Designworks Melbourne hires ex-NBL player + Star Wars Wookie Axel Dench as senior strategist

Adding further firepower to its strategy capability, Designworks Australia – part of STW – has appointed senior strategist Axel Dench to its growing Melbourne team.

The appointment of former NBL player and Star Wars Wookiee Dench follows a string of new hires in the last 12 months, made to meet the needs of Designworks’ ever-growing pipeline of strategic work. As a senior strategist Dench will lead client engagements and will be heavily involved in new business development.

Says Brad Doble, managing director, Designworks Australia: “Our strategy and design teams form a world-class combination. They have brilliant talent, great vision and work across an enviable client base.  Axel brings a range of valuable experience – both agency-specific and broader life experiences –  to this team and his strategic vision is one that aligns with our focus on brand experience.

“We’re excited to have him on board. The continued expansion of our strategy capabilities will give us the scale and momentum to drive Designworks Australia into the next phase of growth.”

Says Dench: “Designworks’ ability to shape and create brand experiences for their clients audiences across every touch point, is something that particularly attracted me to the organisation. I’m looking forward to adopting their user-centric design approach, to develop physical and digital recommendations for clients.”

Dench brings many years’ of experience working with blue chip Australian brands, and was central to the repositioning of CUB following its carve out of Treasury Wine Estates. Having worked in several communications agencies, he also brings additional capabilities in brand strategy activation.

In addition to his agency experience, Dench also brings unique perspective to the business having spent more than 14 years playing professional basketball.  During this time he also dabbled in professional acting, most notably playing Merumeru – chief warrior of the Wookiees – in Star Wars: Revenge of the Sith.

Says Dench: “The Star Wars and basketball experiences were great in that they taught me the value of applied creative thinking. Knowing that this type of thinking was the platform for any success, I started to get more involved in strategy based work. I’m excited to have the opportunity to apply this varied experience at Designworks, an agency that has been at the forefront of design innovation over the years.”