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Gary Frost on turning businesses into brands.

By Gary Frost

Strategic Creative Director of Frost Creative

The world of branding can be daunting for businesses. Especially those looking to transition from a business to a brand.

Gary Frost and his team understand this and have built a process that has presented age-old businesses to new audiences and built their reputation in the public eye.

Working with the likes of the UN, Colas Rail and Corrigenda, they help organisations communicate their ideas, intentions and innovations through design all across the world.

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Gary found his passion for design when he was at school. The first time his work was found on display would be in his final year of junior school, with a fire safety poster for Hampshire Fire and Rescue.

Reintroduced to graphic design in Y9, he knew it was something he could build a career from. Then followed college and university, where that dream career became a lot closer to fruition.

Moving to London and getting his foot into the industry in a print house (with an in-house design studio) was his first step, with a commitment to learning from the variety of talented, creative people he met along the way.

He was working in-house by day, and freelancing by night. That’s where Frost Creative was born.

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"When 10-year-old me saw my design on the wall, I was struck with a feeling of pride. At that stage, it just felt like drawing for a bit of fun. I had no idea that it could be something I could, and would, end up building a career out of."

Gary Frost, Strategic Creative Director of Frost Creative

After going freelance in 2008, bartering with an SEO company to get his website to fly up the Google rankings, and a few tough lessons in business that’d give Gary a curveball or two to dodge, a foundation was built.

Since then, Frost Creative has gone from strength to strength, and by Gary’s own admission he’s built a business that works just as well without him as it does with him.

A strategic brand and creative consultancy, Frost is capable of achieving big things for clients of all shapes and sizes. They’re not a full-service agency, but instead have a small team that is laser-focused on what they’re fantastic at doing – turning businesses into brands.

They’re proud of their internal specialisms and have proven that through pitching and winning work that would traditionally be seen as unattainable for an agency that doesn’t have a swanky London office and hundreds of staff.

"I thought before the pandemic I meant success meant more bums on seats, driving towards 15 -20 people. Actually, it made me realise that size doesn’t mean everything to clients. Frost is demonstrating to larger organisations that the idea they have to go to biggest agencies for the best work isn’t true anymore – or maybe it’s never been."

Gary Frost, Strategic Creative Director of Frost Creative

Their clients appreciate and understand the value of working with a small team. The personal touch, the guaranteed voice at the end of the phone, and access to reliable, outsourced expertise when it’s required.

Bigger businesses that have been burned by larger agencies are beginning to come around to the security and service that Frost offers. The future for the team is to keep improving, sustain their high level of output but continue to get better and better.

Gary’s intention is not to work with bigger brands. Instead, big organisations who are ready to build a brand and want to partner with an agency that’s got a track record they can trust.

"From a creative perspective, coming through the design world and university, there’s a belief that you need to work with the best agencies to get the best work. We’re testament to that being a misconception. But we can’t ever relax, or start spitting out lazy work. We are always striving to improve and believe that’s something that makes us good to work with."

Gary Frost, Strategic Creative Director of Frost Creative

Spark a conversation

Staying away from the desk at the weekend is key. You’ll find Gary out and about with the family and their young puppy.

Put simply, it’s all about good walks and good food. I think we can all agree with that.

The best piece of business advice that’s helped Gary

“It sounds simple, but trust your gut. I’ve had my gut screaming to me, and I’ve ignored it and waited to “see what happens” in a number of bad situations.

Eventually, you’ll discover your gut was most likely right all along. Make the change, and trust the gut.”

Discover more of their secrets of success