesto, the first Australian-based journal of critical writing on design culture, focusing on design’s relationship with social, cultural, political and economic issues.

To date, there’s been 5 editions of Open Manifesto, and each edition features journal articles from leading designers from around the world. Check out the for information on purchasing the available editions.

For all the design enthusiasts out there, Kevin is also the mastermind behind the brand DESIGNerd. The 100+ trivia games push designers to the limit with their knowledge of their industry. The series includes signature volumes from some of the most significant international designers and thinkers practicing today, most notably Steven Heller, Lita Talarico and Stefan Sagmeister.

When asked about his creative practice, Kevin explains…

“I believe “design is knowledge” so my working process generally revolves around gathering as much information as possible about a subject and starting from a strategic point of view, before finding the most appropriate means to visualise that thinking.”

“I tend to enjoy complex challenges with the aim of simplifying them, so they can be accessed and understood quicker, and by a wider audience. I am much more comfortable (and effective) when I work ‘with’ my clients, as opposed to ‘for’ my clients.”

“And I am most engaged when I am learning something – and sharing that knowledge with others.”

How have you got to where you are today?

I started Finn Creative in 2007 as a result of taking a pretty radical decision – leaving Saatchi Design, Sydney (after seven years as Joint Creative Director) to follow my wife to Kununurra, one of the most remote towns in Western Australia.

There were no design studios in Kununurra, so I had to set up my own practice. We lived (and worked) in Kununurra for three years, before relocating to Brisbane in early 2010.

In a few words, describe yourself…

It’s always hard to describe oneself, as it always feels disingenuous and egocentric. However, to answer your question, I believe I am: a deep-thinker; strategic; curious about everything; and, I like to work outside category conventions.

But to use someone else’s words (which I feel incredibly fortunate to be able to do):

“Kevin is a keen entrepreneur of ideas… I feel he’s as original and sophisticated as you can get.”
Steven Heller, School of Visual Arts, New York.

What are you spending your time on at the moment?

There is a lot going on… I’m working on promoting my DESIGNerd 100+ trivia game series; I’m working with senior management on a proposal to the Board of an Australasian medical organisation; I’m working with the senior management of a major Brisbane-based organisation to help generate internal change agents and to help guide a significant communications plan; I’m speaking with a major not-for-profit organisation about developing a welcome kit for their new employees; And, I’m finally finishing the next issue of Open Manifesto;

There are also some other self initiated publication projects I am anxious to develop further; among other things…

Do you have a ritual for getting into the creative mindset? Or a creative process?

If I am incredibly tired it’s harder to get into a creative mindset. But the best way to do creative work is to know as much as possible about the subject you are engaged with.

The more you know, the more (creative and strategic) doors will open.

What or who inspires you?

It may sound like a cop-out – or boringly obvious – but there are many things which inspire me. Top of the list are (in no particular order): smart people, nature, life and learning.

What are you most proud of?

Again, there are many things I could say I am proud of, most of which would be small and personal and might have no value to anyone else – which is perfectly fine. Pride is not about ego. It is about personal satisfaction, and it’s usually about the simple things in life and helping other people.

But if we are speaking about my professional practice, I’m always happy when I can show my clients the benefits of thinking strategically about their brand and moving outside their category convention in order to distinguish themselves from their competitors.

Essentially, the goal is always to partner with my clients (rather than work ‘for’ them) so we can challenge each other to find new and better ways to reflect their business; to find solutions and opportunities we never would have considered previously.

As long as everything is based in a truth, and we have some fun, we usually do things we have never thought of. In these instances, I am incredibly proud to do what I do.

I’m also incredibly proud about rebranding SBS, since I’ve been an avid viewer for nearly a decade.

When you were a child, what did you want to be when you grew up?

I believe at one point I wanted to be a rubbish/garbage collector (because I would be able to get free lifts on the back of the rubbish truck). And at another point, I believe I wanted to be a fireman… I think.

See more of Kevin Finn’s artwork and read more artist interviews.