Raising The Stakes For Design Across Droga5

For Dan Roberts, creativity has never been a neat definition or a tidy box to sit in. It is something created from energy, optimism, curiosity, and possibility, making it a force that drives him to look at the world differently and to push ideas into new, invigorating territory. That mindset has shaped his career spanning branding, advertising, and retail design, and now finds its home at Droga5 London.

Now creative director of design at the agency, Roberts’ journey into the creative industries began early, though not from a traditional “creative family.” A formative school exercise that saw him inventing and illustrating a short story revealed the thrill of complete creative control, a spark that would later ignite his passion for design. 

That sense of possibility has carried on through his career. 

In his new role, Roberts is determined to elevate design to equal standing with creative, not just within the London office but across the global network. He sees design not as an add‑on but as the beating heart of modern advertising – a discipline that can make work truly necessary, human, and unexpected in an era of automation and AI shortcuts.

Roberts discusses his career, his commitment to creative excellence and the challenges he faces as a New Wave Creative.

What does creativity mean to you?

Oh, we’re going straight in here! Creativity is a little hard to define, but to me it means energy, optimism, possibility, and excitement. It’s about looking at things differently and stumbling upon something a little undefinable that feels infectious, invigorating and ‘new’. Finding an energy, a mix of curiosity and optimism, that pushes you toward new things and makes you want to tackle existing things, to see if you can make them a bit better. It’s imaginative and intangible, but it’s also really smart problem-solving.

What role did creativity play in your childhood?

I was a pretty creative kid and looking back, probably the only one from my group of friends who thought they were going to end up in the creative industry. My friends generally described what I did as ‘colouring in’ (still do) and ended up doing way more serious jobs. I was okay at drawing, loved cooking, and wasn’t afraid to make a fool of myself – doing impressions, playing in bands, that kind of thing. One school writing exercise really stayed with me: we had to write and illustrate a short story, and I loved inventing the characters from scratch, imagining their backstories and then linking that to their appearance. Realising you could have complete creative control over things was really exciting and I guess pretty formative. As for design, like a lot of people I got into it through typography, downloading free fonts, having a guess at what the rules were and making weird posters just for fun. I’m not really from a creative background – my dad’s quite artistic, but my parents aren’t creatives. Yet thankfully they never pushed me toward a ‘serious’ job.

Were there any particularly inspirational people, or a particular moment that helped shape your path or way of thinking?

 One of my tutors at Uni, the artist Silke Dettmers, once said to me that we’d barely scratched the surface of the possibility of graphic design. I spent a good few years thinking about what she meant and have probably completely misquoted her but she was right then and is still right now. That was something that really drove me on in the early days. As an artform it’s still strangely limited and conventionalised.

How do you see the design offer evolving at D5 under your new role?

As someone who more recently worked in the world of branding, where design is everything, I find the whole conversation around the growing importance of design within advertising really baffling. I don’t know why some agencies have been so late to it but Droga5 has always stood for design excellence and my predecessors set a really high bar. I came here at a time when things were just starting to shift in the industry and as a department we’ve worked tirelessly to have equal standing with creative within the agency. I realise this is something that’s said with any new appointment but we’ve got some huge plans that will truly put design at the centre of what we offer, not just here but globally. 

How do you commit to delivering creative excellence in each project across your career?

I think it’s about getting to the heart of the brief, really understanding the need and never just making work for the sake of it. This goes back to the point about the growing importance of design in advertising; I need what I’m working on to really mean something. I’m a huge fan of strategy, wanting to get under the skin of a strategic foundation before diving in. When I’ve properly got my head around that, that’s when the optimism and excitement kicks in, approaching a brief for [uninspiring brand name] with the same energy and enthusiasm as you would do for [infinitely more exciting brand].

What was it that you wanted to bring to the creative industries?

You’re asking me to go way way back here! When I was studying I wanted to bring the same clichéd things as a lot of other students – a questioning approach and a different way of seeing. I found a bio I wrote for my degree show the other day and nearly died from embarrassment. There were words I don’t even recognise any more. I feel like a constant from then until now has been an optimistic “yeah but why not?” attitude.

What excites you about the industry now? 

It’s a very tumultuous time right now. Prospective clients are expecting fully-fledged ideas, there seems to be a daily development in AI and suddenly there are instant shortcuts to some of the skills that we’ve spent years crafting and perfecting. That’s a hell of a challenge. For me, excitement lies in the opportunities to make work that genuinely means something, is actually necessary and – in a world that’s becoming increasingly automated – human and unexpected.

What are the biggest challenges you're facing around creative leadership?

Every single day brings a new challenge, even more so when you’ve just merged two pretty big agencies. My main challenges are keeping a large and hungry team happy and ensuring there’s a purpose behind what they’re doing. Everyone who works here is extremely ambitious and of course they want to work on the best briefs. Creative leadership is about keeping a lot of plates spinning, making sure everyone feels motivated, engaged and supported.

If advertising was suddenly banned, what would you do?

The professional answer here is that we’re a creative agency, not just an ad agency, so we’d maybe be alright? but I think if I’m living in a world where advertising’s suddenly been banned there are going to be some pretty big problems to deal with. Maybe I’d lock myself away and write a horrendously bad novel.