Do Not Adjust Your Focus Episode 13: Designer for social impact, Greg Bunbury, on building purposeful work and moving equality forwards

Episode 13 of Do Not Adjust Your Focus welcomes designer and creative consultant Greg Bunbury. In this episode, he discusses with Blurred CEO Nik Govier, his professional journey, the importance of creating purposeful work, what it means to fail, and provides great insight on diversity & inclusion within the industry.

Greg is leading the charge in promoting diversity & inclusion by design. He is a British-born, award-winning graphic designer, creative consultant, diversity & inclusion consultant, and public speaker, of Caribbean heritage. He also hosts the Design for People Podcast as well as curating the Black Outdoor Art Project.

Greg’s work is in helping mission-led, purpose-driven businesses and organisations to build brands, connect with their audience and engage with diverse communities. He has successfully delivered thousands of impactful branding, print and digital design projects for businesses across the globe. His previous clients include the likes of Sony Music, Samsung, and Universal Music.

As a Black British designer, Greg uses his voice to educate, engage and share his extensive expertise. Alongside his other work, he curates and designs the Black Outdoor Art project. This is a social initiative that utilises donated billboard space as a platform for Black British creativity, run in partnership with Brotherhood Media.

Greg has developed a unique approach to his work, helping brands to strategically communicate their values to the world. This has evolved through his time within the industry and has been significantly shaped by his experience of being a Black designer, which he speaks openly about with Nik. Alongside other key discussions on privilege, intersectionality and how we can move equality forward.

You can listen to this and previous episodes here, and subscribe on Apple, Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

Timestamps

00:30 - An introduction to Greg

02:55 - The lessons from failure 

06:03 – Greg’s journey: labour and value

24:30 – Building purposeful work

30:20 – Re-framing design

33:40 – Black Outdoor Art

46:40 – Privilege and intersectionality

51:20 – The importance of leaning in 

53:00 – Moving equality forward

54:55 – Closing remarks