Trevor Jones
Chairman / Founder

Trevor was born and educated in England. He worked as a designer at Wolff Olins in London before moving to New York to pursue his career in brand communications. Fifteen years and two children later, Trevor and his Australian wife decided to relocate to Sydney to raise their family.

After a magical six months playing on the beach with his children, followed by two years at Lunn Dyer, he founded phdcreative with a credit card and the help of a supportive partner. He believes that reason can take you from A to B but imagination can take you everywhere.

Trevor’s Greatest Achievement: Learning to talk. I didn’t speak until I was nearly 4-years old. My first words were in the form of a complete seven word sentence. I have been making up for lost time ever since.

Susan Guihen

Director

Susan began her career at Cinesound Productions, Rozelle. Her sense of adventure and film editing skills took her to New York where she cut music videos for the likes of Springsteen, KISS and Meatloaf. A new family brought her back to Australia where she became a founding member of phdcreative.

Susan’s Greatest Achievement: Being the tallest child at my primary school by the time I was 9 years old.

Tricia Southwell

Business Director

Tricia was born and raised in ‘The Shire’, Sydney and holds a Bachelor of Business in Marketing and Communications from the University of Technology. She has both client and agency experience and is passionate about applying her strategic thinking and business insights to building successful brands.

Tricia’s Greatest Achievement: Performing onstage at the Sydney Opera House.

Daniel Evans

Design Director

As a creative that truly understands business, Daniel’s strength lies in the development of strategically led branding and communication programmes. Having lived and worked around the world, he is experienced in creating for local, regional and global companies and campaigns.

Daniel’s Greatest Achievement: Teaching my dog, Murdoch, to sit. If you knew him you’d understand.

Rachel Dixon

Finance Director

The eldest of 2 children, Rachel was born and raised in Sydney. From a very young age she knew numbers and spreadsheets were her passion which led her to study a Bachelor of Commerce majoring in Accounting at Macquarie University before undertaking her CPA studies.

Rachel’s Greatest Achievement: Learning to start the lawn mower with no assistance!

Dave Bourke

Digital Project Manager

Dave was born in country NSW. He studied at the University of Wollongong in writing and communications. His experience spans being on set with TVC’s and short films to post production work on a range of digital projects.

Dave’s Greatest Achievement: Being promoted to Supreme Allied Commander in the Nintendo 64 game Star Wars: Rogue Squadron.

Sarah Jones

Senior Project Manager

Sarah was born in New York City and moved to Australia when she was 5. She studied Graphic Design at UWS and has worked in both Sydney and New York. Sarah has always worked across all areas of the business, from design, account service through to print production.

Sarah’s Greatest Achievement: Surviving, barely, a two night Felucca trip on the Nile in Egypt (sans facilities).

Ashley Tyghe

Producer

Ash has an illustrious media industry background. But we try not to hold that against him. The up side is that he’s produced work for most of Australia’s biggest brands across multiple formats, including audio, video and online. Other than that his past is way too sordid to mention.

Ash’s Greatest Achievement: Living in Albury Wodonga for 12 months and surviving to tell the tale.

Jo Kensington

Senior Designer

Jo grew up in the Bay of Plenty, New Zealand. She studied at the Auckland University of Technology gaining a Bachelor in Graphic Design. After 3 years living in Sydney and working for phdcreative many moons ago, Jo now resides in Auckland and continues to work for phd.

Jo’s Greatest Achievement: Mastering trans-tasman telepathy.

Lachlan Gow

Project Assistant

Born and raised in Sydney, after finishing studying in 2007 Lachlan began his career in advertising. Having one previous role as an account coordinator he is now happily working at phd. With a family background in the advertising and media industry it was inevitable that he would follow down the same path.

Lachlan’s Greatest Achievement: Surviving several near shark attacks.

Emma Logan

Marketing Project Manager

Emma has arrived on our shores from the land of the long white cloud. Coming from the world of fashion has ignited Emma’s passion and given her invaluable insights into the workings of the retail market. Currently completing her MBA in Marketing, she is adding a wealth of value to the phdcreative marketing team.

Emma’s Greatest Achievement: Although surrounded by Aussies she can still manage to say ‘Fush n chups’ correctly.

Dave Bardwell

Senior Finished Artist

Dave grew up on a farm in the idyllic Hertfordshire countryside. His experience spans blue chip clients in both Europe and Australia across digital and print mediums.

Dave’s Greatest Achievement: Appearing on the children’s program Romper Room at age 5.

Tony Vigna

Art Director

After bumming around and doing odd jobs that included working on construction sites – one of which his ego still lays buried, he finally decided to venture into a career. Tony studied at the prestigious, School of Graphic Design in Sydney before ‘falling’ into advertising where he has worked on a number of famous brands. From Coca-Cola to Clearasil, Penfolds to Panadol, he has worked on every category and medium there is.

Tony’s Greatest Achievement: Watch this space.

Brad McKnight

Warehouse Supervisor

Brad was born in the big smoke of “Invercargill” New Zealand; moving to Christchurch shortly after. Once old enough to escape, he worked, and bludged (accommodation wise) his way around the UK & South Africa; eventually arriving in OZ in 2003.

Brad’s Greatest Achievement: Hitching his way from Zimbabwe to Zambia and living to tell the tale.

Carol Pearson

Senior Project Manager

Carol spent her early years in Victoria before moving up the east coast to Sydney and then further on to Newcastle where she completed a Bachelor of Graphic Design. Having worked in Sydney and London, her 15 years of design experience spans everything from designing and client liaison to print management and delivery.

Carol’s Greatest Achievement: Taking less then three hours to complete her first Olympic length triathlon.

Mel Cole

Senior Designer

Mel is a born and bred Sydney-sider. She studied Graphic Design at Randwick TAFE and hasn’t looked back since. Mel brings a “just get it done” ethos and a wealth of creative experience to phdcreative.

Mel’s Greatest Achievement: combining the love of food, design and photography into a career.

Elise Donnelly

Project Assistant

Elise grew up on the sunny Central Coast of NSW and spent a small portion of her younger life invading the poms in England, and then fleeing back to Australia.

Coming from a strong administrative specialist background, working in both design and media related industries, Elise brings cultivated organisational, multitasking and problem-solving skills to the advertising realm.

With an enthusiasm that will knock your socks off, Elise lives by motto “the difference between try and triumph is a little umph”.

Elise’s Greatest Achievement: facing her fear of sharks in open water!

Fiona Wright

Admin Assistant

Fiona is another Pom to throw into the phdcreative mix. She packed her factor 30+ sunscreen and arrived on the sunny shores of Australia after finishing studying in 2010 and has been a proud Sydney-sider ever since.

Fiona doesn’t like to muck around when there is a job to be done and uses her acute eye for detail and her dedicated, punctual work style to keep the phdcreative ship sailing smoothly.

Fiona’s Greatest Achievement: Fitting her life into 20kg of luggage for her move out to Australia!

Vicki Leishman

Accountant

Vicki was born in the Philippines and migrated to Australia 23 years ago. Vicki finished her degree in Bachelor of Business-Accounting from CQU, Qld. Vicki is a member of CPA Australia and NIA and has held Senior Accounting positions in both small and multinational corporations.

Vicki’s Greatest Achievement: Being taught how to swim by her 9 year old son.

Gaye Steel

Marketing Director

Gaye gained her extensive FMCG and Retail Marketing experience with fantastic companies such as Reckitts (10 years), National Foods, McDonald’s (as National Marketing Manager), Telstra and Church & Dwight and she is also an Academic Lecturer  in marketing & advertising. Having been client side for over 15 years Gaye is relishing the challenge to accelerate client’s businesses.

Gaye’s Greatest Achievement: Facing fears in heart racing style – A leap of faith at 10,000 feet strapped to stranger, a 110m bungie jump, a swim with piranhas in the Amazon….and more to come!