Studio Stoked

10/10/2026

10/09/2026

Studio update, and it’s a big one.

I’ve cut my services down to one. No more audits, no design add-ons, no “can you just have a quick look.” From now on, Studio Stoked does full-service CPG packaging, strategy first, built from the ground up.

Why? Because a zhuzh almost never fixes it. When packaging isn’t working, the problem is rarely the font. It’s the idea underneath it, and you can’t tweak your way out of the wrong idea.

I’ve watched founders go through designer after designer, getting shinier versions of the same thing that wasn’t working. The fix was never another round of revisions. It was going back to zero and doing the thinking properly: who it’s for, where it sits on the shelf, and what it can say that nobody else in the category is saying.

That takes my strategy framework. That takes time. And no, there isn’t a cheaper version. I looked.

So I’d rather do one thing properly than five things politely. Brands with actual human thought in them. One founder at a time.

I’ve got one spot left for the rest of the year. If you’re a CPG founder ready to build it properly, DM me or head to studiostoked.com.

If you want the logo bigger, I still love you. I’m just not your person.

10/01/2026

Hot take from someone currently thinking how am I going to pick all my olives soon with a very unhappy lower back: most olive oil packaging fails before a designer ever touches it.

Founders pick a viral bottle, cling to a 1998 label, or send me an AI render with no idea who's buying. Then they're shocked the shelf doesn't care.

Good olive oil packaging starts with three questions. Where are you selling, what are you sitting next to, and what's actually true about your oil? Answer those and the bottle, size, label and paper pick themselves.

I wrote the full breakdown, including the rebrand that changed nothing and the bottle that sold out and raised its prices. Link in bio.

And if your brief is a cartoon olive in sunglasses: lovely guy. Not for me.

09/25/2026

There are brilliant designers who charge very little.
There are terrible designers who charge a fortune.

So no, I'm not saying expensive means good.
I'm saying a quote is a spectacularly bad way to judge creative work.

You wouldn't pick a surgeon because they're the cheapest.
The before and afters would be memorable, though.

Look at the thinking.
Look at the work.
Look at what they understand about your customer.
Then look at the price.

In that order.

09/22/2026

This is my inbox now.

"We've already done the strategy and the direction. It's really strong. We just need you to refine it."

Then you send me a ChatGPT render. Made in four seconds while a small lake evaporated somewhere.

Here's how insane that is. Last week I took my mum's dog to the vet. I did not walk in and say "I'm thinking thyroid, I've drafted a treatment plan, can you just run these three tests and refine it." I put the dog on the table. He's the vet. He looks at the actual animal and tells me what's wrong. That's why he went to school for a decade. That's why I trust him.

Nobody does this to their doctor. Their mechanic. Their plumber. Only design.

There's no strategy in your file. There's no direction. You typed a prompt and got a picture, and now you want me to make the picture look like a person was in the room.

That's not refining. That's me redoing all of it and letting you keep the receipt.

Seventeen years in. I'm the vet.

Put the dog on the table.

09/17/2026

So school's back. Which means I now have: my son's homework, cooking (because he's always hungry), driving (practice, school, everywhere), my actual work, cleaning, and apparently I'm supposed to be making reels too?
Yeah, but nah.

If you need brand strategy, packaging, or something that actually sells, book a call.

I'll show up on time, I won't film it, and you'll get someone who actually knows what they're doing instead of watching me pretend I have my s**t together on Instagram.

09/16/2026

No, I'm not going to fly to you.

Neither is any decent packaging designer.

I am Australian. I live in Croatia. Most of my clients are in the US, the UK, or somewhere else entirely. I have never been in the same room as most of them. I have rarely been in the same country as the printer producing their packaging.

Every single project has still been delivered.

Because the three things founders worry about when hiring internationally are almost never the actual problem.

Language. Not a real issue if the designer's portfolio and emails read cleanly.

Proofs. A digital proof and an offset print run will never match perfectly regardless of where anyone lives. Colour shifts happen. A local designer standing in a print shop is not going to change physics. What matters is that your designer specs files properly and flags issues before they become 10,000 reprinted units.

Meeting in person. Zoom exists. Email exists. If you need to shake a hand to trust someone, you were going to have trust issues no matter what.

The actual thing that matters when you hire a designer is whether their work looks like the work you want to make. Whether the budget and timeline work. Whether neither of you is an internet weirdo. Whether you vibe. Professionally speaking.

I could be next door or in a lighthouse on an island. Braless on the couch or in a boardroom. The work gets done the same way.

If the fit is right, the location is irrelevant. If the fit is wrong, being in the same city will not save you.

If your product is genuinely good and you have been treating international as a barrier, you know where to find me.

studiostoked.com

08/28/2026

Client: do you see a difference?
Me: yes I fu***ng do.

Paper matters just as much as the colours you choose.

08/21/2026

08/20/2026

Throwback Thursday: Winston & Co

Remember when dog treats just came in plastic bags your dog ate faster than the actual treat? Yeah, these weren't it.

Winston & Co understood something most pet brands still don't: if you're going to spend actual money making your dog happy, the packaging shouldn't look like you're ashamed of yourself. This is for the person who won't just chuck a biscuit on the kitchen floor and pretend they've shown love. The person who gets that treating your dog well and having taste aren't mutually exclusive.

The restraint on this is what kills it. No pastels, no paw print graphics, no "fur baby" copy. Just cream, a line drawing that actually has character, and the knowledge that your dog doesn't care how nice the packaging is but you do. And that's valid.

Luxury pet products are mostly rubbish. This one wasn't.