10 years in, JAC AND is rethinking what growth means as a brand partner — The Brand Identity – Home of the Greatest in Graphic & Brand Design

JAC AND works across strategy and creative execution in equal measure with a core team of two, including founder Jacinta Lippold and a little black book of specialists brought in project by project. Alongside the design work, the Melbourne-based brand partner coaches its clients’ staff and writes their draft emails, because for Lippold, brand touches every part of a business. After growing the team the conventional way, she began to question whether headcount was the right measure of success. In our conversation, 10 years in, she talks about what being a brand partner actually means, the value of outside views and her vision of JAC AND as “the good table at the wedding.” Rohan Trollope, founder of strategy and writing studio Letterform, and Coco Flip’s Co-founder Kate Stokes add a collaborator’s and a client’s perspective.

TBI Hi Jacinta! How’s the Melbourne Spring treating you?

JL It’s excellent. The start of Spring in Melbourne is both delightful and entertaining. Our office is on a bike path, and I’m frequently amused by how quickly Melburnians strip down at the slightest glimmer of sun. It’s an all-in mentality, and I’m here for it.

2026 hasn’t been the easiest year to run a small business, but things are looking up, and we’re heading into the warmer weather with optimism and a bunch of signed proposals. Happy days.

TBI JAC AND calls itself a brand partner. What does that mean in practice?

JL One of the most important distinctions we make is between branding and brand. Both matter, but brand touches every part of the business.

Being a brand partner means being across it all. We love creating beautiful work as much as the next designer, but we also strongly believe that brand extends well beyond guidelines. We’re alongside our clients for the mundane moments through to the celebratory. We believe in craft, but we also undertake staff coaching, write draft emails and even dabble in sales flows. If something is affecting how the organisation understands itself or presents itself to the world, we're interested in it.

It’s about ensuring everyone in an organisation understands the brand and knows how to represent it when we’re not in the room.

TBI What made you want to start a practice of your own?

JL I’d love to say it was meticulously planned and follows a clear strategy, but it wasn’t, and it didn’t. I’m one of those people who started ‘a business’ very young and have learnt the hard way over time, many times.

I’d been working for myself for five years, getting nowhere, and took some time out to contract in some great agencies and small studios. I call them my spy years. There’s a lot to be learnt inside other people’s approaches and systems. Freelancing is great for that.

Lousy origin story aside, I’ve always valued creative problem solving. A self-led practice often allows you to get to clarity swiftly, without politics or red tape.

TBI Where did the name JAC AND come from?

JL Well, the first word is purely narcissistic. The second speaks to our community. I’ve never had grand visions for JAC AND to be an agency, and have always respected that work like this takes a village. I love ours, and the name is about them. I didn’t realise at the time how much the business model would settle into the name, or maybe it’s driven us towards where we are now.

TBI 10 years in now, how different is JAC AND from the studio you set out to build?

JL It’s at once so different and much the same. We started as a traditional graphic design studio, which we still are in part, but over the years our strategy muscle grew. We’re interested in how brand and business work together, and strategy is really the only way to get a seat at the table and add value when you’re there.

Today, we’re an equal mix of strategy and creative execution. I think that’s our point of difference really; understanding and committing to both the plan and making it happen.

TBI The studio is intentionally small with a collaborative model. Why work this way?

JL Because we’re not always the best people for the job, and we want to work with the people who are. Partnering with experts in their field is good for our clients and their projects, and it’s excellent for us. It’s such a privilege to pull together a table of people you admire to do great work together. Outside perspective and contribution are beautiful things. Every project makes us better.

Outside perspective and contribution are beautiful things.

TBI How do you decide who to bring in on a project?

JL It depends on the project type, scale, style, sector and ambitions. We try to keep a healthy balance of working with people we trust and know well, for obvious reasons, but we also put considerable effort into meeting new people. Our little black book is our most valuable asset.

It’s never just about an extra set of hands. We curate partners who add their own value through skill and association. Alignment is one of the biggest levers we have in brand.

TBI Some of your projects cover multiple disciplines, such as strategy, identity, packaging and advertising. What does a project of that scale ask of a studio built around a network of collaborators?

JL If there’s a clear idea at the core of things, and it’s understood by everyone, varied disciplines and deliverables feel simple. We put a lot of resources into research and consultation, for both knowledge and connection. It’s generally in this phase, where we gain an intimate understanding of the organisation or endeavour, that we’re thinking ahead about what needs to happen, how we'll approach it and who should be at the table.

Our motto is that there’s only one brand, and much of our work is about instilling that and protecting it across departments. It doesn’t really matter what we’re doing, so long as we all remember and respect that everyone is working towards the same goal.

TBI What has running the studio taught you about growth?

JL Really a lot. Running this thing for this long, alongside a growing family, has completely changed my perspective of growth.

At one point I was playing the game the way I thought I was supposed to, with a rising headcount, until (to the shock of many) I pulled the rug out from under it. Stripping back to just me for a couple of years, with contract and practice management assistance. I’d come to question why I was growing in that way, and I think a lot of it came down to ego.

I now fully respect that growth looks different for everyone. Ten years in, I don’t think the number of chairs in a studio is the most interesting way to measure success. The core JAC AND team is currently just Olly and me, which I think surprises some.

I don’t have traditionally ambitious growth goals for JAC AND. I simply want us to be a small group of people who care about what we do, enjoy the process, get paid well and know how to switch off from it all. Simple, or the impossible dream.

TBI What has been the biggest test of keeping a creative practice going?

JL This year has probably been our biggest test, and it comes down to cash flow, which is not what I expected after a decade in the game – but I think it’s important for people to know that established practices face struggles. It’s so easy to compare yourself to someone else’s Instagram persona and think you’re the only one falling to pieces.

So, money. And comparison. It can be tricky to stay the course in this industry. There are so many talented studios – winning the jobs you wish you won and looking great while they do it. Some days it requires a strong will to stay calm and consistent, and remember why you’re here.

TBI Rohan, how does your work come into the creative process when partnering with a studio such as JAC AND?

RT We’re a strategy and writing studio of a similar size and mindset, so it’s been a natural fit. Our toolkit is words, and so we love collaborating with brand and design experts like JAC AND who value language.

In some cases, we’ll work on the strategy side with the team to shape a brand story, while in other cases it might be about sharpening a story that’s already been developed, or crafting that story for outward-facing copy.

Because Jac’s model is so transparent and inclusive, there’s no white-labelling or agency hierarchy nonsense. The entire project team, especially the client, is on the same page. And when you create an atmosphere of respect and focus and good humour, or in other words, when people enjoy being part of something, you get a great outcome.

TBI Katie, what were you stuck on when you decided to bring in JAC AND? And how did they help you solve it?

KS When we brought in JAC AND, we felt like the business had evolved faster than our brand had. We’d spent the first decade building Coco Flip through the work itself, developing our products, working with local makers and building a strong community around the studio, but the way we were presenting ourselves no longer reflected where we had got to.

We weren’t looking for a complete reinvention. We were quite protective of the character and personality that had always been part of Coco Flip. What we needed was some distance and perspective, someone who could look at the business as a whole and help us understand what was working, what had become inconsistent, and where we wanted to go next.

JAC AND helped us step back and look at the brand more strategically. Not just the visual identity, but our positioning, messaging, tone, audience and the way all of those things connected. They gave us a clearer framework for expressing what was already there, while bringing a level of maturity and consistency that we were struggling to achieve ourselves.

What’s been particularly valuable is that it didn’t end with the initial rebrand. JAC AND have become an ongoing sounding board for us. As the business has evolved, we’ve been able to bring them in for everything from campaigns and printed material to digital work and bigger-picture questions. Sometimes a conversation with them is enough to cut through the noise and give us clarity about what we’re trying to say and why.

TBI You marked 10 years in collaboration with artistic food practice Long Prawn. Can you tell us more about that?

JL We’d admired Long Prawn for a long time, so when we started thinking about how to mark 10 years, we were excited to partner with them. They threw us the most amazing party. A 10/10 in all respects, Mr Whippy van and all. It was a special way to celebrate with the people who have supported us along the way.

Beyond the fun night, it was also valuable to be in the client seat. We spend most of our time on the other side of the table, so we value the chance to put our trust in another expert and be taken on a journey. Much like when we partnered with Dinamo on our brand typeface, it was a healthy reminder that creativity can be approached in a myriad of ways.

Nothing like having the capacity for a little creative meandering.

TBI What would you like JAC AND to look like in another 10 years?

JL I’ve always had this vision of JAC AND being the good table at the wedding, and that’s what I’m ultimately trying to curate. A small group of clever, warm, funny people who happen to be excellent at what they do.

It’s an incredible privilege to do the work we do, with the people we do it with. I’d be content to be doing just this for the next decade – perhaps with a little more breathing room and space to play. Nothing like having the capacity for a little creative meandering.