I love my job.
I love my job.
I love my job.
MOUS TECH
MOUS TECH
REBUILD
REBUILD
50 people nearly
lost a limb. Lucky it was in a Mous case.
50 people nearly lost a limb in a live experiment for Mous Tech.
50 people nearly lost a limb in a live experiment for Mous Tech.
DARIUS RODRIGUES / AND RISING
DARIUS RODRIGUES / AND RISING
I'm Darius.
Brand builder for founders
tired of imagining it.
I'm Darius.
Brand builder for founders tired of imagining it.
I'm Darius.
Brand builder
for founders tired of imagining it.
NEW WORK
KISSY
BUILD
A pre-mixed cocktail became Expresso Martini™. Now pouring at the speed of NY.
KISSY
Espresso martinis are the fastest-growing drink in the US, and the slowest to make. A gang of New Yorkers fixed the second part.
Premixed had to feel as sexy as the real thing, and faster. Introducing KISSY. Martini, but Expresso™.
The chequer from the city's medallion taxis runs through the brand, forming the teeth in the lips logomark.
The voice is the devil on New York's shoulder. Impatient and mischievous. Jump the queue. Patience is a sin.
Kissy is selling out quicker than you can say Expresso Martini.
STRATEGY
VISUAL IDENTITY
VOICE
PACKAGING
WEBSITE
GUARDIANSHIP
SIMPLY ROASTED
BUILD
From scratch to the fastest-selling snack in the UK.
SIMPLY ROASTED
A patent-protected recipe, a £20 million oven and ten years of R&D produced a triple-cooked crisp with 50% less fat.
It needed a brand that was healthy but didn't pride itself on what it didn't contain.
Confidence says less. It texts you in lower case. Uses potato punctuation. And makes billboard-sized packets of crisps.
simply roasted became the fastest-selling snack in the UK.
VISUAL IDENTITY
VOICE
PACKAGING
GUARDIANSHIP
THE FUNCTIONAL MUSHROOM COMPANY
REBUILD
Evolving another mushroom brand into The Frontier of Mycological Care.
THE FUNCTIONAL MUSHROOM COMPANY
Mushrooms as medicine boomed, and so did the bullshit. The highest-quality mushrooms in the UK had to cut through it.
Credibility became our aesthetic edge. A brand repositioned as a research institute, in thinking and in design.
A new suite of packaging inspired by the beautiful density of lab reports. Rather than reducing information, it added more. The campaign was filmed in James Turrell’s oval skylight, a counterpoint between science and nature to embody TFMC’s rewired DNA.
Revenue grew over 400% across the five-month campaign.
DISCOVERY
STRATEGY
VISUAL IDENTITY
VOICE
PACKAGING
CAMPAIGN
GUARDIANSHIP
BOTIVO
REBUILD
A voice that goes down like Botivo. Refreshingly Bittersweet.
BOTIVO
A 0% aperitivo made by self-proclaimed hedonists. The voice didn't sound like it.
0% ABV means 0 rules on how you the drinking of it gets described. Slow-sipping became big-sipping. Botivo: The Big-Sipping Botanical Aperitivo.
The characters on the label had never spoken. Now they whisper, scream and flirt in bittersweet exchanges you overhear across the brand.
STRATEGY
VOICE
ART DIRECTION
PACKAGING
WEBSITE
GUARDIANSHIP
BEAM
BUILD
The allergen-free Beam bar *May Contain Traces of Sunshine.
DARIUS RODRIGUES / AND RISING
BEAM
For anyone with allergies, the snack aisle is a minefield. Dangerous ingredients hiding behind asterisks. *May contain _____.
Beam is a world first: a bar free from all top 14 allergens. It needed a brand that was just free, not free-from.
So take the dangerous asterisk. Add six sunflower seeds, Beam's main ingredient. Now, it's a beaming sun, shining through the brand wherever you meet it.
STRATEGY
NAMING
VISUAL IDENTITY
VOICE
PACKAGING
WEBSITE
BOLD BEAN CO
REBUILD
Writing a new language for bean obsession. Until it became contagious.
BOLD BEAN CO
Bold Bean Co. was simmering. A fast-growing, founder-led start-up with bean-obsessive energy. The job was getting the UK as obsessed as they were.
Obsession can't be described, only caught. So the voice was written from inside it, in a first person so excited it turns OTT into endearing.
Beans this good earn the vocabulary of indulgence. Sumptious. Velvety. Juicy. Beans?!
The obsession became contagious, spreading far enough to catch Bob Mortimer on Gone Fishing.
VOICE
WEBSITE
CAMPAIGN
GUARDIANSHIP
KISSY
KISSY
BUILD
BUILD
A pre-mixed cocktail became Expresso Martini™. Now pouring at the speed of NY.
A pre-mixed cocktail became Expresso Martini™. Now pouring at the speed of NY.
NEW WORK
KISSY
STRATEGY
VISUAL IDENTITY
VOICE
PACKAGING
WEBSITE
GUARDIANSHIP
Espresso martinis are the fastest-growing drink in the US, and the slowest to make. A gang of New Yorkers fixed the second part. Premixed had to feel as sexy as the real thing, and faster. Introducing KISSY. Martini, but Expresso™. The chequer from the city's medallion taxis runs through the brand, forming the teeth in the lips logomark. The voice is the devil on New York's shoulder. Impatient and mischievous. Jump the queue. Patience is a sin. Kissy is selling out quicker than you can say Expresso Martini.
SIMPLY ROASTED
BUILD
From scratch to the fastest-selling snack in the UK.
DARIUS RODRIGUES / AND RISING
SIMPLY ROASTED
BUILD
From scratch to the fastest-selling snack in the UK.
DARIUS RODRIGUES / AND RISING
AI gives you a hundred options.
And then another hundred.
I will build you 'That One'.
AI gives you a hundred options.
And then another hundred.
I will build you 'That One'.
AI gives you a hundred options.
And then
another hundred.
I build you
'That One'.
Scratch…
Scratch to shelf.
"WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?"
"WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?"
FOUNDATIONS
FOUNDATIONS
DISCOVERY
DISCOVERY
STRATEGY
STRATEGY
NAMING
NAMING
"WHY ARE WE DOING THIS?"
FOUNDATIONS
DISCOVERY
STRATEGY
NAMING
"HOW DO WE LOOK AND SOUND?"
"HOW DO WE LOOK AND SOUND?"
BUILDING BLOCKS
BUILDING BLOCKS
VISUAL IDENTITY
VISUAL IDENTITY
VOICE
VOICE
"HOW DO WE LOOK AND SOUND?"
BUILDING BLOCKS
VISUAL IDENTITY
VOICE
"HOW DO THEY HOLD IT?"
"HOW DO THEY HOLD IT?"
SURFACES
SURFACES
PACKAGING
PACKAGING
WEBSITE
WEBSITE
"HOW DO THEY HOLD IT?"
SURFACES
PACKAGING
WEBSITE
"OMG IT'S REAL?!"
"OMG IT'S REAL?!"
LAUNCH
LAUNCH
IDEA
IDEA
ASSETS
ASSETS
"OMG IT'S REAL?!"
LAUNCH
IDEA
ASSETS
"NOW WHAT?"
"NOW WHAT?"
GUARDIANSHIP
GUARDIANSHIP
ONGOING DIRECTION
ONGOING DIRECTION
"NOW WHAT?"
GUARDIANSHIP
ONGOING DIRECTION
to shelf.
Founders who got tired of imagining it.
Founders who got tired of imagining it.
Founders who
got tired of
imagining it.
"Darius is by far the most talented creative director I have worked with in my 20-year career. Please don't book him out for too long as we want him all to ourselves."
"Darius is by far the most talented creative director I have worked with in my 20-year career. Please don't book him out for too long as we want him all to ourselves."
IMME ERMGASSEN
FOUNDER, BOTIVO DRINKS
IMME ERMGASSEN
FOUNDER, BOTIVO DRINKS
"Darius is a unique, thoughtful, empathetic creative director who starts by tuning into the emotional and visual distinctiveness of a brand. He then layers in ideas that brands can keep coming back to, that audiences resonate with. He's driven more value into our brands than anyone we've worked with."
JONATHAN TRIMBLE
FOUNDER, AND RISING
"Darius is someone who really gets under the skin of the business to bring creativity that feels authentic but also fresh and innovative."
"Darius is someone who really gets under the skin of the business to bring creativity that feels authentic but also fresh and innovative."
AMELIA CHRISTIE-MILLER
FOUNDER, BOLD BEAN CO
AMELIA CHRISTIE-MILLER
FOUNDER, BOLD BEAN CO
"Working with Darius has been genuinely transformative for TFMC. He infuses every brief with the imagination, skill and energy of a creative professional at the top of his craft. Just hire Darius."
"Working with Darius has been genuinely transformative for TFMC. He infuses every brief with the imagination, skill and energy of a creative professional at the top of his craft. Just hire Darius."
GEORGE WEBSTER
FOUNDER, THE FUNCTIONAL MUSHROOM COMPANY
GEORGE WEBSTER
FOUNDER, THE FUNCTIONAL MUSHROOM COMPANY
"From our first call to the final product, Darius’ execution was always in sync with ours. An amazing talent who understands his client’s vision."
"From our first call to the final product, Darius’ execution was always in sync with ours. An amazing talent who understands his client’s vision."
SID CHARY
FOUNDER, KISSY NEW YORK
SID CHARY
FOUNDER, KISSY NEW YORK
"Working with Darius on the creation of our brand was a wonderful, insightful experience. He pushed us, in the most positive way."
SHAUNA BLAIR
FOUNDER, BEAM
"Darius is by far the most talented creative director I have worked with in my 20-year career. Please don't book him out for too long as we want him all to ourselves."
IMME ERMGASSEN
FOUNDER, BOTIVO DRINKS
"Darius is a unique, thoughtful, empathetic creative director who starts by tuning into the emotional and visual distinctiveness of a brand. He then layers in ideas that brands can keep coming back to, that audiences resonate with. He's driven more value into our brands than anyone we've worked with."
JONATHAN TRIMBLE
FOUNDER, AND RISING
"Working with Darius has been genuinely transformative for TFMC. He infuses every brief with the imagination, skill and energy of a creative professional at the top of his craft. Just hire Darius."
GEORGE WEBSTER
FOUNDER, THE FUNCTIONAL MUSHROOM COMPANY
"Darius is someone who really gets under the skin of the business to bring creativity that feels authentic but also fresh and innovative."
AMELIA CHRISTIE-MILLER
FOUNDER, BOLD BEAN CO
"From our first call to the final product, Darius’ execution was always in sync with ours. An amazing talent who understands his client’s vision."
SID CHARY
FOUNDER, KISSY NEW YORK
"Working with Darius on the creation of our brand was a wonderful, insightful experience. He pushed us, in the most positive way."
SHAUNA BLAIR
FOUNDER, BEAM
There's a lot at stake.
There's a lot at stake.
There's a lot at stake.
My reputation.
Your savings.
My reputation.
Your savings.
My reputation.
Your savings.
But it's not heart surgery.
But it's not heart surgery.
But it's not heart surgery.
This is supposed to be fun, remember?
Growth requires play.
This is supposed to be fun, remember?
Growth requires play.
This is supposed to be fun, remember?
Growth requires play.
I know what the wrong move looks like.
I know what the wrong move looks like.
I know what the wrong move looks like.
From memory.
So, I can see it coming.
From memory.
So, I can see it coming.
From memory.
So, I can see it coming.
I'm in your corner.
I'm in your corner.
I'm in your corner.
But I won't always agree.
You will be braver by the end.
But I won't always agree.
You will be braver by the end.
But I won't always agree.
You will be braver by the end.
© 1993-2026 DARIUS RODRIGUES
TYPESET IN TIMES DOT AND ASPEKTA
© 1993-2026 DARIUS RODRIGUES
TYPESET IN TIMES DOT AND ASPEKTA