Marina Willer is a Partner at the legendary design firm Pentagram and one of the most respected creative voices in the design world. Marina has led brand identity projects for iconic institutions such as Tate, Amnesty International, and Rolls-Royce.
Beyond design, she’s also an accomplished filmmaker, with her documentary Red Trees premiering at the Cannes Film Festival. Her work blends colour, optimism, and deep human insight — qualities rooted in her Brazilian upbringing and enriched by decades in London.
In this talk, Marina shares her insights on the intersection of design, creativity, and cultural identity. She explores how her Brazilian roots shape her creative approach, the art of building systematic brand identities, and the power of collaboration within design teams. She reflects on nurturing creativity, balancing business acumen with creative vision, and the evolving role of AI as a partner in the creative process.
Let’s dive in!
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Designing Brand Systems
Talking about her design process, Marina explained that for her, designing a brand identity is never about producing a single static logo. It’s about building a living system — a cohesive yet adaptable framework that can grow and evolve. She blends strategy with experimental methods to create systems and visual languages with a clear narrative, while keeping them open and flexible enough for others to contribute to, ensuring they uniquely capture and express the essence of each client.
She begins the process with a deep dive into the client’s strategic needs, then allows the design to evolve through a variety of experimental methods — from analogue experiments with ink, light, and projections to cutting-edge digital tools. The goal is always to keep aesthetics fresh and unique, avoiding the trap of chasing the “latest trend” instead of creating something timeless.
“You need a vision. Without it, you just have stuff.”
Creative Leadership
When discussing leadership, Marina spoke passionately about the role of a creative director, which she likened to conducting an orchestra — holding the vision for the whole while encouraging each individual’s contribution to shine. For her, the job goes far beyond managing tasks: it’s about inspiring, guiding, and creating the conditions in which great ideas can flourish. Imagination and lateral thinking, she explained, are crucial for her teams to produce original, relevant solutions that truly reflect the client’s identity.
She sees herself as both editor and enabler — someone who knows when to let ideas run free and when to step in to curate, refine, and focus them into a coherent outcome. This requires both empathy and decisiveness: understanding each person’s strengths, giving them space to explore, and then synthesising their contributions into a unified vision. For Marina, this balance between openness and selectivity is one of the defining qualities of effective creative leadership, ensuring that experimentation leads to purposeful, impactful results.
Nurturing Creativity at Pentagram
In describing the environment at Pentagram, Marina emphasised that its structure is designed to prioritise creativity over hierarchy. Each partner runs their own team, and the company is led by designers rather than corporate executives. This, she noted, keeps the work rooted in creative practice.
Creativity is nurtured through collaboration and open-mindedness. The studio also invests in activities that keep curiosity alive — from workshops and 3D experiments to an in-house gallery space and regular talks by inspiring creatives. Many partners pursue personal projects in art, film, writing, and exhibitions, which feed fresh ideas back into their commercial work.
Personal Projects
When asked about her personal ambitions, Marina shared that she is increasingly drawn to projects merging her roles as designer, maker, and filmmaker — particularly those serving social causes. Her upcoming Design Museum exhibition, for example, will auction 75 handmade sketchbooks to support the charity Choose Love, which aids people in war zones.
For her, creativity is not just a professional skill but a form of activism: a way to bring people together, spark dialogue, and offer hope.
On AI and Responsibility
Talking about AI, Marina expressed that while she embraces it as a creative tool, it must always be guided by human insight and a clear creative vision. She noted that without thoughtful integration, technology risks dictating the outcome rather than serving the idea, leading to work that feels formulaic or disconnected from its intended purpose. For her, AI’s true value lies in its ability to expand possibilities, speed up certain processes, and inspire new directions — but never at the expense of originality or authenticity. She believes AI should support and enhance human creativity, acting as a collaborator that amplifies human talent and insight, rather than replacing them.
Advice for Emerging Designers
When giving advice to young creatives, Marina was clear and direct:
- Stay curious — explore beyond your discipline.
- Engage deeply — throw yourself into opportunities, even beyond your “job description.”
- Feed your mind with art, philosophy, cinema, and everyday observations.
- Avoid screen addiction — be present in the real world and cultivate human connection.
“We all have an inner power we can release if we are open. Creativity is everywhere — you just have to be awake to it.”
Through her work, Marina Willer reminds us that creative leadership is not about exerting control — it’s about vision, trust, and the courage to keep experimenting. Her approach shows that the best results come when a leader empowers others while guiding the overall direction.
