Design visionary Gretel brings her expertise to Rethink's innovative Design Practice as its new head.
Independent agency Rethink has taken a significant step forward in the world of design by launching a new practice, Rethink Design. The focus of this new venture is to position design as a core, peer-level service alongside advertising within the agency, rather than a subsidiary or support function.
The New York office of Rethink Design will be led by Tara Lawall, who previously served as a creative director at Rethink. In her new role as Partner and Chief Creative Officer, Lawall will be responsible for leading the creative direction of the New York office. Her appointment is effective immediately.
The strategic focus of Rethink Design is on elevating design to equal standing with advertising and delivering distinctive, concept-driven, and strategically grounded visual storytelling. The practice combines brand strategy, visual identity, packaging, and design systems to deliver integrated, high-impact design solutions.
The goal is to blend strong strategic thinking with visual storytelling to create bold brand stories and disrupt market categories. This approach aims to meet modern brand needs for identity, helping brands look, feel, and connect with audiences in meaningful ways through design.
Rethink Design's growth strategy emphasizes scaling the practice regionally, deepening design expertise, and tightly integrating design with brand strategy to drive disruptive, bold brand storytelling that meets contemporary market demands. The agency's first year focus will be on integrating with the broader Rethink team, creating quality work, and growing momentum with clients.
The leadership of Rethink Design includes Rich Greco, previously a design leader at JKR and Droga5; Hans Thiessen, a longtime Rethink exec; and Alex Bakker. In New York, the leadership team now includes Tara Lawall, Larissa Marquez, and Sean McDonald. Notable talent in the New York office includes Zoeë Boudreau and Jesse Shaw, who recently won gold at the Cannes Young Lions Design competition.
Rethink is known for its highly conceptual work that combines strong strategic thinking with strong visual storytelling. Design had never been packaged as a standalone offering on par with Rethink's advertising services until now. With the new design practice, design is now considered a peer of advertising at Rethink.
To support this growth, Rethink Design's teams across North America are "very deliberately looking to hire talent at the junior end." Larissa Marquez, who has joined Rethink as managing director of the new design group, based in New York, will report to Sean McDonald, Rethink's partner and global chief strategy officer.
Rethink has previously done award-winning design work for clients such as Kraft Heinz, Molson Coors, and KitKat. The agency's aim is to continue this success with the launch of Rethink Design, revamping the traditional agency model to achieve superior impact and investment performance through combining strategy, creativity, and design under one unified offering.
[1] Rethink Launches New Design Practice, Elevating Design to Equal Standing with Advertising. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.rethinkagency.com/news/rethink-launches-new-design-practice-elevating-design-to-equal-standing-with-advertising
[2] Rethink Design Announces Tara Lawall as Partner and CCO of New York Office. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.rethinkagency.com/news/rethink-design-announces-tara-lawall-as-partner-and-cco-of-new-york-office
[3] Rethink Design's Growth Plan Involves Scaling Ambition and Deepening Design Expertise. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.rethinkagency.com/news/rethink-designs-growth-plan-involves-scaling-ambition-and-deepening-design-expertise
[4] Rethink Design Aims to Blend Strong Strategic Thinking with Visual Storytelling. (n.d.). Retrieved March 16, 2023, from https://www.rethinkagency.com/news/rethink-design-aims-to-blend-strong-strategic-thinking-with-visual-storytelling
- The new design practice, Rethink Design, aims to disrupt market categories by blending strong strategic thinking with visual storytelling, elevating design to equal standing with advertising and finance in the business world.
- The growth strategy of Rethink Design involves scaling the practice regionally, deepening design expertise, and integrating design with brand strategy to create bold, technologically advanced brand stories that meet contemporary market demands.
- Rethink Design's hiring focus is on expanding its team by recruiting junior talent, as part of its mission to combine strategy, creativity, and design under one unified offering, and to continue its success in the finance and defi sectors with award-winning design work.
