I build brand platforms, identities, worlds and systems — and the teams that run them.

Christie Gray is Global Head of Brand Identity & Design at Arbex, the Kimberly-Clark and Suzano joint venture behind Andrex, Kleenex and Scott. Fifteen years across agency and in-house, including three co-running her own studio. Kleenex, Andrex, Coca-Cola, Carlsberg, Clarks, OVO Energy and Danone.

Eight awards including a D&AD Wood Pencil +30% brand awareness and consideration, OVO rebrand 353m impressions Clarks Wonder of Wisdom Campaign shortlist Best New In-House Agency, OVO in-house studio 1,000+ SKUs Minute Maid design system 6 brands, 5 regions Arbex
OVO Energy rebrand out-of-home in London

Leadership

Leading the work, and the people who make it.

The full case →

Directing the rebrand, then building the team that ran it

OVO Energy · Sep 2022 – Feb 2025

I was the brand-side Creative Director on OVO's rebrand. Wolff Olins came on as the agency and I worked with them directly on the identity, directing the work against the platform we'd developed. My team and I then built everything needed to run it: motion, photography and film, a complete icon set, illustration, and UX/UI principles — and led the rollout across every channel and market.

The studio started with one designer supported by freelancers, and I built it from there — hiring designers directly and taking it through a change of operating model. It went from executing briefs to producing work that held its own against external agencies, and picked up scope it hadn't held before: the Spring 2023 out-of-home campaign across Cardiff and Glasgow, the solar proposition launch, the OVO stand at Grand Designs Live, and the Winter Support Series, an internal content studio helping frontline staff support customers through the cost-of-living crisis.

+30% brand awareness and consideration Shortlisted, Campaign Best New In-House Agency 2025 30% uplift in delivery Six-figure savings on external agency spend

Running a studio

FreshStudio · Jun 2019 – Sep 2022

I co-founded FreshStudio, an independent design and 3D moving image studio, and ran it as Creative Director for three years. Pitching and presenting, pricing and winning the work, how we scaled the team, project management, and creative direction across design and CGI.

The Air Jordan × Spider-Man: Miles Morales film was made there. Alongside it I worked as a freelance senior art director for agencies across the UK on Coca-Cola, Danone, Mondelez, Kellogg's and Aldi — including the Nutrilon redesign and range architecture, and a new art direction for Aldi's on-pack food photography.

Designing systems other people run

Taxi Studio · OVO Energy

At Taxi Studio the Minute Maid design system rolled out across more than 1,000 SKUs. The interactive online guidelines I built to take markets through that rollout were adopted by Coca-Cola across its other brands.

At OVO the brand world had to survive a very high volume of communication across a lot of channels, so the system had to be usable by a large team at pace without the brand drifting.

1,000+ SKUs, Minute Maid Guidelines model adopted across Coca-Cola brands

Leading campaigns across the business

Clarks · Nov 2017 – Nov 2018

Group Creative Lead for Clarks Kids. I came up with the campaign ideas and led the art direction, then applied them across every brand and advertising touchpoint, physical and digital — film, print, digital, social, in-store, windows and events.

Wonder of Wisdom, the launch campaign for Clarks' new school brand, ran as a series of cinematic films with Jane Goodall DBE and Chi-chi Nwanoku OBE and earned over 353 million impressions. Brand collaborations included Marvel, Disney and National Geographic. I worked with marketing on product propositions, the channel team on planning and activation, visual merchandising on windows and in-store, and external agencies and production partners on delivery, while managing and mentoring the creative team.

353m impressions, Wonder of Wisdom 347m editorial impressions across national press

Now

Arbex (Kimberly-Clark) · since March 2025

Global Head of Brand Identity & Design. I lead brand identity and design for Kleenex, Andrex, Scott, Viva, Scottex and WypAll across the UK, EMEA, ANZ, Asia and LATAM.

Global identity strategy and design systems across markets; evolving heritage brands without losing what made them; breakthrough brand and packaging design; building and leading the design team; and connecting design to commercial goals across marketing, product and innovation. Arbex is the Kimberly-Clark and Suzano joint venture; Andrex is No.19 in Britain's Greatest Brands.

Brands

KleenexAndrexScottVivaScottexWypAllOVO EnergyCarlsbergCoca-ColaMinute MaidDiet CokeSpriteFuze TeaHonest TSmartwaterClarksNutrilonAptamilCadburyMondelezKellogg'sPringlesQuornNesquikPukkaYazooDoveAxeOral-BLove Beauty and PlanetAussieAldiMarvelDisneyNational GeographicAir JordanDiageoAccolade WinesWilliam Grant & Sons

Recognition

Eight awards.

Full list →
D&AD, Wood PencilIllustration for DesignCarlsberg København
Creative Review Annual, Best in BookPackaging DesignCarlsberg København
Brand Impact Awards, Winner ×2Beer, Wine & Spirits · FMCGCarlsberg København
The Dieline Awards, BronzeBeer & Malt BeveragesCarlsberg København
Creativepool Annual, BronzePackagingCarlsberg København
The Drum Awards, GoldPackagingKleenex × Mr Doodle
Canadian Packaging Awards, WinnerDesign SystemMinute Maid

Speaking

On stage & on air.

Conferences, panels, corporate events and podcasts.

DMWF Global 2026 — ExCeL London

Panel: Creative Synergies, Building Brands that Connect. Alongside Kate Tovey (JCDecaux), Noel Eves (Virgin Experience Days) and Marek Tomalak (PepsiCo). Written up by The Drum.

May 2026

Nothing, Something, Nothing — BLANKET™

Series 1, Episode 4. Creative leadership, recognition, and building safer, more generous creative cultures.

2026

Talk to me about brand.

christievgray@gmail.com

Speaking enquiries, collaborations, and conversations about the work.