CO-FOUNDER
CLARKMCDOWALL
NEW YORK NY
Originally from Liverpool, England, Paul has spent over thirty years helping shape, create, design, innovate and transform some of the world’s best brands and organizations. Having won many global design awards over the years, Paul is most proud of co-creating a company where people can thrive and grow, where they feel inspired and supported to do their best work. His continuing passion is partnering with forwardlooking clients who want to make some kind of positive change in wellness, community and environment.
Looking forward to 2023, are you optimistic about the role and impact of Graphic Design and Visual Communication in Business? Culture? Causes? Have the events and disruptions of the past few years changed the role or trajectory of Graphic Design?
The simple answer is we must be optimistic. As creatives, strategists and agency owners we have a responsibility to challenge and inspire our clients to help them make better choices when it comes to wellness, social ethics and environment especially. We have an incredible opportunity to play a more active role in designing a world that is more sustainable and equitable. In the past two years alone we have seen how ideas and movements can be expressed to propagate change for good. Design, branding and communication have the ability to connect at scale. They are powerful tools that can be leveraged to impact the many, not just the few.
Looking back at the past 60 years, any personal thoughts or beliefs or musing on who or what has had the most impact on shaping graphic design and visual communications.
I always respect the agitators and disruptors, those that force a new way of seeing the world. They push culture and the industry forward. Never derivative and always brave. They have the ability to create visual eloquence out of prosaic chaos, engaging and enduring, leaving their mark on our collective consciousness.
