James McGrath takes The Creative Relay on a design tangent interviewing Michaela Webb, Creative Director and founder of Round Melbourne. Giving an insight into the thinking behind her design process, Michaela reveals how her background in lecturing sparked a career-long interest in the forensics of creating great design. She believes respect for the process and humility in the designer’s role within that are crucial.
Michaela Webb is Creative Director of Round, a studio she founded in 2002 in Melbourne, Australia.
With over 20 years’ professional experience, Michaela has worked for Wolff Olins and Spin in London, and in 2016 was elected as a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI).
Over the decades, she has served as co-president of Australian Graphic Design Association in Victoria and spoken at many prestigious industry events.
Michaela is committed to ensuring that design is part of the conversation across multiple sectors and her expertise is drawn on by clients from industries as broad as hospitality, arts and culture, retail and beyond. She currently sits as an advisor on boards for RMIT Design Hub and Ian Potter Museum of Art.
In 2008, Michaela was named one of Design Quarterly Magazine’s Top Ten Creatives, in 2010 she was listed in Melbourne Magazine’s top 100 influential people. And, most importantly, in 2009 she and her partner, Rob, became parents to their daughter, Eva.
Creativity will always be the answer, so I have spent my Creative working life grappling with the compelling, the difficult and the most useful of questions. I have been fortunate to have collaborated with the country’s most interesting brands, their brilliant custodians, extraordinarily clever creative people and the makers that make our world more inspirational, more interactive and of course so much better as a result.
