Roddy Wykes
Physical Brand Experience
Wykes Design is my independent practice. I design the physical side of brands: the places, exhibits and objects where people interact with them.
I work with creative agencies, in-house brand teams and cultural institutions as a hands-on Design Director. I can lead curation or work alongside in-house curators to shape the content, plan the visitor experience (the big ideas, the stories and the objects that tell them), then give it physical form in rooms, cases, graphics and media, through to the fabricator’s floor. The work covers exhibits and galleries, branded environments and workplaces, event worlds, and physical products.
I trained in industrial design and spent almost a decade designing products and building façades at Arup alongside architects such as Foster + Partners and Gehry Partners. Then I spent fifteen years designing brand experiences, first at Autodesk, where I curated and designed the Autodesk Gallery, and more recently leading the Brand Experience team at Procore. Because of that mix, my ideas already account for how they’ll be built.
Available now for consulting, contract and freelance projects.
- “Roddy is the rare creative leader who pairs sharp strategic vision with genuine, people-first leadership. As Head of Brand Experience, he set an exceptionally high bar for creative excellence and drove our market presence with uncompromising quality and clear vision. Just as importantly, he led with humility, listened deeply and backed his team. He’s an exceptional advocate for both great talent and great ideas—the kind of leader who inspires loyalty and elevates everyone around him.”Karen Owens · Creative Director, Procore
- “I had the great pleasure of partnering with Roddy Wykes for eight years at Autodesk. His design work brought the company’s story and brand to life. He made ‘Make Anything’ real and tangible. You could touch and live the physical world Autodesk and its customers created every day. Roddy’s design work captured the imagination of tens of many thousands of designers, creators, builders, students, Autodeskers and more across Autodesk Universities worldwide, Autodesk Galleries in San Francisco, Tokyo, Boston, and Portland, TED and TED Global, and wildly engaging Brand Pop-Ups in NYC, Paris and Tokyo. Roddy is a true legend when it comes to design. More, he’s a wonderful person, leader, collaborator and friend. If a measure of a person’s brand is how people talk about you when you aren’t in the room, then Roddy’s is very strong indeed.”Greg Eden · Brand, Communications & Marketing Leader
- “Roddy is an exceptional design talent. He is brilliant, hard-working, kind, creative, and pragmatic. I was fortunate to work with Roddy for 7 years. He always delivered outstanding results on challenging projects including exhibit design at the Autodesk Gallery, pop-up activations in Paris and Tokyo, and experience design at conferences with 10,000 attendees. Roddy is an incredible teammate and leader.”Jason Medal-Katz · Senior Director, Visa
- “I had the privilege of working with Roddy and I remain incredibly grateful for everything I learned from him. Roddy has a remarkable ability to understand complex needs enabling him to develop solutions perfectly aligned with strategic objectives—especially for promotional tools like brand activation spaces and exhibition pavilions. When designing and developing solutions, he is both an excellent collaborator and a trusting team leader which is key for innovative and unique solutions that stay true to the brand’s identity. Roddy possesses a tremendous team spirit and his loyalty to his colleagues is truly remarkable.”Paul Fortin · Art Director & Senior Designer
- “Roddy is a rare talent, a truly creative practical designer who understands teams and the individual experience, and makes great things happen. His breadth of experience makes him a formidable asset.”Graham Dodd · Director, Materials & Fabrication