A COMMUNITY-FOCUSED CREATIVE STUDIO
Studio Papa was founded by Marcus Taylor around 2010, in a tiny share office above a pub in Fitzroy. In the beginning, our early work looked like gig posters, hand-painted signs, and the odd parmi-and-pint flyer for local businesses. We took whatever work we could get our hands on, and job by job, the studio grew, gained focus, and found its people.
After relocating back to Perth, Studio Papa evolved into a practice focused on branding, packaging, print, and digital work, whilst being conscious not to lose our studio culture as we grew. Instead, we try to embody the spirit of ‘expertise without the ego’. To us, this means working closely with our clients, bringing high-level services and deliverables, but remembering to be human, helpful, and all going well, humble.
We believe that what we do in our 9 to 5 matters, and we’re sticklers for trying to spend our hours helping the right people move forward. Over the years, we’ve been fortunate to collaborate with organisations and individuals across hospitality, arts, culture, consumer brands, and Aboriginal sector projects — from the East Coast, the West Coast and occasionally far beyond our waters.
Today, Studio Papa operates deliberately small. That choice keeps our focus on client retention over client acquisition, and a focus on a sustainable practice.
1PAPPY’S PROVERBS
Every day is Bring
Your Soul To Work day.
If we spend a third of our lives at work then let’s ditch the alter ego and work a job we can live with on the weekends.
Never sell someone
something they don’t need.
We’d be a much smarter business if we did but this would contravene Proverb #1 and frankly, it’s not who we are.
Everyone makes the coffee. No one asks
for the coffee to be made for them.
Before every job title is an unspoken prefix that reads ‘human being’.
Always take the work seriously,
never yourself.
We’re passionate about what we do, and we’re getting pretty good at it too, but it’s important to keep our collective ego lobes on a leash.
Every person can be someone who
blocks or someone who flows.
Be someone who flows.
Full credit to our friends Lynda & Brendan for passing on this one.
Be open to new answers.
Ask questions with a beginner’s mind.
Put everything on the table, ask all the dumb questions and see if anything shakes loose when we give it an honest critique.
Be open to your mistakes.
Own them, learn from them
and then move on.
Sometimes it’s because you’re trying something new, sometimes it’s because you didn’t plan great and sometimes it’s just plain bad luck.
Remember which colour lion you are.
When we respect other’s roles and perform our role well, we can come together to form something greater than the sum of our parts.
Back the play.
We may not always like the final decision, but we have to support and respect the decision maker’s choice.
Work hard, stay lucky.
This life is what you make it, and if you’re willing to work hard for something you care about you’ll enjoy the luck you make every day.