The experience and methodologies that our disciplines bring to research, problem solving, design, and ultimately storytelling, delivers value that solely designers can’t. We believe that a clear, central story is the best way to engage an audience, and we aren’t limited by any given medium. We work with our clients to develop targeted solutions in systems design, organizational change, product design, and brand design, and we use the methods, media, and people that are right for the job.
We found that we're happiest and most successful when we can marry the process of design with the craft of design within our projects, as well as bringing together diverse and often unlikely creative people to work with.
Our approach isn’t for everyone. Our "process" is a proven, flexible toolbox that allows us to work across a broad range of industries and project sizes. We can help you be successful with large-scale projects like the Future of Fish, or create emotionally engaging products for consumers.
Learn more about our process, which we call The Squiggle, pictured below.
Squiggle
The Partners
Sara Burgess
Sara Burgess is a co-founder of Central. As an artist and illustrator, Sara infuses Central’s consulting work with a love of handmade objects and craft. Sara leads Central's product development and industrial design work. Sara works with her team to develop new concepts and brands that Central picks to launch and invest in. As well as collaborating with client partners to implement new product lines. She studied printmaking at the University of Victoria and received her MFA in Illustration from San Francisco’s Academy of Art College. She has designed product lines (including table linens, porcelain dinnerware and bedding) and has worked as an illustrator, animator, graphic designer and web designer in the UK, US and Canada. Today, Sara works with clients to research trends and develop new ideas for homewares and other products. Her clients include Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware and Levis. Sara also has exhibited her print and cut paper artwork in the UK, US and Canada and teaches at the San Francisco Center for the Book.
Damien Newman
Damien Newman is the founding partner behind Central. Damien has spent nearly 20 years working on brand strategy, organizational transformation and design thinking for leading firms such as IDEO, frog design and Studio Archetype. Damien has helped numerous organizations define brand strategies and transform themselves to adapt new business behaviors. His project experience spans internal brand strategy and articulation for Pepsi, Procter & Gamble, Novartis and Marriott Hotels. Prior to IDEO, Damien was a director of strategy at frog design, working to implement research and strategy tools into the company’s design process, building on his experience leading brand strategy efforts at Studio Archetype with clients such as UPS, IBM, Sun Microsystems and Coca-Cola. Damien has also worked as VP of a private investment fund, managing the process of identifying new areas of opportunity and the selection of new innovations for investment. Damien also has lectured at Stanford University and coached at the D School.
Clients
The Central team has more than twenty years experience problem-solving and storytelling across disparate domains, including brand strategy, product design, retail experience design, systems design, and working for client companies such as Levis, Pottery Barn, Merck, Novartis, GE, Pepsi, Xerox, Ashoka, Fuji Xerox, NHN, Microsoft, Real Networks and UPS.