Calvin’s CV includes working with big brands – such as Sony, RSPB, Nestle, Scholastic and Cadbury’s – presenting a TEDtalk on encouraging creativity in children and speaking at COP26 about using creativity to deliver challenging climate messages to at-risk communities.
Here he tells us more about his background and what makes him the perfect fit for Team Pace!
"When I was a kid I drew everything. My first venture into publishing was at 11 years old when I launched a comic book at school, using the staff room photocopiers to create copies each week and distribute them around the school. The buzz of seeing other people enjoying my ideas has never left me.
At 16 I began working with a London agency where I spent a year absorbing everything I could - I was fascinated by every area of marketing, and how all of the cogs fit together. Over the next ten years I worked with a number of agencies and in-house teams in Manchester, London, Liverpool, Edinburgh, Leeds, Paris and Frankfurt.
I’ve always been involved with creative projects including setting up a publishing company which published more than 40 titles around the world and teaching kids how to draw, which I’ve now been doing for over a decade and have worked with more than 250,000 children.
I established my own marketing agency in 2013 which won several awards over the following 9 years for work with high-profile clients. My focus was always to push the creativity of the agency, and enable the team to think bigger and better with every project and to be willing to take risks.
Somewhere amongst all that I learned to tattoo, I storyboarded commercials for TV, I designed luxury treehouses, I wrote a couple of screenplays, I began painting large outdoor murals and I wrote for a few newspapers on art and culture.
I’ve joined Pace at a pivotal time – there’s a lot going on and I feel like the agency and I share the same ideas; the team is hungry and that’s really exciting. I’m looking forward to bringing my blend of experience, creative vision and strategic insight to the table, pushing boundaries and delivering exceptional results for our clients, while helping to drive the overall creative vision of the agency.
What drives me? The same thing that has always driven me. I’m still that 11 year old kid who gets a huge buzz from seeing people enjoy my ideas come to life."
