Mr Greg Branson
Greg’s passion is the research and development of methods that improve design management and design’s role in business.
With Carol Mackay he established Mackay Branson design in 1984. They built the practice up to employ 11 designers with clients in government, insurance, hardware and pharmaceutical sectors. Underpinning this growth was the development of systems and methods that managed the design process. Greg was responsible for new business development using skills developed in marketing agencies in Melbourne and Sydney.
Outside of DBC, Greg has long been involved in the Australian design community with a two year term as President of the Australian Graphic Design Association (AGDA) Victoria and a national councilor for AGDA. In 2005 he co-founded the Design Business Council to provide design management professional development for designers and design clients.
With Carol, Greg has traveled in Europe, the USA and UK to research the role of design in business. He is a member of the US based Design Management Institute (DMI) an organisation that conducts extensive research into design management, design practice, design strategy, design thinking and design effectiveness.
Greg is active on a range of curriculum committees, at VCE, TAFE and University level having served five years as Chair of the industry advisory committee for the Communication Design at the Royal Melbourne Institute of Technology University.
He also delivers regular lectures to undergraduate and post graduate design students and academic staff at Australian Universities.
Contact Greg for a chat 0412 762 04 or [email protected]
Experience
Mackay Branson Design
Director
Involvement
Year | Position | Branch |
---|---|---|
2004 | President | Victoria |
2002 | VIC National Representative | National |
2002 | Vice President | Victoria |
2000 | Councillor | Victoria |
1998 | Councillor | Victoria |
Expertise
Selected clients
Articles

Onlyness = client loyalty
Why are some clients loyal while others just flit from design agency to design agency on a whim? Onlyness is the...

Client briefs that explain the real job to be done
Briefs that describe the REAL job to be done. The death last week of Clay Christensen led me to think more about the role he inadvertently played...

Cost on hours - sell on value
The challenge for any service business is that time is a limited resource. If you cost on hours the only way to earn more money is to work more...

Design in business = value-add
Most designers have no doubt they add value for clients. The problem – for them, and their clients – is they can’t quantify the value....

Shorter work week + increased profits
We know from experience, and mentoring many Australia design studios, you can reduce the number of working hours and at the same time increase...

Designers aren’t slaves
I’ve been around the design industry a long time.I’ve seen all types of design businesses.I’ve seen the patriarchal approach that...

I don't have time to work ON my business
I’m hearing this a lot lately. In one way it shows our industry is healthy. Most agency owners I talk to are up to their ears in work. Or are...

The secret to value pricing design
Value pricing will only work with some clients because as an industry we've spent far too long selling our services by the hour. We need to accept...

Are Australian designers too conservative?
Recent research shows that Australian businesses rank very poorly when it comes to taking business risks. The same research identified that being...

From contact to client ...
From contact to client ... So you've built a client contact list as long as your arm. It's ready for that day when you finally get around to...

Is the design studio model failing?
Is the design studio model failing?. Will the current design studio model survive in a gig economy where design execution is commoditised? Is the...

Work, mental health and profitability
Work, mental health and profitability. Getting the right mix of mental health, working hours and productivity in a design studio is a difficult...

How 'design mature' are your clients?
How 'design mature' are your clients?. Business maturity is an accepted area of examining a businesses capabilities. The idea of business maturity...

New business dev: it’s staring us in the face
New business dev: it’s staring us in the face. The old adage ‘80% of your business can come from 25% of your clients” has been proven true...

New business dev is bloody hard work
New business dev. is bloody hard work. To grow a design practice, it’s obvious that you need a constant supply of work either from existing...

Clients behaving badly
Clients behaving badly. Clients are under increasing pressure to produce products and services quicker. This has caused them to short change...

Clients are from Mars...
Clients are from Mars... Have you been asked to supply a rate card for each level of designer in your studio? Have you been asked to set up a...

Design internships: opportunity or exploitation
Design Internships: opportunity or exploitation. In my work with design agency owners I'm often asked for advice on employing interns. This got me...

Designing the stress free studio
Designing a stress free studio . Some will say that 'stress free studio' is an oxymoron. From our first weeks in a design course we were told...

Are you really innovative?
Are you really innovative?. Who doesn’t want to be innovative? It may not be your positioning statement or used prominently on your web site but...

Design Business Council
Make it more 'edgy'
Make it more 'edgy'. Recently in Perth over a coffee I caught up with Marcus Taylor from Studio Papa and the conversation as always turned to...

A strategy that turned a loss into a profit
A strategy that turned a loss into a profit. I had the best week in Perth. One of my meetings was with a designer I have been mentoring for the...

Design Business Council
Costing and Pricing - a global issue
Costing and Pricing - a global issue. From undergraduate designers to seasoned professionals the question is always the same. 'How do we cost...

Design Business Council
When strategy fails
When strategy fails. Price Waterhouse Coopers research shows that most businesses are failing to fully implement their strategies. Their research...

I'm too busy to get new business
I'm too busy to get new business. If you’re too busy then you need new business. That’s the conundrum. Perhaps you are doing a high volume of...
I'm too busy to get new business
I'm too busy to get new business. If you’re too busy then you need new business. That’s the conundrum. Perhaps you are doing a high volume of...

The design business leadership gap
The design business leadership gap. The Australian design scene has matured rapidly in the last five years. We are seeing design agencies become a...

Design Business Council
Talking money with clients
Talking money with clients. At a recent AGDA event Dan Johnson, Group Director of Creative and Strategy at Hoyne said he opens the discussion with...

Design Business Council
I know what clients want...
I know what clients want... Understanding client wants and needs is not easy. Many clients approach designers with the 'problem' already solved;...

Design Business Council
Scaling up a design business
Scaling up a design business. In the hundreds of design agencies I've worked with over the past decade I've noted that the major issue they face...

Better clients, better work – the ‘LEAN’ way
Better clients, better work – the ‘LEAN’ way. In the process of developing concepts, designers do extensive research and develop strategies...

Interns, grads, why it’s harder now...
Interns, grads, why it’s harder now... In the next month or so, in Australia, there will be approximately 2000 graphic designers graduating into...

Australian design - all dressed up and nowhere to go
Australian design – all dressed up and no place to go. There are exciting opportunities and tremendous challenges ahead for the Australian...

Working in London
inspiration
Working in London - inspiration. The UK design industry has long been the leader in measuring and proving design value.In the late 90s they...

Design Business Council
Designing Studio Culture
Designing studio culture. I have recently been doing a lot of work with studios who are wanting to sort out workflow. This has lead to looking at...

Design Business
Designing Human Experience
Designing human experience. The emphasis on just designing service features has been superseded. Clients and designers now have to consider the...

Value of Design
Add design value within your studio
Add design value within your studio We spend a lot of time talking about adding value for clients but how much thought goes into adding value...

Design Business
Hunters and Farmers
It’s easy for studios to fall into the habit of chasing new business only from existing customers. We all know the 80/20 rule where 80% of our...

Design Effectiveness
You Can't Measure Design
You can’t measure design. That’s what some people tell me but I think that design leaders should be championing design effectiveness. In my...
Design Effectiveness
You Can't Measure Design
You can’t measure design. That’s what some people tell me but I think that design leaders should be championing design effectiveness. In my...

Freelancing
Looking after freelancers
At least someone is looking after freelancers. In the land that has given us Donald Trump there is some hope yet. The following has been released...

Design Business Council
Employee behaviour and design pitches
Employee behaviour and design pitches. I recently reread an article about CEOs on the Wolff Olins Report. It led me to thinking about how we...

Design Business Council
Shifting design from tactical to strategic
Shifting design from tactical to strategic. A fundamental idea of business is that companies have goals and customers have needs. The fulfillment...

Design Business Council
Proving a return on design investment
Proving a return on design investment. One of the reasons for publishing The business of design is our belief that Australia needs to increase...

Design Business Council
Managing client relationships
Managing client relationships. My observation is that clients want to work with designers (rather than ad agencies) because they feel they are...

Design Business Council
When clients say they are innovators…
When clients say they are innovators…. In my work with design studio owners I often hear that clients have asked for design that shows they are...

Design Business Council
Building a mature, strategic design studio
Building a mature, strategic design studio. Attaining high levels of strategic maturity in a design studio is no easy task. A studio that wants to...

Design Business Council
How designers are disrupting – themselves
How designers are disrupting – themselves. After three years of working with more than 100 design studios I’ve developed an understanding of...

Design Business Council
Why do clients choose you?
Why do clients choose you?. A simple question but the answer can have a major impact on new business development. In the past two years I have...

Design Business Council
Dealing with price sensitive clients
Dealing with price sensitive clients. In a lot of my workshops and mentoring sessions, I constantly hear that clients are getting more price...

Design Business Council
Do you know what your competitors offer?
Do you know what your competitors offer?. I am currently mentoring nearly 30 design studios across the country. One of the first questions I ask...

Design Business Council
Standing out in a crowded design marketplace
Is design education helping build design businesses?. I have just completed workshops and mentoring in Adelaide and Perth where I met with a...

Design Business Council
The Black Art of Pricing
In my mentoring and workshops the question of pricing always crops up. It is a constant concern for studios of all sizes. Senior business managers...

Design Business Council
Grow your business - the old fashioned way
Many studios use EDMs to communicate with their clients, but there are some who have not given up on the old fashioned way of 'push marketing'...

Design Business Council
Design thinking has failed
Design thinking has failed. Design thinking has worn out its stay. There is so much hype about it and not enough definition of it. The business...

Design Business Council
Empathy the key to selling design value
Empathy mapping: put yourself in your clients’ shoes. I think that the best way to convince a client about the value of design is to understand...

Design Business Council
Print design effective in government communications
Print design effective with local government communications. Research has found that Australians find websites, personalised direct mail and...

Design Business Council
Charging Higher Prices for Design
We design to elicit responses from people. We want them to buy something, read more, or take an action of some kind.The value-add for clients comes...

Design Business Council
Turn clients into brand-guided companies
According to recent research by Wolff Olins*, brand-guided companies significantly outperform their competitors. The research showed that...

Design Business Council
Developing a strategy for your studio
When we started out I believed that building a design business was all about knocking on doors and selling our services. You just set up a sales...
Design Business Council
Design drives shareholder value
Design-driven companies outperform the S&P 500 by 219%. Over the past decade I have spent a considerable amount of time trying to devise a...

Design Business Council
Design management = growth
I recently commented on the way that Australia lags Europe in design management.This resulted in a number of people contacting me and asking me to...