Gavin Strange is a director and designer for the UK’s beloved creative studio Aardman Animations. Working at Aardman for over 13 years, Gavin’s creative output ranges from title sequences for the OFFF festival and Shaun the Sheep feature film to channel idents for BBC Two and Christmas films for Fortnum & Mason. He directed the multi-award winning Turtle Journey, an emotional and impactful stop-frame short film for Greenpeace about the plight of the oceans.

His work is diverse in nature but all held together by a common thread of fun and high energy. By night he goes under the alias of ‘Jamfactory’, indulging in all manner of passion projects, from filmmaking to illustration, toy design to photography, and even making music under the moniker of ‘Project Toy’.

Gavin is a keynote speaker and has spoken around the world, from Mexico to Manchester, the Middle East to Munich. In 2016, after speaking at the prestigious Do Lectures, he wrote the book Do Fly, a motivational mantra published by The Do Book Co & Chronicle Books. He co-founded the contemporary design store ‘STRANGE’ with his wife Jane and even appears in CBBC’s art-themed TV show Art Ninja.

He prides himself on being a ‘realistic idealist’ or ‘idealistic realist’ – striking the balance between uncurbed enthusiasm and pragmatic process. Floaty sentiments aside, his talks are about finding the energy and making the time to create things that matter. That’s something Gavin believes applies to everyone – from GSCE student to serious CEO!

He lives in Bristol, UK with his wife, two children, and their greyhound Peggy.