Who is Papa?
Studio Papa is a branding, packaging and design studio built around the idea of agility. We work using what we’ve long called the Voltron Model: bringing together a small, considered team around the actual needs of the work. This ensures the right combination of people for the right project, rather than treating every job like business as usual.
This approach lets Papa punch well above its weight. It keeps the studio flexible, purpose-built, and free from unnecessary overheads — while still delivering work at a scale, depth, and polish typically associated with much larger agencies.
Building teams under the Papa flag ensures that the process remains tight, the vision focused, and the solutions exciting. It also creates space for meaningful collaboration, where contributors are engaged for what they do best, and the work itself has room to be considered, well-made, and built to last.
That’s who Papa is.
1Marcus Taylor
Marcus Taylor is the founder of Studio Papa — a creative practice shaped by responsibility and a conscious choice to work with people and projects that contribute more than they take.
With a background in Communication & Cultural Studies, Marcus is deeply interested in subcultures and semiotics. His approach is grounded in critical thinking and curiosity, with a belief that good design should be strong enough to last, but sometimes light enough to make you laugh.
Outside of Studio Papa, Marcus co-runs his family’s winery, Poacher’s Ridge, runs a print-making gang with his friends at the Johnny Two Tone Club, and is an avid collector of records, ephemera, and cultural oddities. Occasionally, he still lectures at Curtin University in the fields of strategy and design, and he’s always thinking about his next hike.
1Ben Hagley
Ben Hagley is Design Lead and partner at Studio Papa — a senior designer with 17 years spent turning complex briefs into brands, publications, and campaigns that hold up. His work spans agency and government contexts, with recent projects recognised by the Australian Good Design Awards and the Perth Advertising and Design Club.
Trained in fine art as well as design, Ben brings a maker’s hand to commercial work. He’s guided by an instinct to find the clearest, most considered way to communicate an idea, and by the craft to carry it the rest of the way — the belief that how a thing is made is part of what it means.
Outside of Studio Papa, Ben keeps an active illustration practice, has shown work in group exhibitions, and prints with the Johnny Two Tone Club. He climbs every week, occasionally on the other side of the world, and comes home to pats with a three-legged dog named Frank.
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