Meet Ethan, a pure creative, and not a bad tennis player

Can you tell us a bit about your background?

I grew up constantly creating and drawing things, and when I wasn’t doing that I was running around playing far too many sports for my poor parents to transport me to. Once I found out I could make a living from being creative all other aspirations fell away. I feel fortunate to have found my direction early.

What were you doing before you joined Octave?

I was a Senior Designer at another Wellington digital agency. However I had to take a few years off to recover from a series of concussions.

What interested you most about working at Octave?

I had worked at Octave a few years prior just on a short contract before I went to Canada and had really enjoyed it. So when an opportunity presented itself I knew I wanted to come back and work with a great group of people and make top-notch work.

I heard you’re a Table Tennis and Tennis enthusiast. Tell me about that?

I’ve played many years of tennis, and recently I got into playing competitive table tennis. But my true love is skiing, it’s taken me around the world on many amazing adventures and you can’t beat a powder day out in the fresh air of the mountains. I’d do it every day if I could, maybe I will.

What is your approach to design and customer experience?

I find it pays to question a project early on. Should this exist? What impact could it have? Is there a genuine need? What are the opportunities? I think identifying opportunities in projects is extremely important for figuring out where to put your energy, and where not to.

When it comes to delivering a project I’m a firm believer in consistency, design systems and creating the best work I can possibly make every time.

Where do you get your inspiration?

Often from my friends also working in design, they’re all doing amazing work and we have all always naturally bounced off each other creatively. When it gets into the actual work, I love looking at different types of design for inspiration, whether it’s architecture, industrial design or brand work. It’s so easy to get stale just looking at what others are doing in the digital product and website spaces.

What is most tricky about your job? What do you love the most?

Trying to conjure up creativity on demand is always the most uncomfortable part of my job, especially when there is a deadline. But I love the point in a project when you realise you’ve cracked it.

Octave’s culture is great, it feels like everyone is a part of one big family all on the same mission to have fun while we create impactful work for our partners.

If you want to use Ethan for your project, get in touch with our client director Logan, and you will get one of the best UX/UI designers in the business. Logan@octave.nz

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