Interview with Ryan Dearlove, the Founder of Dollop Design.
Why did you want to be a designer?
It’s just simply what I love doing, being creative and creating recognised brands. I originally wanted to be a programmer, I was always tech savvy and at the time it seemed the most sensible path to take. I achieved decent grades at University in software development and was even lucky enough to study abroad but I never had the passion and desire that I had with design and marketing. I just felt Software was constraining, you had a set of syntax rules you must follow, with design you didn’t have this and you are actively encouraged to think beyond the box. It’s nothing personal against programming; some believe code to be poetry. It’s just about doing what you enjoy.
What is your favourite brand?
My personal favourite would have to be Coca Cola, the adverts are always special. The standout adverts for me are the Christmas ones, you know Christmas has arrived when you see it on the TV. Just to give you an idea of how powerful the Coca Cola brand is imagine that all the Coke in the world vanished; the company itself would just produce more, it would be fine. Now imagine you have no recollection of the Coca Cola brand (hard I know), the company would be in huge trouble. I have had the pleasure of visiting The Gambia, the smallest country in Africa but a beautiful one at that. I wasn’t a bit surprised when I saw Coca Cola plastered everywhere. You just can’t escape it!
What is your favourite project, which you have worked on?
Well I’ve worked on a mixed bag of projects at both Dollop Design and our sister company Ticking Box; it’s difficult to select just one. If we are going by results alone then “Cleaning Hero” was the most successful, helping creating a new brand and implementing a very successful search engine optimisation campaign, which saw a rise of nearly 1000%. The first ever logo design I did was for a Californian Tennis Club, I guess you always remember your first.
What would you like to do in the future?
I’d love to expand both Ticking Box and Dollop Design, contributing to some of the best advertising campaigns and websites in the world. That’s the dream.
