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. Carlsberg, Clarks, OVO Energy, Danone, Coca-Cola, Air Jordan.
Leadership
Leading the work, and the people who make it.
Built an in-house studio
OVO Energy · 2022–2025Creative Director and Design Lead. Built OVO's in-house creative studio from the ground up and rebuilt it around designers hired directly. It went from a function that executed briefs to one producing work that held its own against external agencies.
Co-founded and ran a studio
FreshStudio · 2019–2022Co-founded FreshStudio and ran it as Creative Director for three years: pitching, pricing, resourcing, project management, and creative direction across design and 3D moving image. The Air Jordan × Spider-Man: Miles Morales film was made there.
Wrote systems other people run
Taxi Studio · OVO EnergyThe Minute Maid design system rolled out across more than 1,000 SKUs. The interactive online guidelines built to take markets through that rollout were then adopted by Coca-Cola across its other brands.
At OVO, the identity was created with Wolff Olins. What the in-house team built afterwards was everything needed to run it day to day: motion, photography and film, a complete icon set, illustration, and UX/UI principles.
Global remit now
Arbex · since March 2025Leading brand identity and design for Kleenex, Andrex, Scott, Viva, Scottex and Wypall across the UK, EMEA, ANZ, Asia and LATAM. Setting design direction and identity systems for a portfolio sold in more than 70 countries.
Selected work
Building bold brands.

OVO Energy
Creative Director & Design Lead · led the in-house team through rollout across every channel and market

Carlsberg UK · Taxi Studio
Creative concepts & design development · six awards, +6% sales, longest-running limited edition in the brand's history

FreshStudio
Designed & directed · self-initiated, made at FreshStudio

Clarks
Group Creative Lead, Kids · concept through multi-channel rollout

Danone
Senior Art Director · range architecture and navigation across the portfolio

Clarks
Group Creative Lead, Kids · brand collaboration, concept to in-store
Recognition
Eight awards. Six of them for one collection.
The Carlsberg København Collection was designed at Taxi Studio in 2017. It went on to become the longest-running limited edition in Carlsberg's history.
Writing & speaking
Field Notes of a Creative Director.
A weekly Substack on brave brand building, creative leadership, and what it takes to be seen inside complex organisations.
Craving as Strategy: The Semiotics of Domino's Rebrand
What a pizza chain's new identity says about appetite, codes and category convention.
Scale, Signal, and Soul: Three Brand Moves Worth Studying
Three recent brand decisions, and what they signal about where branding is going.
The Quiet Cost of Being Overlooked
Why recognition matters more than we admit.
DMWF Global 2026
Panel: Creative Synergies, Building Brands that Connect. ExCeL London, alongside JCDecaux, Virgin Experience Days and PepsiCo. Written up by The Drum.
Nothing, Something, Nothing — BLANKET™
Series 1, Episode 4. Creative leadership, recognition, and the in-house studio model.
Let's build something worth believing in.
christievgray@gmail.comOpen to conversations about executive creative leadership roles, and to conferences, panels, corporate events and podcasts.