Tess Robinson I Smack Bang Designs
Meet the creative who isn't afraid to take risks - who dives head-first into passion projects, without any fear or hesitation. Tess Robinson is dreaming big, and we couldn't be more inspired.
Photography: Kendall Hubbard
Tell us a little about your career path to get you where you are now as Owner and Creative Director at Smack Bang Designs?
I’ve never been one to do things by the book, and my career was no exception to this rule. I dropped out of my fourth University degree and decided I was ready to take on the world. I was only 22 at the time, and without completing my degree or having ever stepped foot in another design agency, I started this baby I call Smack Bang Designs. People have told me that it was a brave move, but looking back, I think it was just downright crazy! I’ll put it down to naivety and strong-mindedness.
“Whatever it was, it was hands down the best move of insanity I’ve ever made.”
Have you always been creative?
Yes, as my parents will attest, ever since I could use my hands I’ve been a compulsive maker of things. As a kid I was always cooking up some kind of creative project. I was extremely fortunate that my parents saw a creative spark in me and really fostered it. They would encourage every little idea I had, no matter how outlandish. I credit so much of my happiness and success to them and the way they raised me.
As an adult, creativity is still my ultimate life-force, pulsing through my veins at a million miles an hour. Sometimes to my own detriment, my brain likes to work-work-work. I find it excruciatingly hard to switch off and am always thinking about what’s next. If I don’t have some kind of creative outlet every day I go a little bonkers. I always know when I’m not being creative enough because I start to feel super lethargic and frustrated. It’s kind of like exercise - a muscle that I need to constantly flex for my greater wellbeing.
A serene corner in the Smack Bang Designs studio in Sydney.
Produced by Smack Bang Designs, Baskk Magazine is a bi-annual magazine which celebrates creativity and innovation in its many forms.
You’re the ultimate advocate for dreaming bigger, working smarter and creating wonder in your work - how do you apply this ethos to what you do?
I must admit, I live in a perpetual quest for utopia - constantly dreaming up ways to make my life better, and hopefully the lives around me better. My parents loved me unconditionally, so I’ve always felt safe enough to dream.
“I’ve always had the mindset that anything is truly possible - I guess you could call me the eternal optimist.”
I often find myself in tricky situations because I’ll say “how hard can it really be?” then throw myself head-long into a super-challenging project, only to realise that actually, it could be really F’ing hard! I’m addicted to ideation. Working smarter and creating wonder - over the years I’ve learnt that if I want to trial every little idea that I have (which I do) I’m going to have to hack the concept of time. Working harder means focussing on impact, and using resources. Getting more value out of the hours that you put in and leveraging our own time, effort and money, prioritising our needs, outsourcing help, cutting our losses, and building upon strengths in an intentional manner to advance ourselves in the direction we choose.
The Smack Bang Designs studio in Sydney.
What is your proudest achievement to date?
Oh, that’s a hard one. There have been so many already in our eight short years. When my staff tell me they’re happy and when our clients tell me they’ve had a 30% increase in sales, I’m proud as punch. The moments when I’m standing in our staff kitchen making a cuppa and I can hear the team in a mix of hardcore taking-over-the-world brainstorm and hardcore, pee-inducing laughter, I’m proud as punch. When I look up at our signage, on our big beautiful studio wall, I’m proud as punch. And when I get home to a lifestyle that I love and that I’ve worked my bloody ass off for, I’m proud as punch.
“The best part is that I know the best part hasn’t even arrived yet!”
What’s your design process like?
I’m fairly hands-off when it comes to design these days, I let my very capable design team work their magic. However, when it comes to my creative process personally, as it unfolds throughout the business, I’m very much a ‘trial-by-fire’ type of girl. I love throwing myself in the deep end, immersing myself in a creative idea and making a huge mess in the process. From there, it’s a constant evolution and refinement to strip the noise back and forge the story or idea in the simplest, most strategic way possible.
What sparked the decision to create your printed magazine Baskk?
Baskk Magazine is a bi-annual magazine that celebrates creativity and innovation in its many forms. As a design agency, it's safe to say we are print enthusiasts through and through. We love nothing more than opening up a crisp magazine and exploring its pages. The decision to create something physical came quite naturally. For us, Baskk is just an extension of the SBD brand, a tangible way in which the team can pour our lifestyle principles of living consciously, creatively and in connection with those around us. Our modern-day lives are defined by motion and speed. Rush hour on the drive home, pressure to meet a deadline, the dash to get to work on time, the flow of emails that must be replied to, and the push to meet our endless obligations. Baskk was created as an antithesis to this - a way to pause in the doing and sit in the act of being.
“Creativity… it’s kind of like exercise - a muscle that I need to constantly flex for my greater wellbeing.,” shares,” Tess Robinson.
A light-filled corner of the Smack Bang Designs studio in Sydney.
What does the future look like for Smack Bang Designs?
Smack Bang is slowly but surely becoming a well oiled machine that operates almost seamlessly. Over the last few years, we’ve worked hard at refining our systems, fine-tuning our marketing and cultivating a brilliant work culture to allow us to approach each day with ease, grace and space for creativity. As a business, we’re more focused, inspired and busier than ever, so I want to keep that alive and continue to help my team grow and thrive.
But I’m certainly not one to rest on my laurels. The team and I are just penning the first chapter of Smack Bang, and whilst I’m proud of what we’ve achieved so far, I know there is so much more to come. I’m currently in the thick of planning Smack Bang 3.0 at the moment - there are grand plans and a delicious new vision that I’m excited to share with the world. Spoiler alert: We’re growing up a little with a slight repositioning, new website, new look and some exciting new initiatives. We’re also launching the SBD Foundation.
