Our creative people in detail
Likes
F16
Ideas
Wine gums
Dislikes
Being late
DIY
Yappy dogs
Peter is a founding partner of Curious – a move he describes as one of the most exciting and frightening things he’s ever done. Before starting the company with John and Gary, his career had taken him to both branding and advertising agencies: to Leo Burnett and BBH, and also to creative director positions at Design House, Identica and Siegel & Gale. He has produced award-winning work for many brands including Levi Strauss & Co, Nike Europe, American Express and Royal Mail. As creative director, Peter (aka Mr Calm) heads up our creative product with an infectious enthusiasm.
Likes
D Minor
Madiran
Blue
Dislikes
'Enjoy!'
Overcrowded tubes
Borage officinalis
One of the founding partners, John brings to Curious extensive experience in strategic brand thinking. (You won’t find anyone more knowledgeable about insurance and the broker business – go on, test him.) During his career, he has nurtured many top brands including The Economist, Lloyds TSB, Seiko, and BP. After working in advertising, John spent four years at Siegel & Gale as head of strategy, where, curiously, his path crossed with Peter and Gary. On Shelton Street, John is responsible for our client relationships, he also leads our projects on brand strategy, positioning and naming. Every now and again, he pops over to his house in France for a rest.
Likes
The letter G
Long walks
Sunsets in exotic places
Dislikes
Rain on Saturdays
Red bean ice cream
Graffitti
Before establishing Curious with Peter and John, Gary spent over 20 years employing his design skills to bring brands to life – here in London and abroad. Gary has a massive multidisciplinary design experience covering many sectors, and has worked for many big client names from Hong Kong Telecom and Hong Kong Land in Asia, and Electrolux and Sappi Fine Paper in Europe to Norwich Union, now Aviva, a little closer to home. His career spans many countries and agencies including Siegel & Gale where he was a design director. When Gary needs a change of scene from pantone warm grey 9, he retreats to his favourite bolt-hole: his shed.
Likes
Almond croissant
Crunchy snow
Winning
Dislikes
Limp handshakes
Ironing
Losing
Claire has worked with a wide range of brand-leading clients including Land Rover, Legal & General, Virgin Trains and first direct. Working for over 20 years on both client and agency sides, Claire has a wealth of experience in direct marketing, integrated communications, CRM and digital. Following a 9-year stint at award-winning agency Craik Jones, where she was a board director, Claire joined Curious in 2007. She is responsible for client relationships – both at a day-to-day and strategic level. When she does manage to escape working life she enjoys a spot of lunching and shopping (and any form of pointless pampering she can find!).
Likes
Adidas gazelles
Singapore fried noodle
Sunshine
Dislikes
Wasps
Olives
Germs
Jude has 15 years experience working within the marketing services arena - as financial director within advertising, design and direct marketing agencies. Jude joined the Curious team in the autumn of 2005, with responsibility for the money side of things. Aside from his love of numbers, in Jude's spare time he is either to be found down at Loftus Road, or socialising within the Spanish community with his family.
Likes
Sausage dogs
Old VW's
The sunshine
Dislikes
Umbrellas
Waiting ages at the bar
The winter
Ben is our fabulous art worker. Love of print runs through his veins. His dad was an art worker, his uncle and cousins are involved in print. Ben joined Curious 7 years ago, having worked previously for Siegel & Gale, Forward Publishing and Nat West Stationery – at the time the biggest in house printing department in Europe. He owns a Custom 80s Bmx and a Beach cruiser. He knows lots and lots of pubs and lots and lots of people. And if he wasn’t busy making sure that everything leaving the studio was correct and ready for print, he’d be cruising around southern California in an old VW camper van.
Likes
King Prawn's
Monkeys
Saturday
Dislikes
Drizzle
Oysters
Monday
Alex became a Curious team member in May 2010. He comes here from a management position at youth lifestyle brand Hollister. Alex has what you might call a varied background. Professional football, property negotiation, working as an extra and sports coaching make up some of his working background. With years of retail management experience, plus a marketing and project management degree, he brings an efficient, calm and calculated approach to any project he is involved with. You might see Alex at one of the many music festivals over the summer.
Likes
Writing 'to do' lists
Showbiz gossip
Cheese popcorn
Dislikes
Coffee breath
Person space invaders
Food shopping
A recent addition to the Curious team, Clare brings with her over 4 years experience in the design and advertising industry. As project manager, she has been responsible for overseeing the smooth running of many high profile and award winning projects for clients including Nike, The Army, Yo Sushi!, VISA, Mitsubishi and Alibaba. Clare's love of brand stretches to her passion for great designer handbags, and working in Covent Garden has enabled her to enhance her growing collection!
Likes
Ruby Woo
Bloody Marys
Happiness
Dislikes
Snakes
Fruit with meat
Disappointment
Louise is a rare talent in the design world: she is hands-on through the entire creative process. From concepts to crafting, she loves to be involved at every stage. She joined Curious in the very early days, having worked previously for Bostock and Pollitt, and Conran. Louise has a real passion for design and an eye for detail. When she isn’t at work, you’ll find her brushing up on her Spanish, cooking gastronomic delights, and exercising like a mad thing.
Likes
Haribo
Teapots
Bovril on toast
Dislikes
Grey skies
Food with weird textures
Sleeping bags
Emma has been at Curious for two years now and in her words “loves it”. She is a real craftsperson with a wealth of design experience having worked previously for the Design Council, NB Studio and Propaganda in Leeds for clients such as GHD straightening irons, Mothercare and Tammy fashion. Emma is a Yorkshire lass living in London loving the exciting cultural delights but always quick to get back to the great outdoors.
Likes
Monster munch
Ginger beer
Jeff Stelling
Dislikes
Cheese based crisps
Penicillin
Freezers
Previous to joining Curious, Jason freelanced/worked at various agencies such as Smith & Milton, Bunch and The Farm where he was involved in projects for the Tate Gallery, BBC and McEwan’s. He’s a real soccer fan (and player) with a large collection of various football shirts. Before he ascends to the layout pad in the sky, Jason wants to travel the west coast of America in a camper van. Send us a postcard.
Likes
Peanut M&M's
Pixar movies
Big dogs
Dislikes
Salt Beef
Musicals
Small dogs
Having had his fill of Cornish Pasties at Falmouth Uni, Mike joined Curious at the beginning of 2011 after a fruitful first year and a half in the industry gaining valuable experience on placement, working and freelancing across London for clients such as Google, Youtube, Ravensbourne College, Investec and e-skills uk. When Mike isn’t consumed by all things work, he can be found occasionally (though we think it’s more) in the odd open-mic night.
Likes
My bass guitar
Music reality programmes
Mexican food
Dislikes
Arsenal
Paying taxes
Weekend drivers
A graduate in graphic design with training in typography, Laurence started work as a studio junior. Now with over 30 years' industry experience, Laurence has produced or directed a vast amount of award-winning work. He was board director at London DM agency Craik Jones for 14 years, where he ran a team and was responsible for all areas of production from art buying, press, outdoor, through to print, direct mail and digital. Little tip: get Laurence to play you the guitar sometime.